worthy goal? Why can't you just stay here? I will miss you terribly." Strong emotion made her sister cross, but Helena could not help herself. Ros had always been there — to talk, to help, to show her how to be strong, and to be strong for her when she could not be.
"I've made up my mind, so no use pouting about it. After you've had a baby, you can come to visit." Ros smiled with a misplaced confidence that amazed Helena. "I wouldn't be surprised to hear that you'd quite become resigned to your husband by then."
"The earl?" Helena forced away a picture of Rand's lips descending to meet her own as Rosaline tapped the sketchbook she cradled in her lap. Helena was startled to see what her unconscious fingers had laid out on the page. "You've been studying the male form, I see."
Helena curled her knees up, hiding the foolish sketch from sight. "He would truly not mind if I were to come to him already carrying another man's child?"
"He would count it a blessing."
"What kind of man does not mind raising another man's child as his own? What if I had a son?" Helena doubted any man could feel blessed by a cuckoo in his nest. "I must speak with him. Such a matter cannot be left to your word. I must look into his eyes and see that you are right about this."
Her sister smiled widely, and Helena felt as if she had just fallen into a snare with the noose about to snap tight. "Good. I told him you would meet him tonight, in my stead."
Tonight. The immediacy spurred her to panicked argument. "I cannot — the scandal, if I were seen ...."
Ros snorted in a decidedly unladylike manner.
"You'll wear my disguise, of course, silly. As a man you can go wherever you please without anyone's notice."
"Ros! Helena!" Ros scrambled up from the ground at the sound of their youngest sister's voice. Helena wanted to protest, but she knew she could not do so now. Kate was not one to give up the search, and they both knew there was no sense in staying silent in the hopes she would go away.
With a sharp motion of her hand, Ros indicated that Helena remain as she was. "I'll go. You stay a moment. You look as if you could cry." With a flash of skirts Rosaline disappeared, leaving Helena alone in the shade of the tree.
Helena thought of bracing the earl in his own lair. He was sure to make a mock of the matter between them. But he needed a wife, and she might very well find herself in desperate need of a husband.
She looked at the couple she had drawn, sitting in the tree.
The Adam with the earl's face and the bare chest of David himself, held the apple to his Eve. And an Eve with Helena's face — for Ros could never have managed that expression: a mingling of temptation and trepidation.
* * * * *
"Hold still or you will have sideburns on your chin."
The cleverly padded waistcoat and vest that Ros used to give herself a bulkier, more masculine shape, made Helena's limbs feel heavy and clumsy. "Maybe this is not a good idea. I could speak with him tomorrow, when he comes to dine with us."
Ros continued adjusting the clothing without pause. "With Miranda nearby? Do you want your secret discovered?"
"No." She didn't want another person to know what she had done. That the earl knew was awful enough.
"Then you must speak to him in private, tonight." Ros adjusted her collar and stepped back to survey her work. "You cannot be worried about your virtue, since you no longer possess any."
"Ros!"
"Sorry." Ros made a face at her. "You are the most virtuous of women. One mistake does not make you ready for the dung heap, no matter what some lords and ladies claim."
Helena surveyed herself in the mirror, amazed at the transformation. "You are right never to marry or have a child. Your ability to comfort leaves a great deal to be desired."
"Get the matter settled between you tonight. You will both feel better for it."
Both? Was the earl as reluctant as Helena about this harebrained scheme of Ros's? She sank onto the tiny stool before the dressing
"I've made up my mind, so no use pouting about it. After you've had a baby, you can come to visit." Ros smiled with a misplaced confidence that amazed Helena. "I wouldn't be surprised to hear that you'd quite become resigned to your husband by then."
"The earl?" Helena forced away a picture of Rand's lips descending to meet her own as Rosaline tapped the sketchbook she cradled in her lap. Helena was startled to see what her unconscious fingers had laid out on the page. "You've been studying the male form, I see."
Helena curled her knees up, hiding the foolish sketch from sight. "He would truly not mind if I were to come to him already carrying another man's child?"
"He would count it a blessing."
"What kind of man does not mind raising another man's child as his own? What if I had a son?" Helena doubted any man could feel blessed by a cuckoo in his nest. "I must speak with him. Such a matter cannot be left to your word. I must look into his eyes and see that you are right about this."
Her sister smiled widely, and Helena felt as if she had just fallen into a snare with the noose about to snap tight. "Good. I told him you would meet him tonight, in my stead."
Tonight. The immediacy spurred her to panicked argument. "I cannot — the scandal, if I were seen ...."
Ros snorted in a decidedly unladylike manner.
"You'll wear my disguise, of course, silly. As a man you can go wherever you please without anyone's notice."
"Ros! Helena!" Ros scrambled up from the ground at the sound of their youngest sister's voice. Helena wanted to protest, but she knew she could not do so now. Kate was not one to give up the search, and they both knew there was no sense in staying silent in the hopes she would go away.
With a sharp motion of her hand, Ros indicated that Helena remain as she was. "I'll go. You stay a moment. You look as if you could cry." With a flash of skirts Rosaline disappeared, leaving Helena alone in the shade of the tree.
Helena thought of bracing the earl in his own lair. He was sure to make a mock of the matter between them. But he needed a wife, and she might very well find herself in desperate need of a husband.
She looked at the couple she had drawn, sitting in the tree.
The Adam with the earl's face and the bare chest of David himself, held the apple to his Eve. And an Eve with Helena's face — for Ros could never have managed that expression: a mingling of temptation and trepidation.
* * * * *
"Hold still or you will have sideburns on your chin."
The cleverly padded waistcoat and vest that Ros used to give herself a bulkier, more masculine shape, made Helena's limbs feel heavy and clumsy. "Maybe this is not a good idea. I could speak with him tomorrow, when he comes to dine with us."
Ros continued adjusting the clothing without pause. "With Miranda nearby? Do you want your secret discovered?"
"No." She didn't want another person to know what she had done. That the earl knew was awful enough.
"Then you must speak to him in private, tonight." Ros adjusted her collar and stepped back to survey her work. "You cannot be worried about your virtue, since you no longer possess any."
"Ros!"
"Sorry." Ros made a face at her. "You are the most virtuous of women. One mistake does not make you ready for the dung heap, no matter what some lords and ladies claim."
Helena surveyed herself in the mirror, amazed at the transformation. "You are right never to marry or have a child. Your ability to comfort leaves a great deal to be desired."
"Get the matter settled between you tonight. You will both feel better for it."
Both? Was the earl as reluctant as Helena about this harebrained scheme of Ros's? She sank onto the tiny stool before the dressing
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