Page 67 of An Unbending Lady for the Desperate Earl
Foster nodded. “Seems so. I’ve sent a rider back to London to bring carts, to take all of these men away. And carriages will be sent for the ladies, once we’ve freed them.”
“Do we know where they are being held?” Victoria chimed in.
“We do. Each of the ladies was placed in an outbuilding. Some of my boys are just releasing them now, though we should probably keep them out of here, while these cretins are still about.” Foster booted one of the men in the back. “We don’t want to make the ladies deal with any more trauma.”
“I agree,” Victoria replied.
Christian knew the moment had come, where he would have to face Helena. He glanced down at Victoria. “I need to excuse myself for a moment.”
She nodded in understanding. “I will help the constables here. You go and speak to her. I hope it is not too awful.”
“As do I.” With a sigh, Christian left Victoria’s side, and walked out of the barn into the cold night air. He spotted more of the constables across the courtyard, helping frightened women out of the outbuildings that surrounded the large square. One of them stood out—she walked unaided, her head held high, though she tugged the proffered blanket around herself tightly, to keep out the chill.
Helena…
He made a beeline for her. A few paces away, she noticed him, and her eyes widened in surprise.
“Christian?”
He smiled nervously. “Helena.”
“Did you do this?” She gestured to the activity going on around her, with constables holding up weeping figures, and trying to calm them down. Christian reasoned it was probably hard for these ladies to believe that they had been rescued.
“With some help,” he replied. She looked thinner than she had before she had been taken, with purple crescents beneath her eyes. Her long hair cascaded down past her shoulder, somewhat tangled and disheveled, but she otherwise seemed unchanged.
“Help?” She frowned.
“An investigator by the name of Victoria McCarthy. None of this would have been possible without her. She is the one responsible for your freedom.” He lowered his gaze, trying to muster the courage to say what had to be said. He wished he could have waited for a more opportune moment—one that didn’t require him to break his betrothal, moments after Helena had been liberated. But he had kissed Victoria, and that had created a promise between them. He couldn’t disappoint her with cowardice.
“A female investigator?” Helena sounded shocked. “Well, I should like to meet her, so I may thank her for this. I confess, I didn’t think I would ever have my freedom again.”
“I am pleased you are safe, at last. Your mother will be so very relieved,” he said, still stalling for time.
“Actually, I am glad you are here, as there is something I must say to you.” Helena moved closer and took Christian’s hand in hers. “Being captured, and fearing for my life, I had a great deal of time to think. I realized how very fragile life is. It can be stolen away at any moment. And I realized that… if I were ever to get out of here, I wanted to be the decision maker of my own life.”
He nodded stiffly.
“I love you, Christian, as a sister loves a brother. You have been my constant companion throughout the years of my life, but… that is not enough for two people to wed.” She took a shaky breath. “I have not been entirely honest with you. You see, I have fallen in love with another, and he loves me. He gave me his ring as a sign of his affection. I didn’t think anything could come of it, considering the betrothal between us, but I know, now, that I cannot keep my promise to you, or to my mother and father. I want to be happy. I want to use my freedom as I see fit, to wed whom I please.”
A smile turned up the corners of Christian’s lips. “I want that for you, too.”
“You do?” Her eyebrows raised.
“I do, Helena. I feel the same way.” He chuckled in relief. “Though, if I may be so bold, can I ask whom the fortunate gentleman may be?”
She looked flustered for a moment. “It is Lord Mobberley.”
“Lord Mobberley?!” He hadn’t expected that. Indeed, it seemed so strangely ironic, considering he had been one of their former suspects.
“I know he seems like a fool, but I love him. And he loves me. And I can bear his foolishness, because he is kind, and he is sweet, and he makes me smile unlike anyone else.” She wrung her hands.
Realization struck Christian. “And you say he gave you his ring?”
“He did, though it was taken from me by one of the wretches who held me captive.” A bitter note edged into Helena’s voice.
The ring with the blue gemstone…That was why it hadn’t been present on Lord Mobberley’s hand. Helena was the acquaintance that he had gifted it to. And those foul beings, Benson and Castell, had been the ones to steal it from Helena.
“You will have it back,” Christian promised. “And you will be free to wed Lord Mobberley. I will not stand in your way. Consider our betrothal broken, though not, I hope, our friendship.”
