Chapter Twenty-One
Helena wasn’t certain how it was possible to feel so happy and so terrified all at once. But it was. Inside she was a riot of emotion, such that she could scarcely breathe. She knew how badly this announcement to her family could go. There were a hundred terrible outcomes and so few positive ones, at least in this conversation.
But above all the fear, all the anticipation about how bad it could be, was something else. When she turned to look at Baldwin in this quiet moment they were sharing before Uncle Peter and Charity arrived in the parlor, her heart swelled with joy and happiness she’d never believed she’d experience again.
Baldwin loved her. That had felt like an impossibility since the first moment she met him and he made her heart skip a beat. She hadn’t let herself hope for more than whatever stolen time they were allowed. Resigning herself to the fact that she couldn’t have anything beyond that had been her only way to survive when her love for this man grew with each passing day.
And now…he was hers. He looked at her and she saw in his eyes that the fantasy, the fairytale, was true. And she knew that they could be happy together for the rest of their lives.
He slid his fingers through hers, lacing them together as he lifted her hand to kiss it. “I will always protect you, Helena.”
It was a powerful statement, made even more so by the years she’d spent having only herself to depend upon. She nodded slowly. “I believe you, Your Grace.”
He smiled as the door opened and her uncle and her cousin entered. All her good feelings fled, and she immediately went on alert. Out of habit, she shook away from Baldwin and took a step from his side. It was foolish, considering what he was about to declare, but judging from her uncle’s angry expression as he saw them standing together, she feared the consequences that her newly minted fiancé didn’t seem to fully grasp.
Uncle Peter was fully capable of mean and ugly pettiness. He would see her engagement as a betrayal, and if he could strike out at her…it was very likely he would do just that.
Baldwin frowned as she bent her head, but then he shifted his attention to the new additions to the room. “Mr. Shephard,” he said, his tone icy cold. “And Miss Shephard. Welcome—I’m glad you were up and could join us for a moment before the rest of the party begins the merrymaking for the day.”
“Have we interrupted something?” her uncle asked, spearing Helena with yet another glare. She felt it burning through her, accusatory.
“No,” Baldwin answered for her. “Helena and I simply wished to share our happy news with you before we make our announcements to the party at large.”
Helena held her breath as she watched for her family’s reaction. Charity went pale, but her uncle lifted both eyebrows in question. He didn’t look upset, although it was obvious what Baldwin was going to say.
“Announcement?” Charity repeated slowly.
“Yes,” Baldwin said, and reached out to retake Helena’s hand. He drew her closer, forcing her from the retreated position she had taken. Her breath shook and she almost screamed out at him not to say it. But the words fell from his mouth regardless. “I will marry Helena. As soon as possible.”
For a moment the room was utterly silent. Then, without warning, her uncle tipped back his head and began to laugh. Helena flinched at the cruel sound of it and the twisted expression on his lips that could in no way be called a smile.
She knew then that he would find some way to make sure this never happened. He would do everything in his power and tear down anyone in his way.
Including Helena herself.
But Baldwin didn’t know that. He didn’t know Peter and his cruel, spoiled bent. While she shrank down a fraction, trying to make herself a smaller target, Baldwin straightened and his expression grew hard.
“And just what is so funny, Mr. Shephard?” he asked. “I do not appreciate your mockery.”
“Oh, but there is so much to mock.” Uncle Peter shook his head and said, “Do you think you can just…have her? No, no, Your Grace. I don’t think so.”
Baldwin released Helena’s hand and took a long step toward her uncle. They stood chest-to-chest as Baldwin hissed, “I wasn’t asking. You can support our union and your niece, or you and your daughter can leave.”
Peter tilted his head, his expression empty and cold. He turned and walked around Baldwin to take a seat on the settee, where he folded his arms and looked up at the duke in defiance.
Helena’s stomach turned. Whatever was about to happen, she knew it was not good. It would be ruinous, and her heart broke.
“You are missing some debts, I think, Your Grace,” her uncle said softly.
Helena’s ears began to ring and she jerked her gaze toward Baldwin. He was standing still, staring at Peter, his eyes wide with shock and his hands clenched at his sides. She could see he understood the same horrible thing she did in that moment.
“I own them,” her uncle continued with a smug smile.
Baldwin didn’t want to give this arrogant bastard the satisfaction of his reaction, but it was impossible not to have one. The world was spinning, spinning out of control around him. There was no place to go to purchase, nothing that could make what Peter Shephard had said, or what he implied he would do, go away.
He fought for restraint and calm before he said, “I see.”
“That brings you up short, doesn’t it, Sheffield?” Shephard snorted out a laugh. “Not so superior anymore, are we?”
Baldwin had never been one to scrap. That was more James’s style, or Robert’s. But right now he wanted to smash a fist though this man’s face more than he’d ever wanted anything in his life.
“Why?” Helena asked, her voice shaking as she moved to stand beside him. She didn’t touch him, but he felt her presence nonetheless and it calmed him a little. “Why did you buy his debts?”
“Because I’m a businessman, my dear,” her uncle said. “And business is all about leverage. Now I have it.”
“I will pay you,” Baldwin said softly, never happier that he had accepted Ewan’s offer to repay the missing money in full if it were ever called back. That had felt like a humiliating sacrifice at the time, but now it didn’t hold a candle to this current exchange. “I can have it to you as soon as we return to London.”
“You don’t have it,” Shephard snorted. “Please. Don’t think I haven’t done my due diligence when it comes to your situation.”
Baldwin clenched his fists at his side. “I have friends, damn you. You’ll have your money.”
Shephard shook his head. “No, no, no. I know all about your friends. They are far more successful than you are. Does that sting?”
“No.” Baldwin clenched his teeth.
Shephard shrugged. “I don’t know how it can’t. But it doesn’t really matter. Their money isn’t what I want. Your money is what I want.”
Helena covered her mouth. “Don’t,” she whispered through her fingers. “Oh, please don’t do this.”
Baldwin shot her a side glance and then looked at her uncle again. Shephard smiled as he pointed at her. “She knows me. She understands.”
Baldwin folded his arms. “Then enlighten me, sir. Why would you give a damn where your money comes from? Especially given that you’re such a businessman.”
Shephard leaned back in his seat, utterly comfortable, like he owned the world and the room. “I want you to pay, Sheffield. Or else I will make certain that every man, woman and child in this country and abroad knows your true standing. And you know what that means, don’t you?”
Baldwin swallowed. Oh yes, he did. It was the very worst-case scenario he had pictured. If his true financial situation was not revealed, he could continue on, frugally, carefully, but there was survival in that path. It was the only way he’d known he could offer for Helena and not destroy them both.
But if his other creditors realized his coffers were empty, there could be panic amongst them. Debts could be called back in full. Payments doubled out of fear that he would default. He and his family, including Helena if they were wed, wouldn’t be welcomed in a shop in London. His mother would suffer the same fate potentially, despite her own inheritance being separate from the entail and the empty coffers. Even Charlotte would not be immune to the questions and whispers, despite her solid standing as Duchess of Donburrow.
It was his every nightmare brought to life.
“You understand,” Shephard said. “I see you playing it all out in your mind. I can make it even worse depending on how I let it be known.”
Baldwin swallowed past the bile that had gathered high in his throat and glared at Shephard. “Then why didn’t you do it already? The debts were bought over a week ago. Before we even came here, though I only just found out about when the party began. Why play this game?”
“Because the game is what matters. There are many outcomes we still have to discuss. Your utter destruction is just one. There is another.”
“What is that?” Baldwin asked, uncertain if he wanted to know. But the man held power over him. There was only one way to come through this and that was to understand his adversary.
“You could have this debt forgiven in its entirety without one farthing exchanging hands.”
Baldwin wrinkled his brow in utter confusion. He certainly didn’t believe Shephard was offering him this out of the kindness of his heart. “What? How?”
Shephard motioned toward Charity. “It’s very simple, Your Grace. It’s the option that has always been on the table. You marry my daughter.”