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Authors: Sherry Thomas
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he’d recovered from his earlier astonishment, seemed entirely unaffected. He sat sprawled in his bergère chair, for all intents and purposes twiddling his thumbs as he waited for her to continue.
“Lord Hastings arrived in the nick of time. To save Mr. Martin, we hid him out of view. To save me, Lord Hastings told Mrs. Monteth and the senior Mrs. Martin that we have eloped.”
“Good gracious,” mumbled Venetia.
Millie and Fitz exchanged a look.
“It was quick thinking on Lord Hastings’s part and I am indebted to him.”
The words were grateful enough, but she could not make her voice sound anything other than lifeless, as if she were reading her own obituary aloud.
Hastings crossed his legs at the ankles. “We will, of course, marry as soon as possible. In the meanwhile, it is advisable for Miss Fitzhugh to be addressed as Lady Hastings—and for her to remove to my house today, tokeep up the appearance of having eloped. The news of our ‘elopement’ will spread with the speed of a wildfire; we do not want anyone to question its veracity.”
Remove to his house
today
? The possibility had not even occurred to Helena. She’d counted on a few days of privacy, at least, to come to terms with what was to become the rest of her life.
“We will, of course,” added Hastings, “conduct ourselves with the utmost decorum.”
There was nothing objectionable in his reassurance to her family. All the same, Helena shivered.
Fitz sighed. “Are you sure about this, Helena?”
It dawned on her that he was offering her a choice, letting her know that she did not need to force herself into marriage if it made her unhappy. Tears welled in her eyes. Before they could fall, she blinked and set her face to a blank nonchalance. “By tomorrow morning the news will be all over town—there is nothing to be unsure about anymore. Lord Hastings and I have known each other a long time. We will deal favorably together.”
Perhaps her nonchalance wasn’t quite nonchalant enough, for a heaviness settled over the room, which only made her angrier with herself for having ruined what should have been a buoyant celebration.
She turned to Venetia. “Enough about Hastings and me. Let’s talk more about the baby. And do tell me why ladies Avery and Somersby knew about your condition before we did. I smell something juicy.”
CHAPTER 5
U nfortunately, the topic of conversation was not so easily changed. Venetia’s baby would not need any special consideration until it was born, but Helena’s “elopement” was very much a problem that had to be dealt with here and now.
Venetia sent an announcement to the papers right away. Millie and Fitz, who happened to have scheduled a dinner for the following evening, decided they would use the occasion to fete the “newlyweds.” Lexington, who’d originally intended to hold only a small house party in August, said he would now open the invitation list and throw in a country ball to mark Hastings’s entry into the family.
Their kindness made Helena feel twice as wretched. She’d not only betrayed their trust, she’d done so in the most incompetent manner possible. But they did notcensure her; instead, they were throwing their combined influence behind her, so that no one would dare question her actions or her place.
None of it would have been necessary if only she’d—and this was the worst realization of all—if only she’d listened to Hastings’s repeated warnings.
When her siblings were at last satisfied that they had a workable strategy, Helena was allowed to leave with Hastings in the duke’s best town coach, a large portmanteau of her belongings having already been sent ahead on a lesser vehicle.
“You will need to do better at my house,” said Hastings as the carriage rolled away from the curb. “My staff, unlike your family, do not know you have been carrying on with someone else. They will expect far more enthusiasm from a pair of eloped lovers.”
He sounded
“Lord Hastings arrived in the nick of time. To save Mr. Martin, we hid him out of view. To save me, Lord Hastings told Mrs. Monteth and the senior Mrs. Martin that we have eloped.”
“Good gracious,” mumbled Venetia.
Millie and Fitz exchanged a look.
“It was quick thinking on Lord Hastings’s part and I am indebted to him.”
The words were grateful enough, but she could not make her voice sound anything other than lifeless, as if she were reading her own obituary aloud.
Hastings crossed his legs at the ankles. “We will, of course, marry as soon as possible. In the meanwhile, it is advisable for Miss Fitzhugh to be addressed as Lady Hastings—and for her to remove to my house today, tokeep up the appearance of having eloped. The news of our ‘elopement’ will spread with the speed of a wildfire; we do not want anyone to question its veracity.”
Remove to his house
today
? The possibility had not even occurred to Helena. She’d counted on a few days of privacy, at least, to come to terms with what was to become the rest of her life.
“We will, of course,” added Hastings, “conduct ourselves with the utmost decorum.”
There was nothing objectionable in his reassurance to her family. All the same, Helena shivered.
Fitz sighed. “Are you sure about this, Helena?”
It dawned on her that he was offering her a choice, letting her know that she did not need to force herself into marriage if it made her unhappy. Tears welled in her eyes. Before they could fall, she blinked and set her face to a blank nonchalance. “By tomorrow morning the news will be all over town—there is nothing to be unsure about anymore. Lord Hastings and I have known each other a long time. We will deal favorably together.”
Perhaps her nonchalance wasn’t quite nonchalant enough, for a heaviness settled over the room, which only made her angrier with herself for having ruined what should have been a buoyant celebration.
She turned to Venetia. “Enough about Hastings and me. Let’s talk more about the baby. And do tell me why ladies Avery and Somersby knew about your condition before we did. I smell something juicy.”
CHAPTER 5
U nfortunately, the topic of conversation was not so easily changed. Venetia’s baby would not need any special consideration until it was born, but Helena’s “elopement” was very much a problem that had to be dealt with here and now.
Venetia sent an announcement to the papers right away. Millie and Fitz, who happened to have scheduled a dinner for the following evening, decided they would use the occasion to fete the “newlyweds.” Lexington, who’d originally intended to hold only a small house party in August, said he would now open the invitation list and throw in a country ball to mark Hastings’s entry into the family.
Their kindness made Helena feel twice as wretched. She’d not only betrayed their trust, she’d done so in the most incompetent manner possible. But they did notcensure her; instead, they were throwing their combined influence behind her, so that no one would dare question her actions or her place.
None of it would have been necessary if only she’d—and this was the worst realization of all—if only she’d listened to Hastings’s repeated warnings.
When her siblings were at last satisfied that they had a workable strategy, Helena was allowed to leave with Hastings in the duke’s best town coach, a large portmanteau of her belongings having already been sent ahead on a lesser vehicle.
“You will need to do better at my house,” said Hastings as the carriage rolled away from the curb. “My staff, unlike your family, do not know you have been carrying on with someone else. They will expect far more enthusiasm from a pair of eloped lovers.”
He sounded
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