by Abby Ayles
“It will never affect how I feel about you,” she added as she looked into his eyes.
“Nor my feelings towards you,” he replied as he took hold of her hand.
“I wish you could stay. I wish that the wedding was today and I was your wife already.”
“We have only to wait a little longer,” he answered. “Soon, there will no reason for me to say goodbye.”
“Then do not say it now,” she pleaded. “Say something else, but not goodbye.”
He smiled. “Until we meet again, Helena, good night.”
Chapter 40
He looked up at the white cloths that lay over the windows of the house on Sutton Street. The entire house was covered in white to await its new owners.
Everything that had meaning had been removed, and everything else had been packed away. Elias would miss this house. It held many wonderful memories, but he and Helena and the rest of the Leeson family were about to make all new memories.
The day had come faster than expected. Repington’s Goldsmith & Jewellers had a new manager, and the house on Sutton Street had been sold, contents included. The new owners were set to take possession at Christmas.
“Be careful,” Elias instructed as the Leesons’ bags and trunks were loaded onto the back of four carriages. “If you do it that way you may injure yourself.”
Elias’s father had sent their carriages to assist in transporting the family and staff to Balwell. He thought it a treat, as most of the staff would never have ridden in something so fine. It was their welcome gift to Balwell Manor.
“Lord Chatleton,” a voice called from behind him. Elias turned and to his amazement found Agatha Eggerton standing there with her lady’s maid. Their carriage stood a few feet away.
“Miss Agatha,” he replied in surprise. “What brings you to London?”
She smiled politely. “I have come to congratulate you and Helena,” she announced.
“You came all this way?”
“I was visiting some friends in town when my mother wrote to tell me of the wonderful news. I wanted to come and congratulate you personally."
Elias looked at her. There was more to her visit than she indicated. It was the look in her eyes that gave it away, but Elias suspected the presence of others hindered her from speaking.
“Why don’t we go upstairs? Helena is preparing the last of the bags,” he informed as he led her into the house.
“Mr. Maypole, if it is not too much trouble, could you take over overseeing the men. I am afraid they might hurt themselves in their efforts.”
“Certainly, Lord Chatleton,” the butler replied and turned to the task.
Up the stairs, he escorted Agatha and her lady’s maid to the entertainment room. “Would you like to sit?” he asked them as his hand took hold of one of the sheets that covered the furniture.
“Thank you,” Agatha replied and Elias proceeded to uncover two of the seats. “I can see you are all very busy. We shall not stay long,” Agatha added as they took their seats.
“Very well. I will fetch Helena for you.”
Elias turned from the room and found Beatrice headed to the stair from her room.
“Beatrice, would you tell Helena that your cousin Agatha is here to see her?”
“Agatha?” his soon-to-be sister-in-law replied in surprise. “Whatever brings her here?”
“She has come with her congratulations,” Elias informed.
Beatrice could not hide her wonderment. “Oh my, how things have changed. You would never think her to do any such thing for this family the way she treated us before. I am glad she has come to her senses.”
Elias was as well.
He returned to the entertainment room. Agatha was pacing nervously. Her lady’s maid sat, quietly watching.
“Helena will be with us in a moment,” he informed. “Are you sure you do not wish to sit?”
“Yes,” Agatha confirmed.
It wasn’t long before Helena appeared at the door. She looked as surprised to see Agatha as he and Beatrice had been.
“Agatha,” she greeted as she walked across the room to hug her cousin. “What brings you to London?”
“I have come to give my congratulations at the happy news. I heard about your wedding and the move to Balwell. I am very happy for you.”
“Thank you, Agatha, but you did not need to come all this way,” Helena replied.
“Oh, but I had to,” she insisted. “I did not get to make amends for the terrible things I said before you left and I could not go on knowing that those things remained between us.”
Helena looked on her cousin tenderly. “You made a mistake. It happens to us all.”
Agatha turned to her lady’s maid. “Susan, will you step outside? I wish to speak to my cousin and her fiancé alone.”
The young woman nodded silently before bowing her head and excusing herself from the room. Agatha then returned to her cousin.
“Yes, mistakes do happen, but mine was made worse by my treatment of you. What I said and what I almost did. Helena, if you and Lord Chatleton had not stopped me, I would have brought shame upon my mother and father’s house and my sister’s marriage. I might have ended up in who knows what horrible circumstances,” she asserted.
“That is in the past. I am sure you have learned from it all,” Elias said as he stepped closer. "I doubt you will ever hear from Lieutenant Rock again."
Agatha’s eyes widened. “Have you not heard?”
“What?” Helena asked as she looked to him and then her cousin.
“He has been found out,” Agatha replied. “A young woman in Bristol has come forward to tell the world that he is the father of her child.”
Elias’s eyes widened. He knew of the lieutenant’s philandering but this was the first he had it confirmed so close to home.
“What has become of him?” Helena asked.
“The lady’s family sought him out and made him marry her. He tried to escape it but, once caught, there was nothing he could do.” She stepped closer. “Her family was not the sort who would accept no for an answer.”
Elias could only imagine the kind of people that the lieutenant had entangled himself with. It seemed he had finally got his comeuppance.
“I am glad it was not you,” Helena insisted as she once again hugged Agatha.
“Thank you for stopping me,” she replied. She looked at the two of them with a smile and sighed. “I have to go now. I hope I will be able to congratulate you again on your wedding day.”
“Look to receive an invitation,” Elias confirmed.
“It would not be a wedding without all of our family there to witness it,” Helena continued after him.
“Thank you,” Agatha replied with a teary smile.
Elias and Helena led Agatha and her maid back downstairs and out to the street. They watched as they walked to their carriage and boarded it. Moments later, it disappeared behind the buildings.
“She almost lost everything because of the words of a man,” Helena commented absently as Elias laid a hand gently on her shoulder.
“The wrong man,” he asserted. “One day, the right one will find her. I think she will be a wiser woman by that time.”
“I agree,” Helena said as she turned to look up at him with a smile. “The right man makes all the difference.”
“And have you found him?” he mused.
“No,” she laughed. “He found me.”
“I would run away with you now and find a minister to marry us,” Elias laughed.
"What of all the planning that has already been done?" Helena replied. "Would you let that all be for naught?"
“It is to please our parents,” he replied.
“And why should we not? Your father has but one son and my father has two daughters. Why should they not wish to celebrate? You, Lord Chatleton, have always wanted to spoil everyone else’s amusement,” she teased.
“And you, Miss Helena, have always found a way to persuade me not to,"
he said as he smiled down at her. Every fiber in his being wanted to take her in his arms and kiss her, but it was not to be done on a public street with the eyes of their neighbors already upon them.
“Have I told you how much I love you?” she asked tenderly.
“Not today,” he replied.
She smiled. “I love you with all of my being. There is no part of my heart that does not belong to you. You reside in my soul. The only future I have ever seen was one where you were in it. You make me the happiest woman alive when I am with you, and the saddest when we are apart. I do not think I could have born it if you had found love in the eyes and heart of another.”
“There could never be another for me,” Elias assured as her words penetrated his heart like the winged cherub’s love-laced arrows.
“I want only to make you happy all the days of my life,” Helena continued. “I have no other wish.”
Her words melted into him and fed his soul with pure love. He would do the same for her. No, he would do more. He would ensure she never had to worry or want again. She would never know the fear she had these past months as her entire future spun out of her control. She would never be forced to leave her new home and to sell her belongings.
Elias vowed it in his heart as he stood before her. She would smile every day for the rest of her days. He would see to it, for she was a woman who was made for happiness, and sorrow did not suit her.
“I cannot wait until you share my name,” he murmured to her.
“You need but wait a fortnight,” she replied. “Then it shall be so.”
“It is a fortnight too long,” Elias said with a smile.
“Then let us hurry it along,” Helena answered as she turned to the house. “We must finish the packing if we are to leave today.”
Elias laughed at how quickly she had turned the conversation and steered it back on course. He could always trust her to never allow him to lose focus.
She was a big part of the reason he had become the man he was. She always pushed him and never allowed him to settle. She wanted him to seek the best, and he had. He had found it in her.
It was near two hours more before the entire house was empty, all present seated within a carriage. Elias was the last to enter as he ensured that everything had been completed.
“Driver,” he called as he stepped into the carriage with Helena, Beatrice, and their parents. “Home.”
The words made all inside smile as the carriage lurched off and they began the journey to their new home. Mrs. Leeson’s arm was hooked into her husband’s as she looked out the window.
“I never thought we would leave this place,” she commented.
“Nor I,” Mr. Leeson agreed. He turned to Elias. “But I am glad for it. This family needed a new start, and our new son has given it to us.”
Beatrice smiled. “Indeed he has,” she agreed.
Elias smiled back at her. He had been made aware of her disappointment. He could not believe his cousin could have been so heartless toward her.
Despite what had transpired, Beatrice had always been a kind woman. She did not deserve to be abandoned when she was most in need. His cousin had not been invited to attend the wedding.
They travelled for some time. The tall buildings of London gave way to fields of green. He looked to Beatrice who was gazing out the window at the scenery.
“Are you looking forward to making Balwell your home?” he asked her as Helena nestled against his shoulder. He could feel a slight weight. She had been awake since early that morning, assisting her mother with the move. It seemed the work had taken its toll on her.
“I have always thought of Balwell as a second home,” Beatrice admitted. “I am happy to call it my own home now.” She smiled at her sister. “I know Helena has always considered it her dream home.”
Elias laughed. “She has said so.”
“Since she was a child,” Mr. Leeson added. Mrs. Leeson had gone quiet, and Elias was sure that the rocking of the carriage had lulled her to sleep as well.
He wrapped his arm around Helena’s shoulders to keep her upright. He could see her father watching him appreciatively across from him.
“Love her,” he said to Elias.
He met his eyes. “With everything I am.”
Epilogue
The house was vibrating with excitement. Her family’s employees had been welcomed amongst those of Balwell, and now the collective group was eagerly finishing the preparations for this, her big day.
Helena was trembling as she sat at her vanity. Her light brown hair was set in a thousand curls upon her head, and her sister was meticulously putting them in place around the ribbon she had laced amongst them.
“Be still, Helena,” she encouraged.
“I cannot,” she replied.
“You will make yourself all red,” her sister replied. She could see the smile on her face from the reflection in the mirror. “There! All done.”
Helena looked at herself in the mirror. The sight of her wedding dress, with its delicate lace bodice, made her want to cry. The day had finally come. She was marrying the man she loved.
“The carriage is ready,” Mrs. Leeson declared as she entered the room. She stopped and stared at Helena in awe. “You look lovely,” she said tearfully as she moved to embrace her.
“Mother,” Beatrice mused. “If you cry, she will cry, and then I will cry, and we shall be a mess before she even gets to the church.”
“I know. I am sorry,” Mrs. Leeson said as she dabbed the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief. She touched it to Helena’s as well. “There. Perfect.”
Her sister took hold of the train of Helena’s dress and urged her to her feet. “Your husband is waiting.”
The entire house was waiting for her at the bottom of the stair. Helena felt like a princess descending to the ball. She heard sniffling as she went. Mrs. Royce and Mrs. Ruskin were both holding each other as they wept happy tears.
“You look beautiful my dear,” they both said as Helena reached them. They held out their arms and Helena stepped into their embrace.
“Thank you,” she said to them as she fought tears.
“Everything will be ready for you and your guests when you return as the Viscountess of Chatleton,” Mrs. Ruskin said with a smile. “You can be sure of it.”
“I would never doubt you, Mrs. Ruskin, nor you, Mrs. Royce,” Helena asserted as she gave them one last nod before her sister urged her to the carriage.
Lord Wismoth had hired a white open carriage for them. Garlands of flowers adorned it on all sides and a white stallion stood at its head.
“It’s amazing,” she said in surprise. “How did he do this?”
“The Earl is not a man to be denied,” Mrs. Leeson said as the butler helped Helena into the carriage.
“We will follow after you,” Mrs. Leeson said as a small carriage waited behind them. Beatrice smiled at her before following to join their mother.
Helena could hardly keep still the entire ride to the church. The small parish church had been chosen as the perfect place to exchange their vows. It was the place that Elias’s parents had wed, and was a tradition in their family.
She was shocked when the church came into view and she saw the number of people who stood outside to witness their nuptials. She could hardly believe that so many would even care, for they were not all invited guests, that was for sure.
They had kept the wedding small, inviting only those closest to them. Elias and his father knew far too many people, and the church was old and could hardly hold more than a hundred.
The choice had been made early on that the reception would host their many friends, family, and acquaintances, but the exchange of vows would be more personal.
“All of Lendenbarrow seems to be here,” she said to herself with a soft chuckle.
“It isn’t every day His Lordship gets married,” her driver commented. “He has been good to everyone, and everyone wants to wish you both well.”
<
br /> Helena’s heart was touched. “Do you mean that?”
“Of course, miss. The Repingtons are why this place still stands. Their family has cared for the folks of this area for more than a hundred years. Probably more, though I can’t be certain of it.”
Helena sat back in her seat and considered what she had just heard. She was not simply marrying a man, but a legacy, and she would be adding to it. One day, her son, God-willing, would be the next Earl of Wismoth, and all of this would become his responsibility.