Page 9 of Seduced by an Irresistible Lady
“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.”
Helena didn’t see that as a daunting task. She was very close to her father. If she met him at the right time, he would tell her. She nodded to her mother and walked down the passage to her father’s chambers.
“If you meet him sleeping, Helena, please do not wake him up. He needs to sleep,” her mother shouted to her.
Helena heard her footsteps on the wooden floor. Her shoes made small tapping noises on the floor, breaking what would have been a rare serene quiet in the Sinclair mansion. Her father would always know someone was approaching his chambers before the person even got there this way. When she got to his door, she knocked. No one answered, so she turned the doorknob and went in. The first room was just as she remembered. The walls were entirely covered with shelves full of books. Helena wondered how many books her father regularly bought since she always came here to steal his books and they never seemed to reduce in number. She had gotten her reading habits from her father.
The man is a ferocious reader.
The walls were made from the same Lebanese wood that constituted the walls of the corridor. A huge landscape painting hung over the door to his bedroom. She loved the way the river poured into the delta, making bubbles and ripples. The painter brought the picture to life at that point. The painting was enchanting.
Helena looked at his table. It was still beside the window, but there was no book on it, which was strange. Helena had never come into the room without seeing what her father was currently reading on that table.
He isn’t reading anything?
She noticed that the second door was open, the door to the balcony. She went to the door and looked into the balcony; there was no one there. She entered the balcony and walked to the balustrade. Her grandfather had built the house in a way that the Duke’s chambers had a balcony looking over the entire house and over the whole barony.
“Your eyes are more accurate than the best reporter,” her father always said.
He could be found many times looking over his barony from the balcony. The house was built on the tallest hill in the middle of the barony so the view was a fair reflection of it. The wind pushed Helena’s hair back; red strands whipped into her face. Helena pushed the strands behind her ears and turned back to go inside, closing the door behind her. She walked to the door to her father’s bedroom which was also open. She didn’t enter but just leaned inside. Her father was on the bed, sleeping and snoring loudly. He had his blanket over half of his body, but the uncovered upper half was naked. She could see grey strands mingled among the dark bush that gathered on his chest. She saw a cup on the stool beside his bed.
That’s the potion Wallace went to get for him.
She wanted to go in to check but remembered what her mother said. Choosing between satisfying her curiosity and not risking waking him, she decided to allow him to sleep. She shut the door gently. Her hands released the golden doorknob which felt very cold. Her eyes spied the hinges of the door that were made of a particular metal she didn’t know, but they had four silver bolts. Father always said grandfather was dandy. Helena couldn’t confirm that, but she knew the man had spent a lot on building the house to his taste.
A door opened behind her. She turned around to look at her mother. The Baroness walked to the other door and went into the balcony. Helena followed her.
“How is he?” her mother asked immediately she shut the balcony door.
“Asleep,” Helena answered.
“Thank goodness,” her mother said, relief very evident in her reaction.
“What is it?”
“He hasn’t slept in the past four days. His head has been aching seriously, and he was starting to get a fever.”
“I thought you weren’t going to tell me what was wrong with him.”
“I didn’t mean this. You’d have to ask him for that,” the Baroness said.
The Baroness walked to the railings and hung her hands over the balustrade. Her brown hair stood stubbornly against the wind. She had tied it in a ponytail behind. Her hair was incredibly long; the end of the ponytail reached her lower back. Helena fingered her short red hair. Hers had a long way to go before it got to such a length. It fit the Baroness who was big with chubby arms and a wide waist.
“She was as slim as you were when I married her. After twenty-five years and five children, this is my wife,” her father would say.
Helena smiled and shook her head. She already missed her father.
Get well soon Pa, you still need to recommend books for me.
“Why are you smiling?” the Baroness asked.
Helena shook her head. She looked down and saw Lady Lavinia walking out of the front door. Miss Justina was with her, carrying a bag that probably contained her newly purchased dresses. Lady Lavinia walked to a steward and said something to him. Helena looked to her side; her mother was also watching them. The steward went around the back, and after a few minutes, Lady Lavinia’s coach rode out from the back. Miss Justina pushed the door of the coach open and placed the bag inside. Lady Lavinia went around and got into the coach through the other door. Miss Justina stood at the other door for a few more moments.
Lavinia must be telling her something.
