Remember Me - Regency Brides 03 (20 page)

It shocked him when Helen let out a cry of outrage and shook off his hands.

"You knew!" she cried. "How long did you know?" North realized his mistake right away. "Uh… I got my memory back the morning after you cal ed me
Your Grace,"

he explained careful y.

Helen just stared at him a moment, hurt and anger swimming in her eyes. “And you knew I would be feeling horrible with guilt over it, and yet you said nothing!"

He tried to touch her arm once again, but she promptly slapped it away.

"Wait just a minute," North countered, getting a little irritated himself.
"You
are the one who lied to
me,
remember? I was just trying to figure out your motives for deceiving me.
That's
why I said nothing."

"My motives!" she echoed, pointing at herself. "I've been in love with you for two years! I thought you wouldn't consider me for a wife because I'm not of your class, so I simply just made you think you were of
mine!"

' Are you understanding any of this?" North heard Sam ask aloud to his sister, but Leah told him to shush and kept her eyes glued to them.
Wonderful.
In al his born days, he'd never even come close to making a public spectacle of himself.

Until today.

Then North was suddenly struck by something that Helen had told him before. "I am the nobleman you were in love with, aren't I?"

Helen pursed her lips as if she were loath to admit it. "Yes, but as I said, you did not feel the same for me."

"Helen," North said softly as he tried again to touch her arm. He was encouraged that this time she al owed it. "I have been in love with you from the very moment I saw you at Kenswick Hal ."

Her eyes widened with surprise and a little unbelief. "But why-?"

North caressed her shoulders as he shook his head shameful y. "I didn't know what to do about you, Helen. I've always done what my family expected me to do. So when I knew I wanted you for my wife, I tried to find a way to make that happen in a place where our every move wouldn't be scrutinized or judged too harshly."

"I don't understand," she began to say, and then her eyes widened with comprehension. "You knew I was coming to America! But how?" He quickly explained how he talked to Claudia Baumgartner about offering Helen the job of companion for her sister.

"I planned to court you once I had arrived and marry you here. We would have had time to get to know one another and be stronger as a couple to face the criticism of my family and the ton."

Tears fil ed Helen's eyes as she looked at him with dismay. "You mean I caused al this for nothing? You were intending to marry me anyway?" North folded Helen into his arms to comfort her. As he glanced over her shoulder, he saw Leah and Sam stil standing there watching and listening to everything. Leah was even crying a little, dabbing her eyes with a lacy white handkerchief

"I've had the time of my life, Helen," he assured her, pul ing his focus back to their conversation. "God used this to get my attention and to make me aware of how much I need Him in my life." He leaned back a little and framed her face with his large hands. "It's made me realize, too, I should have never wavered in acting on my love for you."

"Oh, North!" she sighed.

"Oh, my!" Leah sighed with another sniff.

"Oh, brother!" Sam groaned, putting his hands to either side of his head as if the whole thing were giving him a headache. "This is getting embarrassing."

Leah elbowed him. "You're just jealous that you didn't win her."

“No," Sam insisted. "I'm just irritated that I have to start this whole courting business al over with another woman!" With that, he threw up his arms and stomped off to his cottage.

"I'l go get your bag," Leah told Helen, leaving them alone.

North took advantage of their absence. He pressed a kiss to her lips and felt his heart leap when she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him back.

After a moment, be looked down at her and smiled. "Does this mean you are not marrying Sam?"

Helen shook her head, smiling dreamily. "No, I think I wil marry you."

"Wise decision."

"I think so."

~

Two Weeks Later

"You look like an angel!" Imogene sighed as she peered over Helen's shoulder into the mirror. They were admiring the beautiful ivory lace gown that Millie had made for Helen, with il ) pearl-lined neck and stylish empire waist. Mil ie came up behind her and placed a crown of pink roses and baby's breath on her dark curls and adjusted the lace veil sewn onto it.

"She sho' nuf is, missus. Sho' nuf!" Mil ie said as she joined the ladies at the mirror.

"I don't see why I have to have al these flowers stuck in my hair," Josie complained from behind them, causing them al to turn and look at her. She was dressed in pink satin with a circlet of roses in her hair, just like Helen. "I'm not the one getting married, so what does it mattel1?"

Helen reached for the younger girl's hands and couldn't help but notice how lovely and grown-up Josie appeared in her pretty dress. "But you're my maid of honor! And for that, you get the privilege of wearing roses like me."

Josie let go of her hands and rol ed her eyes, letting Helen know the "privilege"

wasn't appreciated.

Imogene stepped up to adjust the string of pearls that she'd lent Helen for her special day. "We are going to miss you once you've gone back to England," she said as her eyes grew misty, just as they always did when the subject of Helen's leaving was broached. "It wil be quite dul in this big house without you around to cheer us up."

"Yeah," Josie seconded, as she sat down on the window seat. "I won't miss the lessons, but I truly wil miss having you to talk to."

Helen blinked back the tears as she rushed to comfort her young friend. "We are to stay for three more months, Josie. We have lots of time to finish your lessons,"

she teased to brighten everyone's mood.

Josie pretended to be put out by that news, but Helen could see that she was in better spirits. "We must hurry if we're to get to the church on time!" Imogene said as she looked at the clock on Helen's mantel. "We can't keep his grace waiting!"

His Grace.
It seemed so strange to Helen to think of North as a duke anymore.

Because he'd offered to stay on for three months as the church council searched for another minister, he stil seemed like an ordinary person to her.

But he wasn't. And soon, when Helen became his wife, she wouldn't be, either.

Her Grace, Helen Kent, the duchess
of
Northingshire.
Just thinking of the title made Helen anxious-anxious she would have a hard time adjusting to her new life once they arrived back in England. Could she cope with the censure and the coldness she would receive at marrying so far above her station? She prayed every night that God would help her to do so.

That was one of the reasons she and North decided to marry in Louisiana. Their day would not be ruined by gossip and speculation but could be shared with the people they had grown to love in Golden Bay. Helen did feel a little remorse that her mother and father would not be able to see her marry, but she'd promised them in a letter she'd write down every detail to share with them after it was over.

Of course, there was one other reason they were not waiting to marry in England-North simply told her he would not wait that long to make her his wife.

North had teased he was afraid that Sam would talk her into marrying him instead, but she knew that he was just as eager as Helen to start their lives together.

"Wel , I think we are finished here!" Imogene announced, as she looked Helen over once more. "Are you ready to go meet your future husband?" she asked with a happy twinkle in her eyes.

"I've been ready for two years!" Helen stressed as she took Imogene and Josie by the hands and laughingly pul ed them toward the door.

~

"Are you sure you want to go through with this, monsieur?" Pierre asked as he helped North don his dark gray overcoat.

North smiled at him, purposely misunderstanding his question. "Of course I want to marry Helen. I'm practical y giddy with anticipation!"

Pierre narrowed his eyes and wagged his linger back and forth. "No, no. You know what I'm talking about," he corrected, his face quite serious. "You should reconsider having me stand up with you as your groomsman. It wil cause some to walk away and not stay for the ceremony."

North shook his head. "That is why we are holding the wedding outdoors under the oaks. I want everyone who I consider to be my friends to attend, and that include Sam, the servants and. slaves at Golden Bay, and
you.
If someone is offended, then they can leave without causing a commotion," North stated firmly as he checked his hair in the mirror of his dressing table. The fancy piece of furniture as wel as the tal four-poster bed looked out of place in the smal room, but North had wanted it to be more comfortable for the three months he and Helen were to live there. Once his cousins realized that they could not talk him into living at the Kent plantation, they had generously lent him al the furniture that he needed for his brief stay.

"I don't believe I have ever seen such a crowd of people, monsieur," Pierre observed as he peered out the window. "And I see that Helen has just arrived with the Baumgartners."

North's heart skipped a beat at the mention of her name. He hadn't seen Helen in three days because of al the preparations for the wedding, and he missed her dreadful y.

He vowed to make certain that after today they would never have to be apart.

After one last inspection, North and Pierre walked out of his house and made the short trek to where everyone had gathered. He greeted the minister who had driven from New Orleans and then faced his friends and family, waiting for his bride.

There was a momentary silence as everyone acknowledged Pierre would be standing up with him, but everyone stayed where they were. He glanced around and saw Sam and Leah standing by his cousins, and standing away from the crowd but close enough to see and hear the ceremony were al the servants and slaves from the Baumgartners' plantation.

A violin began to playa sweet tune just as Helen and Josie stepped between their guests and started walking toward him. North's eyes met Helen's as she drew closer to him, and he felt his heart swel with love and thankfulness. God had given him so much, and that included his heart's desire-Helen Nichols.

When she'd reached him, he eagerly took her hand and tucked it in his arm. He smiled down at her, not real y hearing what the preacher was saying until he got to the part about anyone objecting to the marriage. When they heard someone clear their throat as if they were about to say something, North whispered a name at the same time as Helen, "Sam!"

Horrified, they glanced back to look at the Indian, only to see him smiling benignly at them with a look of mock innocence. Leah had her face covered and was shaking her head in obvious embarrassment. North quickly turned around and found the young preacher frowning at him.

“May I continue?” he asked, apparently perturbed that North seemed to not be paying attention.

North glimpsed at Helen and found her trying to hold back a giggle. "Yes, please do,” he stressed, relieved that Sam had behaved himself. Except for the fact that North heard someone whisper that, as a duke, he could have provided benches or chairs for his guests, the rest of the day went off without a problem.

~

Five Months Later--London, England

"The Duke and Duchess of Northingshire!" the wiry butler announced to the ballroom at large, causing every person in attendance to stop what they were doing and stare at the couple standing at the top of the stairs.

"Oh dear! They're al looking as if they've received the shock of their lives. Wasn’t it posted in the
Times
some while back?" Helen whispered nervously, gripping her husband’s arm as if her life depended on it. Even though they were in the familiar surroundings of Kenswick Hal , she stil felt like an outsider.

She looked up to see North smiling as if he had no cares in the world. "Of course they know. It's been the talk of the town, if not the entire country. Smile and pretend you don't notice them."

"That wil be a little difficult," she said between a clenched-teeth smile.

Carefully they walked down the stairway, and Helen prayed she wouldn't fal , giving them something more to gossip about!

They'd spent a wonderful week at North’s Bronwyn Castle in Scotland, and though Helen knew that attending her best friend’s bal was important, she would have rather stayed up in the Scottish hil s with North.

They had just cleared the last of the steps when Christina, her best friend and the Countess of Kenswick, appeared through the crowd with her husband Nicholas, in tow.

"Helen!" she cried and threw her arms around Helen. "I am so glad to have you back home!"

"I am glad to see you, as wel ," Helen told her, as she returned the hug and stepped back to look at Christina with surprise. ' You're expecting another..." She didn't finish her sentence but looked wide-eyed at Christina’s slightly rounded tummy.

"Yes!" she nodded happily. She turned then to greet Nicholas, while Christina warmly welcomed North. Out of the corner of her eye, Helen noticed most of the people had pretended to lose interest in them, but she could see by their glances over their fans and between their gloved fingers that they had not.

"Oh don't be bothered by them," Christina said, waving a dismissive hand toward the crowd. "You wil only be of interest to them until someone else within the ton does something to shock them even more. Then you'l be yesterday's news and merely tolerated."

"I hope so," Helen answered, only to find out later that it was better than even Christina had hoped. Perhaps they had underestimated the power that the Duke of Northingshire wielded, or perhaps it was another sign that God was looking after them.

As the couples walked about the room greeting other people, Helen was surprised to find most were, if not friendly, at least forbearing of her presence.