Jade Lee - Wedded in Scandal

“But—”

“Good God, Robert, my mother could come back down here any minute.”

He gave a worried glance up the stairs, then returned to look back at Helaine. “I would like to ask you something, my dear. As I said, it’s not exactly the time.”

“It’s not the time at all!” she said as she tossed him his shirt. “Whatever it is will wait until tomorrow.”

He grimaced as his shirt hit him in the face. But then he pulled it away and she was startled to see how very serious he had become. “That’s too late, my dear. Really it will only take a moment.”

“Which is all my mother needs to get worried and come back down here.”

“Helaine!”

“No! I shall be there first thing in the morning to help Gwen with her gown. She’s invited me to the wedding, you know. I hope that doesn’t upset you.”

“Upset me? I asked her if she’d like you to come. If—”

“Ssst!” she hissed as her mother continued to thump around upstairs. They both waited as still as statues to see where her mother would go. She thought for a moment that the woman would come back down the stairs, but after a bit, there was a different creak in a different place. Helaine exhaled. Her mother had gone into a bedroom. Probably Helaine’s to put the warming pan in. Which meant the woman would be back down in less than a minute to haul her daughter up to bed.

“My dear—,” Robert began again, but Helaine rushed to the door and pulled it open.

“It can wait until morning.”

Robert frowned, obviously hating that idea, but Helaine would have none of it.

“Go!” Then she grabbed his shoes, dropped them in his hands, and shoved him out the door. She felt bad seeing him stumble outside in bare feet and bare chested. But sure enough, she heard her mother’s tread on the stairs again.

“Helaine?”

“Coming, Mama!” Then she shut and locked the door tight.

Helaine was in the middle of a yawn when Dribbs opened the door. Fortunately, she had enough warning to hide it behind her gloved hand. He nodded gravely to her and ushered her inside. Barely a minute later, she was upstairs in Gwen’s room, where the girl was seated before her mirror dabbing color onto her cheeks.

“Oh, no!” cried Helaine. “You don’t need that. You are perfect without—”

“You are here!” Gwen cried as she abandoned her paint pot to engulf Helaine in a fierce hug. “I am so glad.”

“And I am so glad you invited me. But come now. What is this silliness? You don’t need paint.”

Gwen bit her lip, looking unsure. “I want to look perfect.”

“But you do! You are a stunning bride.” Helaine stepped back to inspect the young woman. She was dressed in her shift and hose, covered by a dressing gown. Her bridal dress lay across the bed, a vision in purest white. It wasn’t really common for brides to marry in white, but Helaine had thought the fabric the perfect accent to Gwen’s flushed pink skin. With pearl drops along the bodice and skirt, she would appear like Venus emerged from the frothy sea. And Penny had made slippers to match, adding a trace of gold to flash beneath the skirt as Gwen stepped down the aisle.

“Come, come, let us get you into your gown.”

Gwen agreed, her eyes shimmering with excitement as Helaine held out the dress. But before she could do more than put one foot inside the skirt, there was a knock at the door.

“Gwen? Did I hear Helaine come in?”

“Helaine?” Gwen mouthed. “I thought your name was Helen.”

Helaine flushed and shrugged. She could think of no answer, not with the memory of everything that had happened the night before flashing through her mind.

The knock came again. “Gwen? Is she there?”

“For heaven’s sake, Robert, I’m dressing!” Gwen said back through the door.

“But I should like—”

Helaine interrupted before he could finish. “Whatever it is, my lord, it can wait, can’t it? Your sister is about to get married!”

He groaned. “I know that, but—”

“Later!” both women cried together.

He had no choice but to agree, though he did so with an audible grumble. A moment later, they heard him clump down the stairs and away. The two women exchanged equal looks of bafflement at Robert’s bizarre behavior, then quickly descended into giggles. There was no fathoming the male brain at a time like this, so they addressed themselves to making Gwen beautiful.

They succeeded because Gwen was so very happy. She was lovely, of course, but with the happiness literally filling the air around her, she would have appeared gorgeous in sackcloth. And with her future in-laws now moving to that school in the mining town, Gwen had no reservations about her marriage at all. She was head over heels in love with Edward, and that was all that mattered.

They took too long with the dressing. Despite rising in plenty of time, there were extra pearls to add to Gwen’s hair and a dash of oil to give her lips a special shine. There were shoes and wraps to set just right. And gloves, of course, to protect the bride’s most delicate hands. Helaine carried the veil, which they would add at the church.

Then they rushed downstairs filled with giddy laughter, only to see Robert pacing the hallway in front of Dribbs. The butler was in his best looks, his uniform pressed to a knife’s crease, but he was nothing compared to Robert, who wore deepest black over crisp white linen. It had been Helaine’s suggestion that his cravat be white shot with gold to match his gold waistcoat. And it was punctuated by a solitary pink diamond. Helaine had never seen its like before, but Gwen had told her it was a family gemstone worn by every earl at his wedding.

“There you are!” he said. “Helaine, I must ask—”

“Robert! Look at your hair!” cried Gwen. “It looks like you’ve been tugging it out by the roots!”

Robert looked over at his sister and frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“You, brother dear!” Gwen said with a laugh. Then she sent a maid rushing back upstairs for her brush.

“But we haven’t time!” he huffed.

“There is time for you to be in your best looks at my wedding!”

The maid came downstairs with a brush, which Gwen plied, to Robert’s mortification and Dribbs’s amusement. Then, before Gwen was finished, Robert grabbed the brush and waved it at Helaine. “Please, could I—”

“Oh, Gwenie! You look like a vision!” That was Gwen and Robert’s mother, descending the stairs in a gown of pale blue. It matched her watery eyes and gave her a joyous look that—thankfully—seemed to match her spirits today.

“Mama! You are beautiful!”

As the two women embraced, Robert stepped to Helaine, touching her arm as he tried to get her attention. “Please, Helaine. I beg of you—”

“My lord, my lady. The carriage awaits,” Dribbs intoned as he threw open the door. And indeed, there was the earl’s carriage waiting at the base of the walk, cleaned to a gleaming shine. The servants lined the walkway, all there to give Gwen their well-wishes as she all but danced down the path. A moment later a hackney appeared and Gwen’s father, the Earl of Willington, descended. The youngest son Jack was with him, and both had dressed in their finest.

There would have been more hugs and talking but at that very moment, Edward’s mother came running out of their home. “Go! Go! Edward is almost to the door. He cannot see you!”

It was bad luck to see the bride before the wedding, and so everyone bustled Gwen into the carriage. Her parents and Jack followed next, with Robert lingering, one foot on the step while his eyes sought Helaine’s. He started to open his mouth but she shook her head.