Of course, she didn’t care about that. She wasn’t looking for love; she probably didn’t even understand what love was. She merely wanted to better her position at court. She wanted a conquest. Eric just wasn’t interested.
He showed her to the door, breathing a sigh of relief when she was gone. He hadn’t seen the last of her, and he could only hope that more gossip wouldn’t spread around town about this visit. But he had more important things on his mind.
How would he prove Dr. Ellington innocent? There had to be a clue that he was missing.
Eric went back to the reports that had already come in, poring over the information there. By the time night fell, however, he was no closer to finding out the truth.
Chapter 15
Miss Charlene Ellington
As the days passed, Charlene felt increasingly hopeless. Her lack of job afforded her too much time to dwell on her current situation.
She had no friends to whom she could turn for advice about any of this either. Many who were once her friends had scorned her now, not wanting any part of the gossip that still seemed to follow her wherever she went.
There were no social outings to distract her, and there was still no good news about her father’s situation.
She was starting to think that things were well and truly over for her. If her father was convicted, she would have no future. If her father wasn’t convicted, she still had no future.
There was no chance of her father not being convicted, save her marrying Lord Ambrose. That had become rapidly apparent. There was too much evidence stacked up against Dr. Ellington, and Charlene on her own couldn’t find any information refuting any of that evidence.
She wished that Eric were still helping her. There had been no word from him since the rumors had spread about the two of them seeing one another in private.
Charlene knew things had to be that way. He would risk his reputation by sending her even a final letter. And what that meant was that he could have no continued role in helping her to prove her father’s innocence. It would have risked too much.
She never should have asked him in the first place. It had been too great a favor to ask from him, and it had landed both of them in hot water.
The gossip about Eric had changed, of course. Another couple balls had passed, and everyone was again talking about the young duke and the Lady Annabelle, who had been seen dancing together once again.
Everyone seemed to be wondering when Eric would finally ask the woman for her hand in marriage.
It made Charlene feel sick to think about it. Eric had told her that he wasn’t interested in the other woman, but had he merely been saying that? He certainly seemed to like dancing with her, if nothing else. Otherwise, why would he not say no?
Charlene looked out the window, feeling restless. What was there for her to do, though? She was sick to death of staying inside day in and day out, but she couldn’t go out into the city without Helene’s supervision.
In any case, she had no desire to hear the hushed whispers as she passed. Really, she would have thought that everyone would have moved on by now.
The worst was when they likened to her ‘murderer of a father’. It seemed that the entirety of London had made up its mind that Dr. Ellington must be guilty of poisoning Lord Henrich.
If he wasn’t hanged, who knew who the man might murder next.
Worse, even though Charlene had been in London at the time that the man was killed, everyone seemed to think that she must have had some role in the murder.
“She’s mentioned more than once that she knows how to treat most basic ailments,” one woman would say.
“She advised me when my Davey was sick that he should have a certain type of medicine,” another fretted. “Was she trying to murder my Davey too?”
Helene always grit her teeth and kept her head high. Charlene couldn’t seem to muster that level of aplomb. She ducked her head and shuffled along behind her aunt, no doubt looking ever guiltier with each new rumor.
It was better that she remain here in the house. Was this to be the rest of her life, though, hidden away in the shadows like some disfigured thief?
“You received a message from the Marquess this morning,” Helene informed her one morning over breakfast. Charlene could barely eat and instead had been picking listlessly at a roll, shredding it to crumbs on her plate.
She looked guiltily up at her aunt. But her aunt clearly had more on her mind than her niece’s table manners.
“What does it say?” Charlene asked, certain that her aunt would have already opened the message.
“He was hoping he might call on you. No doubt, he’s hoping that you might have an answer for him regarding his proposal.” Helene paused. “I presume it won’t be too much longer before it’s too late to save your father.”
Her voice was choked, and it made Charlene feel all the more guilty. They hadn’t talked about the marriage proposal again since the first time she had told Helene about it, but it was always there in the background of their interactions.
She couldn’t stop thinking about what her aunt had initially said: she wouldn’t force Charlene to marry against her will, but if their roles were reversed, she would have done whatever it took to save her brother’s life.
Charlene knew that she should just marry the Marquess and be done with it. It was the only logical thing to do. Marry Lord Ambrose and all the whispers would stop. She’d be free to return to her normal activities.
Perhaps she wouldn’t be accepted as a chaperone again, but she would find other pursuits. The other women might still sneer about her behind her back, but they would be friendly enough to her to her face. It would at least be better than being cooped up here.
Except for the fact that she would be married to Lord Ambrose, sharing a home and a bed with him. She still felt sick at the very thought of that. Yet she felt sicker at the thought of her father going to the gallows because she had refused to marry the investigator.
She had just been so hopeful that she and Eric would be able to prove her father’s innocence and… And then what? The Duke would never be free to marry someone of her stature. Even if the man was interested.
The more Charlene thought about it, though, the more she knew that she had merely built up some sort of fairytale in her head.
The first time that Eric had kissed her, he hadn’t even known her. He still barely even knew her. How could he possibly want anything more than sex with her?
He likely thought that as an old spinster, unmarried and likely to remain that way, she would be the perfect choice for a mistress.
Charlene didn’t doubt that he would treat her well, but they would both know that she could never hope to ask for anything more than that.
“Have you made a decision with regards to the proposal?” Helene asked.
Charlene sighed. “You know I don’t want to marry him,” she said frankly. “But nor have I any wish to be the reason that my father is sent to hang.”
She frowned unhappily. “I just wish we could get to the bottom of this investigation. I’m sure that Father didn’t kill Lord Henrich, and I’m certain that he wouldn’t have made such a strange mistake.
“It’s enough to make me wonder if Lord Ambrose fabricated this whole situation himself just so that he could con me into marrying him.”
“Charlene!” her aunt said, aghast. She looked around like she was afraid that someone might overhear the two of them. But they were still alone. “That’s a very serious accusation,” she hissed.
“I didn’t truly mean it,” Charlene muttered. “I simply wonder how it is that the investigator has found so much damning evidence about a man who has committed no crime.”
She looked sharply at her aunt. “Or have you made up your mind that your brother must have done what he is accused of?”
It was Helene’s turn to sigh. “I don’t know what to believe, Charlene,” she said truthfully. “I don’t like to think that he intentionally poisoned Lord
Henrich.
“On the other hand, you know firsthand that corruption runs rampant in this country. There’s no telling what someone might have blackmailed him with in turn.”
Charlene’s hand flew to her mouth. She had never even considered that someone might have blackmailed her father like Lord Ambrose was trying to blackmail her. Even still, she had the perhaps childish belief in her father.
No matter what someone tried to use against her father, Charlene believed the man would never do anything immoral.
Was that naïve? She didn’t know.
“I do believe that whatever it is that truly happened, the wisest course of action would be to marry the Marquess,” Helene added, taking a bite of her breakfast. “Shall I arrange for him to come to see you sometime this week?”
Charlene had no response to that either. She knew that her aunt’s words were true. It would be best for her to agree to Lord Ambrose’s proposal. It was a likely way out of the situation that they were currently in.
She needed to quit holding out hope that the justice system would work the way that it was intended to. She needed to stop being so naïve.
At the same time, she couldn’t picture a future with the Marquess. It felt as though either way, her life was over – financially, emotionally, and especially in the way of romance.
At the same time, with this level of scandal to her name, her life was over either way. Again, especially in the way of romance. No man in his sane mind would agree to marry her now.
If she couldn’t save herself, at least she had a chance to save her father. Wasn’t that worth something?
That thought didn’t make her feel any less hollow, however. Charlene stood abruptly, excusing herself without giving her aunt an answer. She could hear the woman’s sigh of exasperation as she fled to the privacy of her room, but Helene didn’t pursue her.
Chapter 16
Mrs. Helene Ellington
The house was quiet, and Helene couldn’t help but feel the ghosts pressing in around her. She had always hoped to fill this place with love and warmth, but these days, the place felt exactly the opposite.
She thought back to when she was younger. The whole family had lived here, her brother and her and their parents, plus a few of their cousins had come to stay as well.
Everything had changed when the whole family had come down with some sort of plague. Of course, the city of London in general seemed to have an outbreak every year, but they didn’t always affect the upper class the way that this one had.
The doctors still weren’t sure what exactly it had been, perhaps some epidemic sent by God to test them. Helene knew that she had been tested, all right. She and her brother had been the only surviving members of their family.
Her brother had decided, then, to devote his life to the study of medicine. He had left the following season to study in Cambridge, leaving Helene alone to look after their property in London.
She had hated staying here, but she didn’t know what else to do. Someone needed to tend to the place, after all.
Besides, wherever she went, in the whole of England or the rest of the world, she knew that she could never be rid of these feelings of loneliness that ate at her. Gone from the house was the laughter and the joy.
Helene had sworn to herself that she would bring it back, though. If it took her entire lifetime, she would see this house filled with family again.
Of course, with no father to broker marriage deals for her and her brother throwing himself into his studies at the university, Helene had known that it was unlikely that she would find herself married any time soon.
Especially since she was now a woman living alone, something which everyone seemed to find a very novel concept.
Helene had always hoped for better for Charlene. That was her thought in bringing the young woman here to London to live with her.
She knew, of course, that Charlene was more than happy in Bath, helping out with her father. Her brother Aldric had made that very clear to her when Helene had first asked him to send Charlene to her.
In actuality, Helene had been a little alarmed when she heard how her brother was raising the girl. She was educated, and she had all the knowledge of a dedicated healer. That just wasn’t proper in a woman.
She had fretted even then that she wouldn’t be able to find a suitable match for Charlene.
Still, she hadn’t wanted to face defeat. Charlene might be happy now, but Helene had a feeling that the older the woman got, the more she was going to realize that she should have started a family when she had a chance.
Wasn’t that, after all, the regret that Helene herself had?
Oh, she had never really wanted to be married. She’d never met a man whom she wanted to marry, and again, there were all of those logistical details that she didn’t know how to solve.
A chaperone could help her in the courting phases, but she needed her brother for much beyond that.
That said, she likely could have been married, if she’d really wanted to be. And she had wanted to have children. She certainly had wanted that.
By the time she realized that her desire for children outweighed her desire to remain unmarried, however, she had been too old for any to be interested in her. She’d had to content herself with doting on her young niece.
Not that Helene would have raised the child at all similar to the way that her brother had.
She had to smile at that thought. She supposed she wouldn’t know how differently she would have done things unless she had actually had a child of her own. But Aldric had given the girl far too much freedom and raised her far too much like a boy.
A young woman needed a mother’s influence so that she could become graceful and glib. Charlene, on the other hand, was always a tad too blunt and spirited.
Helene poked her head into her niece’s room now. The girl hadn’t come down for supper, and to Helene’s surprise, she was already in bed with the curtains drawn and the lights out.
She listened for a moment to the deep, easy breathing of sleep. Well, at least one of them could still sleep.
As for herself, Helene felt she hadn’t slept since she had first heard the news of her brother’s arrest. What little family she had left was in danger. And she knew that if Aldric was hanged, there would be no hope for any more family in the future.
She didn’t know what she and Charlene would do to support themselves. Their family’s old fortunes wouldn’t last forever, and neither of them would be able to find any sort of work.
Charlene would never have a chance to marry again. Oh, she didn’t have much of a chance now, anyhow.
Helene’s worst fears were proving true about the girl: she was far too spirited for most of the gentlemen to want to take her on. She risked scandal with every step, it sometimes seemed.
Helene was shocked to hear that the Marquess was interested in marrying the young woman. But then, she like everyone else had heard the rumors surrounding his first wife’s demise.
She didn’t want anything like that for Charlene. Then again, she doubted that Charlene would let Lord Ambrose treat her the way that his first wife had.
It was the only reason that Helene was at all willing to consider the Marquess’ proposal to her niece. She knew that Charlene wouldn’t be cowed by the man. She just wished that Charlene seemed as sure about that.
Instead, she could see the fear in Charlene’s eyes every time the marriage proposal was mentioned. It wasn’t just that she was afraid that her father would be hanged if she didn’t accept the offer.
No, Helene knew her niece better than that. Charlene’s fears for her father were all tangled up in anger. She didn’t believe that the system could fail the man that way.
She refused to let go of her righteous indignation that someone would dare accuse her father of either misdiagnosing Lord Henrich or abusing his position and deliberately poisoning the nobleman.
This was a different kind of fear, her fear of Lord Ambrose. Charlene looked li
ke she expected to be in the grave by the time the year was out, if she agreed to marry him.
She looked haunted. It made Helene wonder what she thought was really going to happen. She wasn’t sure how to talk to her niece about that, though.
At the end of the day, it was Charlene’s decision if she wanted to accept the Marquess’ proposal. Helene hated that it had come to this, but it had.
She hadn’t been lying when she had told her niece that she would have done whatever she could if it was at all in her power to save Aldric. He and Charlene were the only family that Helene had left.
A Wicked Scandal For The Bluestocking (Steamy Historical Regency) Page 12