Seduced by an Irresistible Lady: A Historical Regency Romance Book

by Henrietta Harding

  Lady Lavinia eyed Helena playfully.

  “You had better keep your hands off my clothes,” she replied.

  “Do help me take these clothes to Helena’s room, Justina. I want to go try them on there,” Lady Lavinia said.

  Miss Justina picked up the heap of clothes, with a few falling off. Lady Lavinia picked the three dresses that fell off and followed Miss Justina as she walked out of the parlour. Helena followed her friends.

  The day was at mid afternoon and was getting hotter. Helena used her fingers to trace the ridges on the carved wood of the walls.

  “My grandfather had this wood imported from Lebanon. These are top notch Lebanese cedar, so don’t scratch them,” the Baron would always say.

  Where is Father anyway?

  Helena wondered why her father was becoming quieter of recent. He had not gone out that morning; she was sure he was still inside, but he hadn’t come out when the physician was leaving.

  He hasn’t been coming out for anything lately. I’ll check him once Lavinia leaves.

  She went into her room after her friend and maid had entered. The white walls of her room were always a welcome sight. The colour soothed her. Helena looked at her image in the big mirror that faced the door. Her red hair was rough; she had not brushed it again that afternoon. It was always roughing up after a few hours of no attention. She saw Lavinia pick another dress from the heap out of the periphery of her eyes while she walked to the mirror to look at herself.

  Am I gaining weight?

  Her cheeks seemed chubbier than they had been the day before. Her bust was more pronounced.

  Surely, it is bigger. Or is it this dress?

  Her skin was still bleached white. She always compared herself to Miss Justina whenever she felt she was getting darker. She turned back to look at her maid’s skin, and the dark colour of her skin still opposed her own strikingly. She compared her skin with Lady Lavinia’s. Lady Lavinia’s skin colour was a mild cream, just in between hers and Miss Justina. Helena removed a small thread that had gotten tangled in her hair.

  It’s probably from the fabric of Lavinia’s new clothes.

  Her white fingers contrasted with the tomato red of her lips. She puckered her lips then eased them again. Her eyes were dry grey. Lady Lavinia once called them the most uninteresting set of eyes in England. But Helena had discovered that the contrast of the deep red of her lips with her nearly colourless eyes mesmerized many men. Her round face with flawless skin just accentuated the effect they had. She was a beautiful woman.

  “You could tell me what you think about this shift when you are done admiring yourself,” Lady Lavinia said, budging Helena out of her thoughts.

  She had removed the gown she was wearing and had a shift she had just bought on. It was brown and clung tight to her chubby body.

  “It’s fine, fits you well,” Helena said.

  She watched as her friend, dressed and undressed, trying all the clothes she bought. She criticised how some looked and praised others. Only after making her own decision on them did she ask for Helena and Miss Justina’s thoughts on them. And when they gave a different opinion, she argued against it and reverted back to the initial opinion she had.

  “You insist the pink dress is spread too much below the waist. So why do you ask our opinion if it wouldn’t affect what you think?” Helena asked her.

  “I just want you to talk so you won’t be bored watching me look good,” Lady Lavinia replied.

  Helena shook her head at her friend’s reply.

  There is always one cheeky response just below the surface.

  Miss Justina walked to Helena.

  “I need to prepare hot water for the Baron,” she said under very low tones.

  Helena wondered if she didn’t intend Lady Lavinia to hear her speak.

  “Why you? What of father’s personal steward?”

  “The man has gone to the doctor’s house. He is to collect a draught that will help the Baron sleep better,” Miss Justina said.

  Helena was confused.

  “Why does Father need to sleep better? And I didn’t know the doctor saw him too.”

  “I have been told to keep this secret as much as possible, but you are his daughter, ma’am, so you need to know. The Baron has been feeling weak for more than a week now. Mister Wallace also told me he has been unable to sleep. The Duchess calling for Dr Frederick was to treat the Baron as much as for Miss Jacqueline. She didn’t mention it to you because for some reason the Duchess ordered that no one speaks about it.”

  “Why do you gossip about me? Why not tell me what the source of your jealousy is now, instead of speaking behind my back?” Lady Lavinia said to them.

  She had removed the last new gown and was back in the dress she originally wore. Helena tapped Miss Justina on the shoulder, signalling her to go.

  “Even if you are dressed in the most royal silk, Lavinia, I’ll still be prettier than you,” Helena said.

  “That’s the jealousy speaking,” Lady Lavinia replied.

  Helena pushed the disturbing news about her father to the back of her mind and walked to the bed. She sat down beside her friend.

  “My cousins should be arriving this evening or early tomorrow morning,” Lady Lavinia said.

  “Which of your cousins?” Helena asked her.

  Lady Lavinia looked at her friend with bewilderment in her eyes. She shook her head and clapped her hands in a show of wonderment.

  “How are you so smart anyway?” she asked. “You forget small details so quickly.”

  “Are you going to tell me, or are you satisfied with just talking about my forgetfulness?” Helena asked her.

  Lady Lavinia shook her head again.

  “I told you yesterday that my first cousins on my mother’s side are coming from Ireland, the set of twins?”

  Helena remembered that Lady Lavinia had mentioned visiting cousins the day before.

  “I remember now. You said they used to visit a lot when you were still children.”

  “Yes, they did. Mother tells me the guy is coming with a friend, an Irish prince,” Lady Lavinia said.

  “Really, the young man must be really fond of travelling, for him to leave his family just to visit with his friend,” Helena said.

  “My thoughts exactly,” Lady Lavinia said.

  Both of them kept quiet for a few seconds before Helena broke the silence.

  “That means we get to go to the Somerset ball with a full company. Three of us along with your cousins and their friend, that’s a lot of people,” Helena said.

  “The more, the merrier,” Lady Lavinia replied.

  Helena smiled at her friend’s comment. She had not picked something to wear to the Somerset ball. That was the first ball of the season; she had to make an impression. She doubted Lady Lavinia had bought anything she intended to wear either. The Somerset ball was white themed, and her friend had not bought any white dress.

  “We still have to go shopping,” Helena said.

  “Of course. I don’t think I have any white dress still in fashion. The ball is coming up at the end of next week. We have to buy our dresses before then,” Lady Lavinia replied.

  “It’s good we haven’t bought what we intend to buy. We can all go together, your cousins and their friend inclusive,” Helena said.

  Lady Lavinia lay back on the bed and placed her legs on it. She used her feet to ease her shoes off, allowing them to drop on the wooden floor. Helena looked outside. The sinking sun was changing from a bright yellow to a radiant orange. It was low now, sending its rays directly into her room and heating her face.

  Helena loved the soft sting of the weak rays on her cheeks. It heated her up and made her appreciate the cool that evening brought. She looked at her mirror, but the rays reflected heavily on it. She couldn’t see anything on it.

  She thought about her sister and her father. She had wondered when her mother had asked for the physician to be summoned early that morning.

 
Yes, Jacqueline is ill, but it wasn’t so bad. We’ve all been as ill as that without necessarily getting the physician to come over. We just buy laudanum for the fever, and she gets over it in a few days.

  She needed to check on her father. The man had never fallen seriously ill since she had known him. The issue worried her.

  “I need to check my sister, Lavinia,” Helena said.

  Lady Lavinia did not respond. Helena turned to look at her friend. Lady Lavinia’s chest rose and fell in a gentle vacillating motion. Helena could hear her breathe, steady streams of air that eased out of her mouth and nostrils. Her friend was asleep. Helena walked to her window and closed it a bit. She didn’t want the sun pouring its rays directly on her friend.

  “I need to check on my father,” she said.

  Chapter 2

  To Check on Family

  Helena stopped at Miss Jacqueline’s door first. She pushed it open and saw her sister sitting upright on her bed. The Baroness was sitting opposite and talking to her.

  “You look much better,” Helena said.

  Miss Jacqueline nodded.

  “I feel better,” she replied.

  “There it is,” Helena said.

  “There is what?” their mother asked.

  “Her voice is still very weak, cracking. That’s the sign she is still recovering,” Helena replied.

  “Oh,” the Baroness said softly, “I thought it was something serious.”

  “Do you still feel weak?” Helena asked.

  “Just a bit; my head still aches,” her sister answered.

  Helena walked to her sister’s side and sat on the bed beside her. The heat from her fever radiated to Helena.

  “Where is Melanie?” she asked her mother.

  “She went off with her friends. They went to one of their houses. I’m not sure which one,” the Baroness replied.

  “I hope they took a coach and a driver.”

  “Of course, they did.”

  Helena placed her palm on her sister’s neck. It was as hot as she expected.

  “Why are you up? I expected you to still be lying in bed,” Helena said to her younger sister.

  “I am tired of lying down. That’s why I haven’t used the potion the doctor gave me. He said it’ll help me sleep,” Miss Jacqueline responded in a tired sounding voice.

  Helena nodded her head and reminded herself to force her sister to drink it before she left the room.

  “I wanted to ask, Mother, how did we come to hire this particular physician?” Helena asked.

  Her mother smiled.

  “He was Dr Terry’s assistant. Dr Terry Agar? Do you remember him?” her mother asked.

  “The doctor who was really old. I think you told me he had passed away.”

  “Yes, he has. He died a few months back. Well, Dr Frederick Cooper was his assistant. He was already a doctor, but I think he wanted to gain expert knowledge from a trusted doctor who had spent decades treating people of the ton. The few times we needed a doctor, you will remember that we used Dr Terry. Well, he had advised that in the advent he wasn’t around, we use Dr Frederick,” her mother said.

  Helena nodded her head.

  “He’s pretty young right?” Miss Jacqueline said.

  Helena nodded again. The Baroness smiled.

  “Why are you smiling?” she asked her mother.

  “I like it that you are so taken with the doctor,” her mother said.

  There was a loud gasp from Miss Jacqueline. Helena rolled her eyes and shook her head vigorously.

  “I am not,” she contended.

  “I guess you think I’m too straitlaced to admit that to me; you wouldn’t be shaking your head if Lavinia had said that.”

  “I daresay I would,” Helena said.

  Miss Jacqueline giggled, which drew a look from Helena.

  “Well, my point is this. He is a highly thought of physician. He is cultured and behaves himself in accordance with the mannerisms of a man high ranking. If you brought a man like that to scratch, there wouldn’t be too much harm done,” the Baroness said.

  Helena studied her mother’s wriggling brows as she finished speaking. She had gotten her white skin from her mother, they all had. But her mother now had small, red patches on parts of her skin. There were creases in some spots where Helena’s was smooth.

  This is how I’ll look in a few decades, not too bad.

  “Did you hear a word I said?” the Duchess said, her eyes hardening.

  “I did, Mother. You know my views on the issue of marriage. I am not totally against it, but I am yet to meet a man that deserves such from me,” she replied.

  “You haven’t because you do not give any chance for them to spark up a topic with you, or to even compliment you. That was why I was surprised that you took the doctor’s flattery so well. I think we need to get rid of your father’s books. We’ll move them out of your reach in the least. We’ll keep them for your brothers when they get older,” the Duchess said.

  Those boys do not care much for books.

  “Men do not want a woman who can challenge them. I am not out to challenge men, but they want a woman who will agree with all they say, right or wrong,” Helena said.

  “I don’t much care what you think, Helena. I do know you are my first daughter. I have two more behind you,” her mother said, looking at Miss Jacqueline.

  “I need you to find a man with great social standing. If he is a man of peer, even better,” her mother concluded.

  Helena was tired of getting into arguments with her parents over marriage.

  I’ll marry when it’s time.

  “So where is Father?” Helena asked her mother. She looked directly into her mother’s eyes. She wanted to detect any hidden truths in them.

  Miss Jacqueline lay back down on the bed.

  “He’s inside his chamber, as always. Why do you ask?” the Baroness asked.

  Helena shook her head. She shifted closer to the edge of the bed to allow her sister space to spread herself.

  “Nothing, I just noticed I haven’t been seeing a lot of him lately,” Helena replied.

  The Baroness smiled.

  “He is your father, Helena. If you want to see him, all you have to do is go to his chamber. He has been really busy with affairs of the barony, a lot of official assignments he has to plot out,” the Baroness replied.

  Her mother dropped her eyes as she said the last statement. Helena knew she was hiding something.

  Justina was right.

  Helena stretched and used her left hand to pick up the bottle of a dark looking potion the doctor had brought for Miss Jacqueline. She opened it and gestured for Miss Jacqueline to sit up. Miss Jacqueline hesitated, but only for a brief moment. Helena smiled.

  She decided it was useless arguing with me on this.

  Helena moved closer to her sister and poured a bit of the liquid into her open mouth. She stopped, put the cover back, and dropped it on the table. Meanwhile the faces her sister was making told her the liquid must have been very distasteful. She stood up and turned to leave.

  “Distasteful?” she said, looking back at her sister.

  “As bitter as bile,” her sister said while making funny faces.

  Helena laughed as she walked out. She heard her mother stand up after her. Helena walked outside the room and stayed just outside the door, waiting for her mother.

  When the door opened to let her mother out, she waited till her mother closed the door to her sister’s room. She stood in front of her mother.

  “So now really, what is wrong with Father?” Helena asked her mother.

  The Baroness smiled, the smile breaking into a small laugh.

  “I knew you knew more than you were letting on when you asked,” the Baroness said.

  “Is he sick?”

  “He is not feeling too well. He told me not to tell any of you this, but I am guessing you heard this through Justina. I need you to keep this a secret. He will get better,” her mother said.
>
  “Why do we need to keep Father getting ill a secret?” Helena asked.

  The Baroness covered her mouth with her left hand.

  “I cannot tell you, Helena,” the Baroness said. “I have told you enough. Your father is a very proud man. He will not take it lightly that I confirmed his illness, much more giving you more information. I have to ask you to go and ask him.”