Helene

18

Helene

By Leonora Blythe

Copyright 2014 by Leonora Blythe

Cover Copyright 2014 by Ginny Glass and Untreed Reads Publishing

The author is hereby established as the sole holder of the copyright. Either the publisher (Untreed Reads) or author may enforce copyrights to the fullest extent.

Previously published in print, 1979.

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher or author, except in the case of a reviewer, who may quote brief passages embodied in critical articles or in a review. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This is a work of fiction. The characters, dialogue and events in this book are wholly fictional, and any resemblance to companies and actual persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

Also by Leonora Blythe and Untreed Reads Publishing

Carolina

Lady Tara

Sally

http://www.untreedreads.com

Helene

Leonora Blythe

For

Robert John

and

David Ross

1

THE first notes of a quadrille filled Lady Luthy’s ballroom, as the leading members of the ton took their partners in this, the tenth crush of the season.

As Helene stood in the grand, Grecian-styled entrance of the house, she wondered how much more she could endure of the simpering, overdressed, foolish men she had met thus far.

It was all too odious; she longed to get back to the country, to her horses, books, and painting. She did not know how long she could keep up the pretense of not being well read, of not enjoying any intelligence, or of not being interested in my Lord Wellington’s latest offensives.

Maybe she could last the season, if only to please her mother. What could she say to Mr. Burton, should he present himself tonight? Dare she make known to him her ambitions? Yes, she would, she decided. She did not mind if he were shocked, for if he admired her for her looks alone, then she could not take him seriously.

Unwittingly, she tapped her foot in vexation, wishing for the hundredth time that her mother had not insisted that she have at least one season. Stuff and nonsense, the whole rigamarole.

She was drawn out of her reverie as the major domo called out her name. Curtsying deeply in front of Lady Luthy, just as her governess Miss Newcombe had taught her, she showed off to perfection her simple, but exquisitely cut, gown. Her fair hair, piled high on her head in a profusion of curls, glinted in the light cast down from a multitiered chandelier.

Good evening, Lady Luthy, she murmured. What a beautiful house you have. The Grecian pillars are a classic example of… Helene, looking up, caught her mother’s glance and stopped abruptly …magnificence, she ended lamely.

Charming. What a lovely picture you present, dear Helene, Lady Luthy said vaguely, not noticing Helene’s embarrassment, as she turned to greet the next arrivals.

Lady Ambel caught Helene by the arm and whispered, You must watch your tongue, child. You almost destroyed me with your talk of Grecian pillars. I do not know what possessed your father to fill your mind with such silly nonsense.

Yes, Mama, Helene said, a mulish look on her pretty face. Let us advance into the fray and see which distinguished personages are in a cavorting mood tonight. She looked around and her eye was taken with the beauty of the house interior. It was breathtaking in its opulence. What a marvelous painting the ballroom would make with the orchestra playing in the balcony and the swaying dancers below. The sparkle radiating from all the jewels worn by the ladies and gentlemen was dazzling. The picture it presented was like a magnificent sunburst.

Maybe she was being impatient and expecting too much from an obvious set of dandies. Her eldest brother Jonathon would be in town next week. Perhaps she could persuade him to escort her to some of the more lively places her mother frowned upon. Especially the masked ball that was to be held at Ranleigh in a sennight.

And her horse, she too was due to arrive in London by the end of the week. How she had missed a spirited gallop! If she had to make do with another lame hack, she would indulge in a fit of the vapors! Looking around her, she recognized many of her new acquaintances but was pleased to see many unknown faces in the crowd. It was just possible that she might find a kindred spirit to laugh with tonight.

Impulsively, she turned to her mother, the mulish look gone. I am sorry, mama, really I am. I will try and curb my tongue in future, but it is so difficult sometimes.

There, there, child. I know you mean no harm, Lady Ambel said comfortingly. The beginning of the season is always a trifle dull, but look around and see how many new people there are here tonight. By next week the town will be packed.

And Jonathon will be here, and Thunder, Helene broke in enthusiastically. Indeed, from this very moment, I am determined to enjoy myself.

They made slow progress through the ballroom, stopping to greet various friends. The vulgar Mrs. Downey, with her overly plump daughter Sarah at her side, was the first to bid them good-evening.

That woman always managed to push herself forward, thought Lady Ambel crossly, as she returned the pleasantry haughtily before moving along to greet her old friend Mrs. Pinson. And she knew the reason why Mrs. Downey singled her out. Helene was the first hit of the season, and Mrs. Downey thrust Sarah forward at every available opportunity in the hopes that through Helene, Sarah would be accepted as part of the fashionable set. Well, not if she had anything to do with it. She would never encourage a friendship between her daughter and a daughter of a merchant. The very idea!

Whilst Lady Ambel enjoyed a cozy gossip with Mrs. Pinson, Helene was soon surrounded by the many young men who had already lost their hearts to her. Not only was she beautiful, she had an appealing manner about her that set her apart from the other young girls. She was easy to converse with and bestowed her favors equally amongst them.

But as young Mr. Monroe had said to his friend Sir Giles: The two reasons we are all in hot pursuit of Lady Helene are her fortune, and her unattainable air.

She does not seem unattainable to Mr. Burton, Sir Giles growled. He seems able to penetrate her armor. His bad temper was caused primarily because it was imperative that he marry a fortune, but it was becoming increasingly obvious to him that Helene did not favor his suit.

Helene was also popular with the dowagers because she did not put herself forward or wear false manners. She was, indeed, they all agreed, the epitome of a refined young heiress. And every matron with an eligible son had suddenly renewed their acquaintance with Lady Ambel. Lady Ambel, although not in the slightest deceived by such advances, was highly gratified by the sensation her daughter was causing. Even among her fellow debutantes Helene was popular. She had made some friends, one in particular, Juliet Sweeny. Juliet, shy, willowy, and delicate featured, shared Helen’s enthusiasm in books and intellectual pursuits. They had spent many afternoons in the library off Portman Square, letting their mothers believe they were out walking.

Helene had heard of Juliet through her childhood friend Nicholas Dexter long before she had come to London. Nicholas’ family lived in the neighboring village of Charlbury, and because of the closeness of the two families, all the children had been reared together, sharing the same tutors and governesses.

Nicholas had been her particular friend. He had fully understood her hoydenish ways and had always made excuses for her to her mother when she had arrived home with mud on her slippers or a tear in her dress. He had taught her to climb trees, to fence, to ride the most spirited horses and wield a whip until she could feather a corner to an inch. At the same time he argued with her constantly. Whether it was about the existence of slaves in certain areas of the New World, or the merits of Lord Byron’s latest poem compared with the best of Tennyson, they spent many hours agreeing and disagreeing.

Their mothers eyed the friendship knowingly and hopefully, both agreeing that their children made a handsome couple. Helene and Nicholas, unaware of this maternal approval, had already decided that as close as they were, marriage to each other was not what they wanted. Nicholas was altogether too familiar to Helene, and Helene was far too spirited a creature for Nicholas.

When Nicholas went on The Grand Tour, Helene had missed him as she missed her brother. He had written her long diaries about all the cities he visited and about the older woman he fell in love with in Rome. Helene had read with amusement the lengths he had gone to to fix the lady’s interest, and hoped it had been worth his while. When she wrote back she observed that he was quite certainly suffering from his first case of infatuation.

When he returned, he went to London and enjoyed himself as only a young gentleman of quality could. His membership was proposed and accepted at all the clubs, and without any difficulty he soon became a dashing member of the Corinthian set.

He fell in and out of love often, and Helene teased him that he only came home on a repairing lease, having no time for her now. But they were indeed halcyon days, carefree and fun-filled.

Everything changed two years ago when he came home immediately after visiting his friend John Sweeny. He applied himself to the management of his father’s encumbered estates with a zeal that surprised his entire family. The reason, as he confided to Helene, was that he had been bowled over by his friend’s sister Juliet. Her fragile beauty, her gentle manners and her exquisite mind had captured his heart, and he knew that at long last he had found someone he wanted to protect forever.

Juliet, not yet out of the schoolroom, had liked Nicholas immediately. His easy manner had pierced her shyness, and she found herself responding to him in a most lively way. Her mother had told her not to be so stupid as to moon over a gentleman with only a title, but as the year progressed, she saw more and more of Nicholas and knew that she had lost her heart forever.

Then a year ago, Nicholas had suffered a terrible riding accident in which he had lost his left arm. Juliet had only seen him once since then, and he had appeared as a white-lipped stranger. He had come to make his goodbyes, for he had decided to go abroad. Helene had also seen him before he left. She remembered that occasion vividly because he had broken down in front of her, all his frustrations and pent-up emotions spilling out of him. He had sobbed that as much as he wanted to ask Juliet to marry him, he couldn’t, because of his defect. Helene had argued with him passionately, saying that if Juliet returned his love, which she thought to be the case, then the fact that he only had one arm would make no difference. Nicholas, adamant in his misery, had retorted that he was only doing the honorable thing. How could he inflict himself, in his condition, on such a sweet person only just out of the schoolroom? Maybe if he removed himself from her presence, then she would forget about him. He was thankful that he had not officially declared himself, even though there was an unspoken understanding between them.

By Nicholas’ removing himself now, Juliet could enjoy her first season and meet young men who were whole. Yes, she would forget him, of that he was certain, especially in her excitement at seeing London for the first time. She really was so pretty and sweet-natured, and she would have all the young bucks at her feet in no time at all.

All Helene’s entreaties could not sway him, and when he had finally pulled himself together and apologized for his outburst, he refused to mention the subject again.

And now, this morning, she had received a note from him saying that he had finally decided to settle in Paris. How complicated love could become, she mused. Two young people who in any other circumstance would be so happy were wretched. She sighed, wondering if she would ever feel such passion for a man. How awful it would be if she, like her mother, made a marriage of convenience. She knew she was capable of powerful emotions and, although her mother had always insisted that a love match seldom worked out, she felt she could never accept any man as a husband whom she did not love.

Mr. Burton was the first man she had met in London who interested her, but even he lacked the special quality she was searching for. Maybe, if she got to know him better, she would find that he possessed it—whatever ‘it’ was.

Pulling herself together, she smiled gently at Mr. Monroe as she looked around for Juliet. She had been unable to meet her that afternoon, for they both had prior engagements, and she wanted to tell her about the letter from Nicholas. Excusing herself from the circle of admirers, she turned to her mother.

When you saw Lady Sweeny this afternoon, did she mention whether Juliet would be here tonight?

No, my love, she didn’t. It seems Juliet has gone into a sad decline over young Nicholas. Lady Sweeny is furious and simply doesn’t know what to do to distract her. The Earl of Radford is pressing his suit, but Juliet refuses to give him any encouragement. And as Lady Sweeny said, ‘Such an advantageous match is difficult to come by.’

Advantageous! Helene exclaimed in horror.

Just think of the settlements Radford would make, Lady Ambel answered, pausing as though deciding whether or not to break her friend’s confidence. Deciding that she would, she continued. Their needs are most pressing now. Lord Sweeny dropped ten thousand guineas at Newmarket last week. My sympathies are with Lady Sweeny completely, and she is in such a state. Radford’s fortune is really irresistible.

But, Mama, Radford terrifies Juliet. It isn’t only the age difference. He is so uncultured, and there is something sinister about him. In my opinion, he is not a man who can be trusted. And his money means nothing to Juliet. I think it vastly unfair that Lady Sweeny would make such a sacrifice of her daughter. Is there no way you can persuade her that Juliet’s happiness is more important than money? Oh! If only Nicholas knew what was happening, I know he would do something to prevent it.

Shocked by her daughter’s suggestions, Lady Ambel shook her head firmly. "No, Helene, of course there is no way I can interfere. And I am surprised at you for even suggesting such a thing. Just think how I would react if