In Bed with a Rogue (34 page)

“We all suffered, Cora. I cannot deny the truth of that.”

“Well, your suffering is over now, isn’t it?”

The door swung open, and Mr. White froze in the threshold when he spotted them in the kitchen. Cora didn’t see him, however. Her face was bright red, and Helena knew she could be as difficult to stop as a runaway team of horses when she lost her temper.

“Cora.” She tried to alert her sister to Mr. White’s presence.

“Do not ‘Cora’ me.” She stomped her foot, reminding Helena of the young girl she had known long ago. The girl who had beat her fists against Wickie and demanded he leave her sister alone. “No one ever thanks me for my sacrifice! Have you seen the man I was forced to marry? He’s
old
. And I had to throw my life away just so our sisters could have a roof over their heads and food in their bellies. It isn’t fair! I gave up everything for them.”

Mr. White’s complexion drained of color, and his mouth hung slack. His mother stood behind him and elbowed her way into the room. Her face was a molten mask. She marched to Cora and slapped her. The crack rent the air. Helena bolted from her seat with a sharp cry of surprise.

Mrs. White snarled in Cora’s face. “After everything Thomas has done for you, and you repay him by squandering his money and disparaging him? He should toss you on the streets where you belong. You ungrateful little cow.”

She drew her hand back to strike Cora again, but Mr. White lunged and caught her arm. His shock had given way to outrage, and he spoke through gritted teeth. “Mother, if you ever raise a hand to my wife again,
you
will be tossed on the streets.”

Mrs. White gawked. Her lips moved, but no sound came. She struggled free of his hold. “How can you take her side? Didn’t you hear what she said about you?”

He smiled apologetically at Cora and rubbed the back of his neck. “I
am
old, at least in comparison to my wife. And it is true I chose her and not the other way around. I cannot fault her for speaking the truth.”

“Oh, Thomas.” Tears filled Cora’s eyes, and she flung herself into his arms, burying her face against his chest. “I didn’t mean it. I’m so sorry. You aren’t too old. You are decent and kind. And the best husband. I do not deserve you.”

She burst into sobs. Helena didn’t know what to make of her sister’s display. As Mr. White stroked her hair and whispered soothing words, Helena began to fidget. She felt like a voyeur and retreated to a respectful distance at the edge of the room with Sebastian and Fergus. Fergus shifted his weight from foot to foot, appearing as uncomfortable as she did, but Sebastian watched the exchange with his keen gaze.

“Ask her what she has done,” Mrs. White said. “Ask her how much money she owes that blackguard, Zachary.”

Mr. White drew Cora under his arm and fished a handkerchief from his pocket. “Whatever Cora has done, it is none of your concern. We will sort it out between us.”

“You stupid man. It
is
my concern. If she loses the roof over our heads, where will I go? And the embarrassment she will bring on this family… You are as hopeless as your father.” Mrs. White yanked the tie holding her cloak together and slipped it off her shoulders.

Sebastian stiffened, his eyes darkening. “I know you. You were the woman at Vauxhall.”

Cora’s mother-in-law balked. “Y-you are mistaken. I have been here all night.”

Fergus held the lantern aloft, squinting in her direction. “You were there, all right. And in a mighty rush to make the ferry once you bumped into us.”

Mr. White’s forehead wrinkled. “Do you know what they are talking about?” he asked Cora. She lifted the letter from the table and passed it to him. He scanned the page, then lowered it, his lips thinning. “You weren’t coming to retrieve me from the tavern just now, Mother. You were arriving home after extorting money from Lady Prestwick. What has gotten into you?”

His mother looked down her nose at him. “I never took a shilling from the lady. She wasn’t going to meet my demands, so I did the next best thing for this family.” She shoved her hand into a pocket sewn into her cloak, pulled out a stack of pound notes, and shook them at Cora. “
I
am saving my son and grandchildren from ruin.
The
Informer
pays well for wicked little secrets. Enough to hold Zachary at bay for now.”

The
Informer
? The floor tilted beneath Helena and her legs wobbled. Sebastian wrapped his arm around her to bear her weight and helped her to a chair.

“Helena!” Cora’s eyes were wide as she hurried to her side. Her sister’s voice sounded far away.

“I am all right.” Except she wasn’t. All her dreams were crumbling around her. Her wish to give their youngest sister a respectable life vanished. Her own reputation would be shattered the moment
The
Informer
went to print. The room blurred as tears welled in her eyes. And Sebastian couldn’t marry her now, not without ruining his family and himself.

Cora spun on her mother-in-law. “You bitch,” she hissed. “No one disrespects my sister. Get out of my house.”

“I am not leaving. I live here, too.”

With a low growl deep in her throat, Cora pounced, but her husband caught her around the waist and lifted her feet from the floor. She shook her fist at the older woman. “I said get out.”

“Quiet,” Mr. White snapped. “Both of you. Cora, sit and don’t say another word.”

He set her down and Helena’s sister did as he commanded, hatred blazing in her eyes as she glared at Mrs. White.

The woman lifted a haughty brow.

“And you, Mother.” He jabbed a finger in her direction. “I have never been ashamed to call myself your son until now.”

“This isn’t my fault. It’s all hers. She—”

“Stop! Tomorrow you will pack your belongings, say good-bye to the children, and leave for Agatha’s home in the country.”

She gasped. “I can’t stay with your sister. She treats me worse than an animal.”

“You cannot stay here either. What you have done is deplorable. I cannot imagine a poorer example to set for the children.”

Reality must have hit the older woman, because her face fell and her shoulders slumped. “Who will help Cora with the children?”

“I expect she will be busy, which should keep her out of trouble.”

Cora lowered her head.

Mr. White took the money from his mother and brought it to Helena. “I deeply regret what has happened tonight, my lady. This money is ill-gotten gains, and I will not allow it in my home. It cannot erase what my mother has done, but please, accept it as reparation.”

Helena pushed his hand away. She couldn’t stomach the sight of the small stack of bills. Was this all her reputation was worth?

“There must be something we can do,” Helena said. Even as the words left her lips, she knew it was hopeless. Showing up at the editor’s door demanding the story not be printed wouldn’t solve anything. The truth about her past was no longer a secret, and word would spread one way or another.

Sebastian helped her from the chair. “We should go.”

Cora stood too and threw her arms around Helena. “Please forgive me, Helena. Please do not disown me. I’m sorry.”

Helena halfheartedly hugged her back. “You are my sister. Nothing will ever change that fact, but you need to straighten up and stop behaving like a child. You have a good man who loves you, and a family that needs you.”

Her sister nodded and swiped at her tears. “I know.”

Mr. White walked Helena, Sebastian, and Fergus to the door, insisting they come through the shop. He withdrew a key to unlock the metal gate across the glass-front door and apologized again.

She smiled sadly. “I do not hold you responsible, Mr. White.”

Sebastian placed his arm around her shoulders and ushered her to the carriage. His warmth filled her with sadness. She didn’t know how she would survive losing him.

“What time is it?” he asked Fergus.

Fergus extracted his watch with a sigh and checked the time. “It is three o’clock.”

Sebastian mumbled directions, then climbed into the carriage and sat beside her. As the carriage started with a small jerk, he gathered her in his arms. “Mother and Eve will be asleep, but I am sure they will understand.”

Her despair interfered with her ability to comprehend. “Pardon?”

“They should hear the news from us.”

Her face flamed. “I don’t know what to say. I’m so very sorry.”

“Almost three weeks with no scandal. We had a nice stretch.” He twirled a strand of hair that had fallen at her cheek. “Scandal is our family legacy, I’m afraid. You will grow accustomed to it in time, my beloved wife-to-be.”

Her breath caught.

He smiled and kissed the end of her nose. “You didn’t think this changed anything between us, did you? I have never been happier than I have been with you these last few weeks, Helena. You are my life, my meaning. I cannot turn my back on us.”

Fresh tears spilled onto her cheeks. “But what about your mother and Eve?”

He swept his thumb across the wetness and sighed. “I wish I could spare them, but what is done is done. There is no going back. Mother and Eve are resilient enough to weather the storm, and so are we.”

Nothing would be the way she had imagined, but he was correct. She would persevere, just as she had endured the last nine years. Only this time she wasn’t alone.

Her throat felt thick with emotion. This time she had this loving, kind man by her side. Her sisters were back in her life. And she would be part of a family again.

She trailed her finger along the curve of his dark brow, the gentle slope of his nose, his lovely mouth, and his strong chin. Her hand rested on his chest. No, nothing was exactly as she’d imagined, but she had everything she wanted, and the only thing she had ever needed.

Sebastian
.

“I love you so much,” she whispered.

His lips brushed against hers, moist and hot like the summer evening. He enveloped her: his scent, his taste, the feel of his taut muscles beneath her palm. His hands made slow passes over her back, spreading fire through her veins. She strained into his kiss, and he lifted her onto his lap with ease; his fingers nestled into her hair. When he pulled back slightly, his mouth hovered over hers. They shared one breath, one heartbeat. His eyes glittered in the dim interior of the carriage.

“I love you too, sweetheart.”

Thirty

Sebastian woke before Helena. Sunlight streamed through her bedchamber windows, brightening the already cheerful yellow walls. She was half sprawled atop him in the bed, her soft hair covering his shoulder and arm like a luxurious blanket. Her bare breast was flattened against his chest. He hugged her and placed a featherlight kiss on her forehead, being careful not to wake her. He hoped she would remain in blissful unconsciousness a while longer.

The knot that had formed in his throat last night when they learned Helena’s past would be exposed had doubled in size. He had feigned bravado with her in the carriage. Not that he doubted their ability to persevere. They would. But the weeks ahead would be difficult.

The ladies who had befriended her would give her the cut direct in the streets. There would be no invitations. Lady Eldridge would be forced to disown Helena if she hoped to save face herself. And they were likely looking at months of hurtful lies being printed about Helena. About him. Possibly Eve.

His sister and mother had been amazing in their acceptance of Helena last night when he woke them. His mother had sat with Helena on the sofa, holding her hand and lending quiet strength.

And Eve… She had been classic Eve.

You
love
her, Sebastian James Edmund Thorne, and if you do not marry her, I will crown you with this
—she grabbed a three-pronged candelabrum from the sideboard and shook it.
This! You are happy. Do not muck it up
.

He had laughed and ruffled her hair to hide his swell of emotion.
I
have
no
plans
to
break
our
betrothal, poppet, but your approval warms my heart
.

He wouldn’t leave Eve’s future to chance, however. Her happiness was important too. Today he would seek out Sir Jonathan and double his sister’s dowry. The gentleman could take her far away, on one of his expeditions. If there were someplace safe enough Sebastian could agree to let her go.

He tried to swallow past the knot in his throat. He didn’t want to send away his sister. It would break Mother’s heart. And his.

They could all retreat to Aldmist Fell until the scandal died away. Sebastian would have to give up his work for the King’s former soldiers, but surely his father would have wanted him to take care of family first. Perhaps Ellis would agree to cosponsor the act in Sebastian’s stead.

Helena began to wake. She exhaled, her breath dancing across his skin and stirring the hair on his chest.

He stroked her soft cheek. “Good morning, love.”

“Morning,” she mumbled and stretched long like that worthless cat she had rescued.

Now that he wasn’t smarting from the feline’s vicious claws, the surprise attack was a bit humorous. He chuckled, jostling Helena.

She rose to her elbow. “Why are you laughing?”

“I was just wondering if that hellcat is going to pounce again while I am putting on my trousers.”

She rolled to her back, her sweet dimples winking up at him. “I put her out of the chamber last night. You are safe.”

“Thank you.” He gave her a sound kiss then crawled from bed. “I should go.”

“Where are you going? I thought you would stay long enough to break your fast.”

He grabbed the trousers he had discarded on a chair early that morning. She sat up in bed and the covers fell to her waist. Her pale pink nipples puckered in the cooler air. His morning cockstand returned. With a soft groan, he turned his back to her and shoved his leg into the trousers. “I need to call on Sir Jonathan. He should know what has happened.”