Yes, she had never been happier.
“Have you ever gone to bed at night imagining your future?” Obviously, she daren’t confess to having amorous thoughts or touching herself while pretending it was Nicholas. “I’ve dreamt about marrying him for so long. And though I have been Mrs St Clair for two days, it still doesn’t seem real.”
Guilt passed across her brother’s handsome features. “Let’s not discuss the years you kept your feelings secret. You have your whole life ahead of you. Indeed, I expect to be an uncle sometime soon.”
It was quite likely, considering she had spent all day in bed with her husband. “What about you? Will you not lower your guard in the hope of finding someone to love?”
Sebastian scoffed. “What I want and what I need are two entirely different things. But I’ll not marry yet, Helen.”
“When will you take the plunge?”
He gave a devilish wink. “Maybe when hell freezes over.”
He was afraid. When one had suffered a great loss there was some comfort in loneliness. “If you’d rather not marry for love, Mina needs rescuing.”
He turned up his nose. “Miss Ferrington? Even if I could ignore her plain looks, she’s a little timid for my liking.”
Yes, they would make a terrible match. But Mina needed to escape her brother’s clutches, sooner rather than later. “If Sir Thomas continues to gamble at his current rate, she will find herself destitute.”
Mina wouldn’t be destitute, but Nicholas would not take kindly to the news they had a permanent houseguest.
“Where is she tonight?” Sebastian scanned the ballroom. “Miss Ferrington would never miss a party given in your honour. And it’s unlike her to be late. Perhaps I should send a footman to the house.”
Based on Sir Thomas’ antics, Mina’s absence proved worrying. That’s partly why Helen had downed the first two glasses of champagne. She would discuss the situation with Lillian as soon as she appeared from the ladies’ retiring room, where she spent much time of late.
“I don’t want to make matters worse for her. Sir Thomas has developed a dreadful temper and can be quite cruel.”
Sebastian muttered a curse. “If she doesn’t appear in the next half an hour, I shall visit the house myself. Something is amiss. I feel it in my bones.”
A niggling in her gut said she should prepare herself for a shock. Then, as if conjured by her fears alone, the footman approached, carrying a silver salver.
“I have a note for you, ma’am.”
She glanced at Nicholas, wondering if he’d planned a romantic interlude in the garden. “Thank you, Johnson.” She took the note and read it quickly, trying her utmost to remain calm as she absorbed the words. “Please show Miss Ferrington to my brother’s study, and I shall be along shortly.”
The servant bowed and left her to break the news to Sebastian.
“Mina is here but isn’t suitably dressed to enter the ballroom. I shall talk with her privately in your study. Will you tell Nicholas I’ll be back shortly?”
“I’ll come with you. She—”
“No! It might be something she cannot speak about in front of a gentleman.” The note said it was a matter of life or death, and Sebastian would try to solve the problem. She laid a hand on his arm. “If I need you, I will send for you.”
He nodded. “I shall keep Miss Ware company until you return.”
“You’re safe with Lillian. She refuses to marry, too.” And with that, she handed her brother her champagne flute and made her way to the study.
Being the guest of honour, she’d been forced to stop and speak to a handful of well-wishers. When she finally reached her destination, she found Mina sobbing and frantically pacing the floor.
“Thank heavens!” Mina dashed tears from her eyes. She crossed the room and grabbed Helen’s hands. “I’m sorry I’ve missed your wedding celebration, but I’ve spent hours trying to make my brother see sense.”
“Why? What’s happened?”
Torches in hand, had his creditors gathered like a mob outside the house, demanding the devil to show himself?
Mina struggled to catch her breath. “It’s Mr Masters. In a drunken rage, Thomas accused him of cheating, and the fiend has called my brother out. There’s to be a duel at dawn near Chalk Farm. And now Thomas has left the house, and I cannot find him anywhere.”
A duel!