Page 4 of A Suitable New Year’s Revenge (Ladies’ Wagering Whist Society #42)

Helena was never so grateful to see anybody when Pine, his father, and brother joined the ladies in the drawing room.

He came straight over to her, for which she gave him a grateful smile.

“How are you doing?” he asked softly so no one else could hear.

“Well enough, considering the circumstances. How about you?”

He gave a chuckle. “I have to admit to feeling a little wrung out after the interrogation I just suffered.”

She winced. “You too?”

“Surely, you can’t be surprised.”

Helena sighed. “No, not really.”

Pine’s gaze floated to the ceiling for a moment, just as it had when she’d first told him of her predicament. Instead of stalking away, though, he reached out his hand to her.

She really had no choice but to take it. When she did, he pulled her to her feet and then drew her toward the door.

“I’m going to show Miss Lawson the gallery,” he said to the room at large.

“Do you really think she wants to see old paintings of our ancestors?” Daisy asked incredulously.

“I bet she does,” Marigold said with a giggle.

“But—ow!” Daisy rubbed her side where her sister had just elbowed her.

Before anyone could say anything more, Pine led Helena out the door and then further down the passage away from the stairs.

At the end, they turned left and entered a long gallery with high ceilings and paintings lining the walls on either side, interspersed with either a bust or a Greek-looking statue. They couldn’t have truly been from Greece, could they?

“Those statues aren’t…” she started to ask.

“Replicas, all of them. My mother commissioned them from a local sculptor,” he said quickly.

Helena gave a little laugh. “That’s what I thought, but you never know.”

“Helena, you said your father was a scholar of ancient Greek plays, didn’t you?”

“No. That’s me. I told you in the coach that I’ve studied the plays of Sophocles, Euripides—”

“Yes, but what about your father?” he interrupted.

“He studies Caesar and the politics of the time. Why?”

Pine scowled. “Because I couldn’t remember if you told me what he studied, but I did remember about the plays, so that’s what I told my father.”

“Oh.” Helena worried her lower lip as she thought about this. “I told your mother and sisters what he studied, but I didn’t go into any detail, so maybe it’s all right.”

Pine let out a sigh of relief. “Yes, let’s hope that it is.”

“Do you think your parents will compare stories?”

He gave a little shrug. “I doubt it.” His words sounded too much like a question for Helena’s comfort.

“What did you say about when we met?” she asked, now more worried than she had been.

“I said we met at Lady Emmerton’s garden party last Season.”

Now it was Helena’s turn to sigh in relief. “I said we met at a party but couldn’t remember who the hostess had been.”

“Good. That was clever to keep your answer general. I probably should have done the same.”

She gave a little shrug and looked up into the hard eyes painted eyes of a man who looked very much like Lord Hazelton. Only the style of his dress marked him as being from an earlier era.

“My great-grandfather,” Pine explained.

“Your father bears an uncanny resemblance to him.”

Pine nodded. “He’s even named after him—as am I, but it’s one of my middle names.”

She looked at him and then the portrait.

“I take after my mother,” he supplied.

“You certainly don’t look very much like him.”

“I’ve got his nose, I think, and his chin.”

She tilted her head, looking more closely at the painting. “How can you tell? He’s got a beard.” Indeed, the man had a rather odd beard that came to a point an inch or two below his chin. He had a mustache, but his narrow cheeks were shaved clean.

“There’s another painting of him when he was younger, without the beard,” Pine explained. “We really should have spent more time in the coach agreeing on our story. My father is already suspicious. If our accounts don’t match, there’s going to be trouble for us both.”

“Yes.”

They spent the next half-hour wandering slowly up and down the gallery, going over the story of their supposed courtship. They just so happened to be admiring a painting of Pine’s great-great grandmother when Marigold came in.

“Mother would like to show Miss Lawson to her room,” she informed them. “She thinks you’ve had more than enough time alone,” she added with a smirk.

Helena could feel her cheeks heat with embarrassment over what his family must have thought they were doing all this time. She turned back to Pine. “Good night, then.”

He gave her a warm smile that did something very strange to her insides and she wasn’t sure, but her cheeks might have turned an even darker shade of pink. “Good night,” he said softly.

The following day was bright and sunny. There had been snow the previous night, so the lovely blanket on the ground had been renewed and thickened.

Helen found Pine and his brother and sisters at the breakfast table. “Good morning,” she said. “I hope I’m not too late.”

Pine and his brother both stood.

“No, not at all,” Pine said, giving her a warm smile. “We do tend to be early risers when in the country.”

“I usually am as well, but my bed was so warm and comfortable, I found it difficult to get up,” she said, feeling a little embarrassed. “Er, your parents?” she asked, looking around the table, but seeing no evidence of them.

“Our father has already eaten and is at his desk. Mother has a tray in her room most mornings,” Marigold explained.

“Please, help yourself,” Ash said, indicating the sideboard where there was ham, potatoes, and vegetables laid out.

“Thank. I’ll just have some toast and tea.” Helena sat down at a place setting and helped herself to a slice of toast from the rack in the center of the table, while a footman poured her tea.

“We were thinking of going out for a walk this morning, if you’d like to join us,” Pine said, before tucking back into the food on his loaded plate.

Ash got up and helped himself to more. “There are some improvements to the lake I was going to show my brother,” he explained, while piling potatoes and meat onto his plate.

“Would you like to come?” Pine asked.

“That sounds lovely, thank you,” Helena nodded.

“It will be wet. There are no direct paths to the lake, so we usually go over the lawn,” Marigold added.

Helena smiled. “It’s a good thing I brought my boots, then.”

“I wish I could go,” Daisy pouted.

“You have your studies,” her sister reminded her.

“I know, but they’re boring,” she huffed.

“What are you studying?” Helena asked.

“History—Henry VIII—French, and water colors,” Daisy said, listing them on her fingers.

“Hmm, I might agree with you about Henry VIII except that he enacted so many changes just so he could get an heir. Some say he loved Ann Boleyn, but honestly, if he did how could he have chopped off her head?”

“Maybe he was forced to?” Daisy asked.

Helena shrugged. “Perhaps. There was certainly a great deal of political maneuvering at that time.”

“And then there was the whole business with the church,” Pine added, giving Helena a warm smile. He’d clearly caught on to what she was doing—trying to make history more fun and exciting for his sister so she wouldn’t feel so bad about being left behind.

Somehow, they all fell into a fascinating discussion of the old king’s reign. By the time Pine and his brother had finished eating, Daisy was ready to face her studies—perhaps not with enthusiasm, but certainly with less dread. And she’d forgotten to be upset that the rest of them would be going out for a walk without her.

After Daisy had gone off to her school room, Pine stood. “Shall we go soon?”

Helena took a last sip of her tea and rose as well. “I’ll just go change into my boots.”

“I’ll do the same. We’ll meet at the door to the garden in a quarter of an hour?” Marigold asked.

“It’s going to take you fifteen minutes to put on a pair of books?” Ash asked.

“And my coat, hat, gloves…” Marigold said with a scowl for her brother.

Helena laughed. “I do love how you all carry on. It’s clear you’re very close.”

The four Teviots stopped and stared at her for a moment.

“I never had any siblings,” Helena said by way of explanation since they all seemed nonplussed by her comment. As she said this, she did her best to ignore the odd feeling in the pit of her stomach. Was it jealousy? Loneliness? She didn’t know and didn’t want to examine it too closely just now.

“You have no brothers or sisters? Never have?” Daisy asked.

Helena nodded, unsure whether her voice would sound normal if she spoke.

“I never really thought about it, but you’re right,” Ash said.

“We do care for each other greatly,” Marigold agreed. “That’s why it’s been so difficult when Pine didn’t come home for so long.”

“When Papa refused to allow me to return,” Pine corrected her.

She sighed and nodded.

“Go and get yourself ready. We’ll meet at the door to the garden,” Ash said, bringing them back to their plans.

“Right.” Marigold left the room, and Helena followed after, getting a funny look from Pine. As she walked back to her room, she tried to decipher it in her mind. It was rather a look of sad appreciation, she thought. Perhaps he was just pitying her because she’d never had brothers or sisters. Honestly, she’d never realized what she’d missed until she’d watched the Teviots interact with each other. She should be sure to tell him not to feel sorry for her. She may not have had siblings, but she did have a very happy childhood and had been very close to her mother.

“Pine said your father studies Greek plays?” Mr. Teviot asked as they tromped through the snow.

“Well, he studies politics. Actually, it is I who studies the plays,” she explained.

“And what do you do with your studies?” he asked.

“I write articles about what I’ve discovered or posited. My father then publishes them in journals,” Helena said.

“He publishes them for you?” Miss Teviot asked.

“Yes. Because academic articles written by a woman wouldn’t be taken seriously, he has had to publish them under his name.”

“But that’s awful!” Miss Teviot exclaimed. “It must be so infuriating.”

“Well, I’d rather that than not having them published at all,” Helena told her. “I have long ago come to terms with the fact that I will never be known for my own work. I was furious when I first learned of it, but eventually I decided that it was a battle that could only be fought man by man. Perhaps one day men will acknowledge the intellect of women, but clearly that isn’t going to be today.”

“I doubt you could ever convince our father of that,” Miss Teviot said sadly.

“There are some men, unfortunately, who are like that. They feel threatened by an intelligent woman and so simply dismiss all women as incapable.”

“But I do hope opinions are changing.” Miss Teviot said giving Helena a hopeful glance.

“Oh, indeed, they are. So many younger men no longer think women are unable to engage in intellectual pursuits,” Helena told her.

“Pine and I both understand this, despite our father’s beliefs,” Mr. Teviot said.

“But if you’re trying to make a good impression on our father, you might not want to discuss your studies,” Miss Teviot said.

“Oh, I don’t know. I don’t think he would understand a word of what she said if she did. He’d probably just think she was speaking nonsense,” Pine laughed.

Helena stopped as a large, beautiful lake appeared as they crested the rise. “I don’t so much care about your father’s good opinion, I have to admit, so long as I have Pine’s.”

The brother and sister shared a look, and Pine gave her a warm smile as he interlaced his gloved fingers in hers.

She looked up at him and they exchanged smiles. His made her feel rather warm despite the cold air.

As they stood looking out over the lake, Mr. Teviot began to explain all the changes he’d suggested to their father. He went on at great lengths and with more animation than Helena would have expected. As she watched him, she noticed that Pine, too, had become quite excited at his brother’s vision. They got into a rather detailed discussion of pilings and the appropriate wood to use, and all manner of things Helena could barely follow. And amidst it all, Miss Teviot just stood watching her brothers, adding in a suggestion here and there or giving an explanation and generally looking extremely proud of her brother for his cleverness.

Once it was agreed that the plans for the lake were, indeed, magnificent, they all turned to walk back to the house.

“I’ve told you what I study, Mr. Teviot,” Helena said. “What is that you study?”

Pine’s brother gave a little laugh. “Please, Miss Lawson, you must call me Ash. As you are soon to become a member of the family, it seems a little silly for you to call me Mr. Teviot.”

Helena gave him a hesitant smile as she glanced quickly at Pine. He’d lost his smile but gave the slightest lift of his shoulder as if to say, just go along with it.

“Of course. And you must call me Helena,” she said.

Miss Teviot threaded her hand under Helena’s arm so that they linked together as they strolled through the snow. “We are all going to be great friends, I can tell. You are, of course, going to call us all by our given names.”

That odd feeling in the pit of her stomach that she’d experienced at the breakfast table assailed her again. It was the beginnings of a feeling of belonging and it was wonderful—too wonderful, she told herself. She had to remember that this was all a ruse. It would be much too easy—and too tempting—to forget.

“And to answer your question, Helena,” Ash said, completely unaware of the turmoil was running through her. “I am studying the same thing Pine did when he was at university—agriculture.”

That surprised her and was a happy diversion from her inner thoughts. “Really? Is that to assist with the running of this estate?”

Both Ash and Pine laughed. “Oh, our father would never allow that,” Pine said.

“He doesn’t even let his own steward do that, and that’s his job!” Ash added.

“But when I inherit the estate, I plan on running things differently, with Ash at my side,” Pine said as he slung a negligent hand over his brother’s shoulders.

“I was shocked when our father allowed me to make suggestions for the improvement of the lake. But since it’s just for beauty and amusement, I suppose he doesn’t care so much about it. But he runs the rest of the estate with a strong hand,” Ash told her.

“Well, we’ll work together when we’re in charge. I won’t need a steward.” Pine’s hand dropped to his side.

“But you’ll pay me, right?” Ash asked.

“Of course! You’ll probably be one of the best paid land stewards in England.”

Ash laughed. “Well, you don’t have to pay me that much. I will be getting free room and board as well.”

“Unless you decide to move into the steward’s cottage,” Pine agreed.

“Hmm, that’s a thought. I’ll ponder that one.”

“It all sounds wonderful,” Helena said. “And very clever of you, Pine, to share the responsibility of running the estate with someone you love and trust.”

Pine just nodded, clearly feeling a little embarrassed. It was sweet.