After a bit of assistance from his servants, Sebastian learned the town house on Walpole Street belonged to the Marquess of St. Ambrose, a bachelor every marriage-minded mother dreamed of snagging for her daughter. It wasn’t the home where he resided—St. Ambrose lived in a grander house on Park Street bordering Hyde Park—but it was rumored the marquess paid calls to the young woman letting the town house.
From all accounts, she was a great beauty who mostly kept to herself. Some speculated she was St. Ambrose’s mistress, but since she was never a nuisance to her neighbors, everyone tended to their own affairs. Despite Sebastian’s attempts to learn her name, her identity remained a mystery. This was the reason he was standing on her stoop, ready to go to the source for an answer.
Late afternoon sun reflected off a brass knocker engraved with the initial S. It was warm to the touch when he grasped it to rap twice. He stood with his hands linked behind his back, waiting. There were sounds of movement from within, but several moments passed before the heavy oak door creaked open. A bespectacled woman with graying hair pulled back into a tight knot blinked at him through the crack.
“Yes, sir?” Her voice quivered.
He offered a disarming smile to ease her worries and pulled a calling card from his case. “Good afternoon. I am Lord Thorne and I am here at the behest of Lady Helena Prestwick. May I speak with the lady of the house?”
The woman stared at him with parted lips. “The lady of the house, milord?”
“Your mistress, Miss Lavinia…” Helena had never supplied him with a last name. “Uh, just Lavinia, I believe. It is important I speak with her.”
Grooves in the woman’s forehead deepened, and the sound of heels clicking on the marble floor caught his attention before a soft voice reached them. “Who is it, Edith? Delivery men are to come to the back.”
A woman with a face very similar to Helena’s came up behind Edith. She shared Helena’s eye color too, but there was a jaded light to hers Helena didn’t have. “I will see to the gentleman while you return to preparing our tea.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
The taller woman patted Edith on the back, then filled the doorway to block his view. “What is it you want, sir?”
“Are you Lavinia, the young woman formerly under Madam Montgomery’s employ?”
Her glare would have struck him dead if she had that power. “I am no longer in the business of entertaining,” she hissed. “You should leave at once.”
Sebastian balked. “Egads! You have misjudged the situation, miss.” How many other men had arrived at her door demanding special treatment? And she thought he was one of them. He felt slightly queasy. “I am here on Lady Prestwick’s behalf. Not to be entertained.”
“I don’t know Lady Prestwick, so I’ll send you on your way.”
As the door was being closed in his face, he called out. “Helena! Your sister, Helena, is looking for you.”
He was guessing at their relationship, but the strong resemblance made it clear they were family. It wasn’t unusual to have illegitimate half siblings, nor was he concerned about what Helena’s father had gotten up to.
The door froze an inch before it closed. Slowly, it eased open and frigid eyes narrowed on him. “How do you know about Helena?” she asked in a fierce whisper. “My sister died nine years ago.”
He lowered his voice to match hers even though the street was deserted. “The devil she did. She is here in London, and she has been looking for you, risking her life in Whitechapel until her search led to Madam Montgomery’s.”
The woman’s breath hitched and the moment it dawned on her that he was telling the truth showed in the softening of her face. She was a beauty, just as rumors suggested, but she lacked Helena’s warmth and hopeful air. He supposed he couldn’t blame her, though. Helena’s sister couldn’t have lived an easy life.
“Please, I just need a moment of your time.”
“Helena is alive,” she said more to herself than him and stepped back to allow the door to open. “Please, come in, Mr…?”
He held out the calling card Edith hadn’t taken. “Thorne.”
“I am Lavinia Kendrick.” She read the black script then glanced at him again. “We may speak in the parlor, my lord. Did you say my sister hired you to find me?”
“I volunteered my assistance. We are close friends.”
She arched an eyebrow and closed the door behind him. “I see.”
No doubt Miss Kendrick had seen a lot in her life, which accounted for her sardonic tone. She led him to the parlor and began cross-examining him with the skill of a barrister. Her distrust reminded him of Helena and the haunted look he had seen in her eyes. His patience for Miss Kendrick increased. She was another wounded bird, perhaps hurt by the same father who had hurt Helena.
“Prestwick lied,” Miss Kendrick said with a frown. “Our father received a letter a week after he let that coldhearted bastard take her. It said Helena contracted a fever and died at an inn along the way. Since we never heard from her, I assume he wouldn’t allow it. I am guessing he is dead now.”
“Prestwick is dead.”
A small smile played about the corners of her mouth. “Good.”
Questions crowded his head and he didn’t know what to ask first. Yet, even if he did know where to start, he wanted answers from Helena. He wanted her to trust him enough to share her past ordeals, and reuniting her with her sister could be the first step toward earning that trust.
“How is my sister?
“Well, but she misses you.”
Miss Kendrick nodded. “She misses who I was, and I am no longer that girl.”
Sebastian knew that wasn’t true. Helena’s only desire was to reunite with Lavinia. “She knows about you, Miss Kendrick, and she is driven to find you despite your circumstances.”
“She wants to find Cora, Pearl, and Gracie. I am a link to our sisters.”
Sebastian hid his surprise at learning Helena had more than one sister. “And do you know of their whereabouts?”
She sat up straighter, her wariness returning. “They are safe. Now I will interview you, my lord.”
He wasn’t able to answer many of the young woman’s questions, since he didn’t know what Helena’s life had been like with Prestwick. But he told Miss Kendrick about her stubborn streak, how she loved to read, her generosity with the old man and child in the rookery that evening, and how she had been dubbed the Whitechapel Angel and came to his aid. He spoke of her bravery when she fought off the footpad, and her loyalty to him and Eve when she defended them against Lady Lovelace. The more he spoke of Helena and all the ways she was unique, the more his heart swelled with admiration.
He didn’t tell her sister about the tenderness with which Helena had placed her lips against his bruised cheek, or the soft glow in her eyes when she looked at him. The way his pulse sped when she was near, or how he wanted to hold her and absorb her hurts. His throat felt tight and scratchy all of a sudden.
Maybe Eve was right. Was he falling in lovewith Helena?
“It wasn’t until a year after we received word Helena was dead that I learned the reason she had been taken.” If he thought Miss Kendrick’s eyes were cold earlier, they were shards of ice now. “Our pathetic sire had wagered her in a game of loo like she was livestock and lost, just as he always did. The gentleman came to collect his winnings the next morning.”
Sebastian cursed under his breath. More than ever, he wanted to wrap his fingers around both men’s necks. “No gentleman I know would accept that wager, much less collect the debt.”
“Which is the reason I consider him a fiend, but our father was even worse.”
What kind of depravity made a man gamble with his daughter’s freedom? He could see Helena’s reluctance to trust in a new light. The one man she should have been able to count on—her own father—had betrayed her. He couldn’t think on it without a harsh pain in his chest. He cleared his throat. “She will want to see you as soon as she learns I’ve found you.”
“Of course, and I want to see her,” Miss Kendrick said, “but that is impossible. She can’t be seen with me. Not if she is a lady. Perhaps you could deliver a message to her instead.”
Sebastian agreed it was important to protect Helena’s reputation, but he couldn’t agree with keeping her away from her only family. “Perhaps an inconspicuous meeting place would suffice. It is easy to find privacy in the pleasure gardens. I could bring her there tonight.”
“No, it’s too risky. I could be recognized by any number of gentlemen.”
“She would never agree to stay away, Miss Kendrick. She has been searching for you for weeks.”
“I know you are right. There are many things I remember about my sister, and her stubbornness is among them.” Her smile was affectionate as she stood and moved to a small desk in the corner. “If you brought her here after dark, it would be safer than the gardens. St. Ambrose comes tonight, but I will tell him he must postpone his visit.”
Sebastian raised an eyebrow. “And he will heed your wishes?”
Miss Kendrick stopped writing and glanced over her shoulder. “The marquess cares for me, Lord Thorne. Don’t you heed the wishes of the woman you love?”
He smiled sheepishly. “I wouldn’t be here ifI didn’t.”