“And I take it you will be seeing them today?”
“I think so,” she replied. “Once I break my fast, I will take a carriage. It will be nice to surprise them.”
“The children will miss you,” he sighed, and Helena felt a pang of guilt in her chest. “But they will understand.”
“Give them my best,” she said earnestly. “And tell them I will see them again as soon as I can.”
“You know I will.”
Another grateful smile because deep down, Helena felt guilty. She found that she wanted Sebastian to come with her, that she wanted to show off her marriage to her family. How proud they would be…
But that wasn’t what was important. Not now. Not with everything that had happened.
Still confused, as she had been last night. Still feeling a sense of betrayal of herself for daring to feel such things for Sebastian, Helena needed answers. More than that, she needed proof of concept.
Her sister was visiting with her husband, and her mother and father would be there as well. If she saw them together, she would be able to view their marriages through a lens she never had before, and in that, she might find an answer.
Was it a perfect plan? Not at all. But that just told of how desperate the situation had become.
Growing up, Helena had always been close with her older sister. They were four years apart, but when she was a little girl, her sister had been like a protector to her, and their bond was unbreakable. It might have seemed a strange relationship to some, seeing as on the surface they both appeared so different, but Helena had always known better.
Indeed, Clara was seen by all as the well-behaved of the two. The proper, respectable one who would never dare embarrass her parents by acting unruly. Her dream was always to find a husband, have plenty of children, and live happily ever after. And she did just that, marrying when she was twenty and having two children. A perfect life, as anybody saw it.
Or so Helena was led to believe.
Seeing her sister now, watching her in a new light that Helena had never considered before, she could not help but wonder how she had missed all the signs. She was still the older sister, and on the surface, she appeared the same as she had always been. But beneath the surface…
Something is wrong. And there is no need to guess what it is.
“Shall we go for a walk?” Helena asked. “I am growing restless.”
Clara blew through her lips. “What else is new?”
“I spent two hours in a carriage!” Helena cried. “And to be perfectly honest, this conversation is boring me.”
She stuck out her tongue, and her sister giggled.
“What are you two laughing about?” their father asked.
“Just making fun of you, Father,” Helena said jokingly.
“See how she talks to me,” he sighed, looking at Clara’s husband, Lord Eggerton. “I hope Clara at least treats you with some respect.”
Lord Eggerton took Clara’s hand and squeezed it with what looked like affection. “I assure you that she does.”
Clara smiled warmly at her husband, only to catch Helena’s eyes and roll her own. The two girls giggled as they often did growing up, and always in a way that seemed to purposefully annoy their parents.
Helena was glad that she came today, remembering quickly how much she missed her family. Even if they were constantly hounding her to behave and be what she was not, she still loved them, and they still loved her. And now that she was a duchess, she could not help but notice the respect her father gave her, the pride he held her with because she had done as he never dreamed.
It was also so much fun to spend time with her sister again. As was so often the case with siblings, as soon as they were together, they reverted to their old ways. Inside jokes. Laughing just to look at one another. Her sister might have been the well-behaved of the two, but she had her own wild side, and Helena never failed to bring it out in her.
They were all seated in the back garden at the moment, taking advantage of the sunny summer day. Tea was served, they were sitting by a large tree for shade, and conversation was being had that Helena found awfully boring.
It was politics, as Lord Eggerton was a viscount, and her father was only too eager to gossip about various bills being passed, which Helena did not understand or care to.
Her mother was happy to sit and listen, as she always did. But Helena was growing bored and figured it might do to get her sister alone so she could tell her about Sebastian and perhaps get some advice.
“A walk,” Helena declared again. “Come on, while the day is still young.”
