“It would,” Kathleen said regretfully. “Vicious tongues are always wagging, and high-spirited girls like Pandora and Cassandra rarely have an easy time of it during the Season. Lady Berwick was forever scolding me for laughing too loudly in public.”
Devon regarded his wife with a caressing gaze. “I would have found that charming.”
She grinned at him. “Yes, but you never took part in the Season. You and West were elsewhere in London, doing whatever rakes do.”
Rhys went to the sideboard to pour a cognac for himself. Glancing at Devon, he asked, “Will Lady Helen and the twins stay at the estate while you and Lady Trenear are in Ireland?”
“That would be for the best,” Devon said. “We’ve asked Lady Berwick to chaperone them during our absence.”
“It would raise eyebrows otherwise,” Kathleen explained. “Even though we all know West is like a brother to Helen and the twins, he’s still a bachelor with a wicked reputation.”
“Which I worked hard to acquire, by God.” West went to lounge in a chair by the hearth. “In fact, I insist on a chaperone: I can’t have my bad name tarnished by the suggestion that I could be trusted around three innocent girls.”
“Lady Berwick will be a good influence on the twins,” Kathleen said. “She taught me and her two daughters, Dolly and Bettina, how to conduct ourselves in society, and that was no easy task.”
“We’ll depart for Ireland the day after tomorrow,” Devon said with a slight frown. “God willing, we’ll return soon.”
West stretched his legs before the fire and laced his fingers across his midriff. “I suppose I’ll have to postpone Tom Severin’s visit. I invited him to come to Hampshire in two days’ time, to view the progress on the groundwork for the quarry and railway tracks.”
Rhys spoke in a flat tone that chilled Helen’s nerves. “It would be best to keep Severin far away from me.”
They all looked at him alertly. Rhys stood at the sideboard, his long-fingered hand cupped around the bowl of the cognac glass to warm the amber liquid. Swirling the cognac gently, he stared into its depths with eyes that had turned colder than Helen had ever seen them.
Devon was the first to speak. “What has Severin done now?”
“He’s been trying to convince me to buy a block of property near King’s Cross. But the owner’s name wasn’t listed on any of the documents. Not even the mortgages.”
“How is that possible?” Devon asked.
“A private investment company holds it all in trust. I hired an investigator to find out what’s behind all the elaborate legal papering. He uncovered a transfer agreement, already signed and notarized, that will take effect upon completion of the purchase. The entire price of the property will go to the last man on earth I would ever willingly do business with. And Severin knows it.”
Devon withdrew his arm from around Kathleen and leaned forward, his gaze lit with interest. “Mr. Vance?” he guessed.
Rhys responded with a single nod.
“Damn,” Devon said quietly.
Perplexed, Helen looked from one man to the other.
“You know how Severin is,” West said in the tense silence. “There’s no malice in him. He probably decided that if you found out about it later, it would be water under the bridge.”
Rhys’s eyes flashed dangerously. “If the deal had gone through before I found out that the money would go to Vance, I’d have made certain that Severin’s lifeless body was under the bridge. The friendship is over for good.”
“Who is Mr. Vance?” Helen asked.
No one replied.
Warily Kathleen broke the silence. “He’s Lord Berwick’s nephew, actually. Since the Berwicks never had a son, Mr. Vance is the heir presumptive to the estate. When Lord Berwick passes away, everything will go to Mr. Vance, and Lady Berwick and her daughters will be dependent on his goodwill. So, they’ve always tried to be hospitable to him. I’ve met Mr. Vance on a few occasions.”
“What is your opinion of him?” Devon asked.
Kathleen made a face. “A loathsome man. Petty, cruel, and self-important. Always in debt, but he believes himself to be a financial wizard of the age. In the past he tried more than once to borrow against his future inheritance. Lord Berwick was livid.”
Helen glanced at Rhys, troubled by the bleakness of his expression. His friend’s actions seemed to have cut deeply. “Are you certain,” she asked hesitantly, “that Mr. Severin understood the extent of your dislike for Mr. Vance?”
“He understood,” Rhys said shortly, and took a swallow of cognac.
“Then why did he do it?”
Rhys shook his head, remaining silent.
In a moment, Devon answered pensively. “Severin can be callous in pursuit of a goal. He has an extraordinary mind, it’s no exaggeration to call him a genius. However, such ability often comes at the expense of—” He hesitated, searching for the right word.
“Decency?” West suggested dryly.
Looking rueful, Devon nodded. “When dealing with Severin, one must never forget that above all, he’s an opportunist. His brain is so busy trying to engineer a certain outcome that he doesn’t bother to consider anyone’s feelings, including his own. That being said, there have been times when I’ve seen Severin go to great lengths to help other people. He’s not all bad.” He shrugged. “It seems a pity to give up the friendship entirely.”
“I’d give up anyone or anything,” Rhys retorted, “to make certain I never have any connection to Albion Vance.”
Chapter 16
HELEN LOWERED HER HEAD as if to concentrate on the mending in her lap. A sickening, strange, stomach-dropping feeling came over her. Somehow her hands continued the familiar task of sewing, jerkily stabbing the needle through the torn seam of a shirt. Panicked thoughts became ensnarled in her head, and she worked to pull them apart and make sense of them.
Albion was an uncommon name, but not entirely out of the ordinary. It could be a coincidence.
Please, God, please let it be a coincidence.
Oh that look on Rhys’s face. The kind of hatred a man would take to his grave.
Anxiety seethed inside her, making it the effort to remain outwardly calm excruciating. She had to leave the room. She had to go somewhere private, and take a few deep breaths . . . and she had to find Quincy.
He had come to the estate with Rhys. Quincy knew more of her family’s secrets than anyone. She would insist that he tell her the truth.
While the conversation continued, Helen tied off the thread of her mending and slowly reached into the sewing box near her foot. She felt for the pair of tiny sewing scissors in the top compartment, and nudged the wickedly sharp blades apart. Deliberately she ran the side of her forefinger against the blade until she felt a pinching sensation and a hot sting. Drawing her hand back quickly, she glanced with feigned dismay at the drop of bright red blood welling from the cut.
Rhys noticed immediately. He made a Welsh sound of disgruntlement, a flick of breath pushed between the edge of teeth and lower lip. “Wfft.” Tugging a handkerchief from inside his coat, he came to her in a few strides. Wordlessly he sank to his haunches in front of her and clamped the folded cloth around her finger.
“I should have looked before reaching for the scissors,” Helen said sheepishly.
His eyes had lost that chilling hardness and were now filled with concern. Carefully, he lifted the handkerchief to look at the cut on her finger. “It’s not deep. But you need a plaster.”
Kathleen spoke from the settee. “Shall I ring for Mrs. Church, dear?”
“I’d rather go to her room,” Helen said lightly. “It will be easier there, with all her supplies at hand.”
Rhys rose to his feet, pulling Helen up with him. “I’ll go with you.”
“No, do stay,” Helen said quickly, holding the handkerchief around her finger. “You haven’t finished your cognac.” She stepped back from him. Avoiding his searching gaze, she sent a quick smile to the room in genera
l. “The hour is late,” she said. “It’s time for me to retire. Good night, everyone.”
After the family responded in kind, Helen left the parlor with measured steps, fighting the urge to break into a run. She continued down the grand staircase, crossed through the main hall, and descended the servants’ stairs. In contrast to the quiet emptiness of the first floor, belowstairs bustled with activity. The servants had finished their dinner and were clearing away dishes and flatware, while the cook supervised advance preparations for the next day’s meals.
A burst of laughter came from the servants’ hall. Inching closer to the doorway, Helen saw Quincy sitting at the long table with a group of footmen and maids. He appeared to be regaling them with stories of his new life in London. Quincy had always been a well-liked member of the staff, and he had surely been missed since he had been hired away by Rhys.
As Helen wondered how she might attract his attention without causing a scene, she heard the housekeeper’s voice behind her.
“Lady Helen?”
She turned to face Mrs. Church, whose plump face was trestled with concern.
“What brings you belowstairs, my lady? You have only to ring, and I’ll send someone up to you.”
With a rueful smile, Helen held up her injured finger. “A slight mishap with the sewing scissors,” she explained. “I thought it best to come to you directly.”
Mrs. Church clucked over the little wound, and led her to the housekeeper’s room, just two doors away. It served as both a sitting room and a place where Mrs. Church conducted the business of household management. From the earliest time Helen could remember, Mrs. Church had kept a large medicine chest there. Whenever Theo, Helen, or the twins had injured themselves or had felt ill, they had gone to the housekeeper’s room to be bandaged, dosed, and comforted.
Sitting at the small table, Helen remarked, “Everyone seems merry tonight.”
Mrs. Church opened the medicine chest. “Yes, they’re fair tickled to have Quincy back for a visit. They’ve asked a thousand questions, mostly about the department store. Quincy brought a catalog for everyone to marvel over. None of us can imagine so many goods to be found under one roof.”
“Winterborne’s is very grand,” Helen said. “Like a palace.”
“So Quincy says.” After dabbing tincture of benzoin onto the cut, Mrs. Church cut a small strip from a piece of white sarcenet imbued with isinglass, and moistened it with lavender water solution. Deftly she wrapped the plaster around Helen’s finger. “Quincy seems to have been invigorated by working for your Mr. Winterborne. I haven’t seen him so spry in years.”
“I’m glad to hear it. As a matter of fact . . .” Helen tried to make her tone casual. “. . . I would like to speak privately with Quincy, if you would bring him here.”
“Now?”
Helen replied with a single nod.
“Of course, my lady.” An unaccountable pause followed. “Is something wrong?”
“Yes,” Helen said quietly. “I think so.”
Mrs. Church stood, frowning. “Shall I bring some tea?”
Helen shook her head.
“I’ll fetch Quincy straightaway.”
In less than two minutes, there was a tap at the door, and Quincy’s short, stocky figure entered the housekeeper’s room. “Lady Helen,” he said, his black-currant eyes smiling beneath the heavy white swags of his eyebrows.
It was a relief to see him. In the absence of any affection or interest from her father or Theo, Quincy had been the only kind male presence in Helen’s life. As a child, she had gone to him whenever she was in trouble. He had always helped her without hesitation, such as the time she had accidentally torn an entry in the Encyclopædia Britannica and he had removed the entire page with a razor blade, assuring her that the family would be no worse off for being deprived of the history of Croatian astronomy. Or the time she had knocked over a porcelain figurine, and Quincy had glued the head back on so precisely that no one had ever detected it.
Helen gave him her hand. “I’m sorry to have interrupted your evening.”
“Not an interruption,” Quincy said, pressing her palm warmly, “but a pleasure, as always.”
Gesturing to the other chair at the table, Helen said, “Please join me.”
The valet remained standing, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “You know that would not be fitting.”
Helen nodded slightly, her smile turning strained. “Yes, but this isn’t an ordinary conversation. I’m afraid—” She paused, the words jamming inside, refusing to emerge. As she tried again, all she could seem to do was repeat numbly, “I’m afraid.”
Quincy stood before her, his expression patient and encouraging.
“I have something important to ask,” Helen finally managed to say. “I need you to tell me the truth.” To her annoyance, raw salt tears collected in the corners of her eyes. “I think I already know the answer,” she said. “But it would help if you would tell me—” She stopped as she saw the way his face had changed.
Quincy’s shoulders were sinking as if from the weight of a terrible burden. “Perhaps,” he ventured, “you shouldn’t ask.”
“I have to. Oh, Quincy . . .” Helen’s temples throbbed as she fixed her gaze on him. “Is Albion Vance my father?”
Slowly the valet reached for the empty chair, repositioned it, and sat heavily. Folding his hands into a compact bale of fingers, he rested them on the table. He focused on the lone casement window on the outside wall. “Where did you hear such a thing?”
“I found an unfinished letter that my mother had written to him.”
Quincy was silent. His gaze was distant, as if he were staring all the way to the farthest edge of the world. “I wish you had not.”
“So do I. Please tell me, Quincy . . . is he my father?”
His attention returned to Helen. “Yes.”
She flinched. “Do I look like him?” she whispered.
“You look like neither of them,” he said gently. “You resemble only yourself. A unique and lovely creation.”
“Rabbit-faced,” Helen said, and could have bitten her tongue at the self-pitying remark. With chagrin, she explained, “She wrote that too.”
“Your mother was a complicated woman. Competitive with every female in the world, including her own daughters.”
“Did she ever love my father?”
“Until her last day of life,” he surprised her by saying.
Helen gave him a skeptical glance. “But she and Mr. Vance . . .”
“He was not her only indiscretion. Nor was the earl always faithful to her. But your parents cared for each other in their own fashion. After your mother’s liaison with Mr. Vance had ended, and you were born, your parents resumed their relationship.” After removing his spectacles, he fished in his coat for a handkerchief and cleaned the lenses meticulously. “You were the sacrifice. You were kept upstairs in the nursery, out of sight and out of mind.”
“What about Mr. Vance? Did he love my mother?”
“No man can see inside another’s heart. But I don’t believe he is capable of that particular emotion.” He replaced his spectacles. “It would be best to pretend that you never learned about this.”
“I can’t,” Helen said, digging her elbows into the table and pressing the sockets of her eyes into her palms. “Mr. Winterborne hates him.”
Quincy’s tone was uncharacteristically dry. “There isn’t a Welshman who doesn’t.”
Helen lowered her hands and looked at him. “What has he done?”
“Mr. Vance’s loathing of the Welsh is well-known. He wrote a pamphlet that is widely quoted by those who seek to eradicate the use of Welsh language in schools. He believes their children should be forced to speak only English.” He paused. “But in addition to that, Mr. Winterborne has a personal grudge against him. I don’t know what it is, only that it is so vile, he won’t speak of it. The subject is dangerous and best left alone.”
Helen gave him a bewildered gla
nce. “You’re suggesting that I keep this from Mr. Winterborne?”
“You must never say a word to him, or to anyone.”
“But he’ll find out someday.”
“If he does, you can deny knowledge of it.”
Helen shook her head in dazed misery. “I couldn’t lie to him.”
“There are rare times in life when a lie serves the greater good. This is one of them.”
“But Mr. Vance may approach Mr. Winterborne someday and tell him. Or he may even approach me.” Distraught, she rubbed the corners of her eyes. “Oh God.”
“If he does,” the valet replied, “you will pretend to be astonished. No one will know that you were the wiser.”
“I’ll know. Quincy, I must tell Mr. Winterborne.”
“Don’t. For his sake. He needs you, my lady. In the short time I have known him, he has changed for the better because of you. If you care for him, don’t force him to make a choice that will hurt him beyond healing.”
Her eyes widened. “A choice? Then you believe he would end the engagement if he knew?”
“It would be unlikely. But not impossible.”
Helen shook her head slightly. She couldn’t fathom it. Not after the things Rhys had said and done, the way he’d held and kissed her that very afternoon. “He wouldn’t.”
Quincy’s eyes glimmered with some strong emotion. “Lady Helen, forgive me for speaking freely. But I’ve known you since you were an infant in the cradle. I always thought it a great injustice, and a pity, that an innocent child was so scorned and neglected. You were blamed by both of your parents, God rest their souls, for sins that were theirs, not yours. Why should you continue to pay the price? Why shouldn’t you allow yourself to be cherished as you have always deserved?”
“I want to. But first I must tell Mr. Winterborne the truth about who I am.”
Quincy paused, looking troubled. “Mr. Winterborne is a good master. Demanding, but fair and generous. He looks after his people, and treats them with respect, down to the lowest scullery maid. But there are limits. Last week, Mr. Winterborne saw one of his footmen, Peter, cuff a beggar boy that had run up to him on the street. He blistered Peter’s ears with a shaming lecture, and dismissed him on the spot. The poor footman apologized and begged for forgiveness, but Mr. Winterborne wouldn’t relent. Some of the other servants and I tried to approach him on Peter’s behalf, and he threatened to dismiss us if we dared to say another word. He said there were some mistakes he could not forgive.” He was silent for a moment. “With Mr. Winterborne, there is a line never to be crossed. If someone does, he cuts them out completely, and never looks back.”