Ewan signed, “How much?”
Baldwin shot his mother a side glance before he said, “Five thousand pounds.”
The duchess leapt to her feet, covering her mouth with both hands. Charlotte simply stared at him, and Ewan looked sick.
Baldwin let them process the terrible news for a moment, then drew a deep breath. “There’s a reason I’m telling you all of this at last, when I’ve kept it a secret for so long. And it is this…I’m in love with Helena Monroe.”
His mother lowered her hands slowly. “Oh, Baldwin.”
“Mama and I had created a list of suitable heiresses with large enough fortunes to help get us out of a portion of this mess father and I created, but…I love her. And she has nothing,” Baldwin said, and there was a huge weight that lifted from his shoulders when he got to say those words. The last secret was out. He was no longer alone in bearing it all.
Charlotte’s eyes had filled with tears and she reached for Ewan’s hand. “Baldwin…oh, this should be such happy news. We adore Helena, and anyone can see the connection between you.”
“Loving her is the best thing I’ve ever done in my life,” he whispered. “If the circumstances were any different, I would offer for her without hesitation. But the circumstances are not different. So when I offer for her, it will cause farther-reaching consequences. I knew you had to understand them, to voice your objections. You have that right.”
“You’re offering for her,” his mother whispered.
He nodded immediately, for he felt no hesitation in the decision he had made. “I am. I must. A life lived without her is…unfathomable. I spent the night going over figures, reading over the ledgers, trying to find a way to make it work. It will require whittling down to almost nothing. The art will be sold, some of the furnishings in the other three houses. The London home will be where we stay almost all the time.” He shook his head. “I’ll tell her, of course, that it will be an austere life.”
“And what about these debts you spoke of,” Charlotte whispered. “Does it take into account if those are called back by this mysterious buyer?”
He hesitated. “That is the sticking point. I have no idea of the terms that will be laid out by this mysterious person. I can’t plan for them. So…no. If the debts are called in, then—then the worst may still happen.”
Ewan signed something. A few simple slashes of his fingers in the air, but Charlotte’s expression crumpled as she stared at him.
“I love you,” she whispered.
Ewan smiled down at her, his reply clear on his face. The words were not needed.
“He says he will pay the debt,” she said, rising to take his hand.
Baldwin’s lips parted. “It’s five thousand pounds. A small fortune.”
Ewan stared at him a moment, then reached into his pocket and withdrew a small silver notebook. He scribbled on it and handed it over.
“‘Luckily I have a large fortune,’” Baldwin read softly. “‘I insist.’”
He handed the notebook back and dropped his head. “I’ve become a charity case for my family and friends.”
Ewan caught his arm, and when Baldwin looked up, Ewan was shaking his head. He signed furiously as Charlotte translated. “Never! This is not charity. It is a gift, just as this family has been the greatest gift of my life.”
“Ewan,” the Duchess of Sheffield breathed. “That you would do this for my son…”
Ewan continued to sign without breaking his gaze from Baldwin. Charlotte’s voice was thick as she translated, “My brother.”
Baldwin nodded. Oh yes, Ewan had been his brother long before his marriage to Charlotte. And now he offered the lifeline in this storm. Would it be easy? No. Never. But now he had a chance at survival.
“I accept your generous offer. If the worst happens, I will do everything in my power to repay it, though I know there is no way I can truly offer recompense for your kindness, nor the wonderful life you’ve given my sister,” Baldwin said as he reached out to embrace Ewan. “You don’t know how much it means.”
When they parted, he turned back to find his sister and mother standing together, their arms around each other. Both had eyes sparkling with tears. He could see Charlotte’s approval in what he was about to do. It really came down to their mother.
“Mama,” he said softly, coming forward to take her hands as Charlotte stepped away. “In the end, this is your name as well as mine that will be on the line. I cannot promise that Father’s sins will not still come out. That there won’t be a scandal.”
She stared at him a long moment, then over to Charlotte and Ewan. “I have only ever wanted your happiness, my two loves. I can see that if I denied you the chance to marry Helena, I would watch you live a life of misery. That would be far worse a consequence, I think, than having my friends whisper that my husband was a debtor. Half of their husbands are no better. If this is what you need to be happy, I will support it with a full heart and at full voice to anyone who questions it.”
Relief washed through Baldwin, and he lifted both her hands up and kissed each one in turn. “Thank you, Mama.”
“It sounds like you have someone to go talk to,” Charlotte said, her laughter filling the room like music. “Go do it quickly. I would love to celebrate with our friends before this country party ends.”
Baldwin looked at them, his family, his everything. He’d spent years trying to protect them, trying to protect himself. Fearing the worst-case scenario that they would blame or reject him for the things he’d done.
Now that seemed like such an empty fear, because of course they would love and accept him. He’d been so wrong to expect anything less of them.
“Thank you,” he said. “And yes, I think it’s time to see if any of this matters and talk to Helena.”
Ewan waved him out of the room while his mother and sister beamed after him. And as he strode down the hall toward his study to gather himself and plan what he would say to the love of his life, for the first time in years he felt happy. He felt free.
He could only hope that what he offered would be enough for Helena. Because what mattered in that moment was giving her everything he could, and praying that she would take it, and him. Flaws and all.
Chapter Twenty
Helena stood at the window beside the settee she’d called a bed and sighed as rain streaked down the glass. It was a fitting thing, the storm. It matched the rioting emotions in her own heart. She rested her head back and shut her eyes with a shiver.
How had things come so far from a night counting stars on the terrace to…this? With a guillotine hanging over her head and her future so uncertain? Not that she’d change a thing. She’d had those stolen moments with Baldwin, and they meant the world to her.