Free Loving Helen by Michele Paige Holmes Page B

Indeed, her behavior and demeanor had changed markedly since Miss Helen’s arrival. Their friendship had proved just the thing, and while he knew it wasn’t the same as having a mother, Samuel had to admit that his guilt regarding Beth had lessened with Miss Helen’s presence.
    At the top of the stairs he was joined by Beth dressed in a clean frock with her hair tied up prettily for dinner. Samuel took his daughter’s hand, and they hurried down the stairs to greet Miss Helen, eager for her company. They’d dined together for a week now, and he’d found the change a most pleasant one, as were the evenings spent at her side while they worked on Beth’s dollhouse.
    They reached the foyer just as the butler finished helping Miss Helen from her cloak.
    “Good evening.” Samuel bent over her hand as he kissed the back of it. As he straightened, he took in her trim figure dressed in an amber gown. It was simple in adornment, yet somehow it gave her face the appearance of glowing, complete with a halo of golden curls on top of her head.
    Beth rushed forward to hug Miss Helen, though it had been but a few hours since they’d played together. “You look like an angel.”
    My thoughts exactly. Samuel glanced at Beth briefly before his gaze slid back to Miss Helen, who looked nothing like a governess at the moment. How are governesses supposed to look? He felt suddenly uncomfortable that he had suggested such a path to her. A young woman with her beauty might be seen as a threat by the lady of a house. And Samuel could well imagine a gentleman being distracted by Miss Helen’s appearance. And if that were to happen …
    It didn’t bear thinking about, but he felt that he must consider it and somehow advise Miss Helen of the potential dangers. Beth had been so taken with her that first morning at breakfast — as was I — that he had thought of nothing but Miss Helen’s apparent way with children. Only now did he realize there were other, very serious matters to be pondered, if she was to find a suitable and safe position.
    I would have to know the couple very well, Samuel realized, feeling an odd surge of protectiveness for the woman before him, busily exclaiming over Beth’s simple frock.
    “Good evening to you both.” Miss Helen curtsied, and a few seconds later Beth, looking remiss, did the same.
    Samuel took a lady on either side, holding his arm low for Beth, and escorted them into dinner. Remembering Miss Helen’s awkwardness the day they’d breakfasted some two months earlier, he’d come up with the idea to have Beth join them the first night Miss Helen came to dinner. His plan had gone spectacularly well. Not only had Miss Helen seemed more at ease, but Beth had eaten her dinner, used her utensils, and remained in her chair throughout the entire meal. Such success demanded he continue the pattern, unheard of as dining with one’s children was.
    If he had any hope of taming his daughter’s wild ways, including her lack of manners when eating, it lay in the beautiful woman beside him.
    Once they were seated and had been served by the staff, their usual conversation began. He began by inquiring after their day. “Were you in Camelot again this afternoon? Or was it—”
    “Sherwood Forest,” Beth interrupted with a mouthful of food. Across the table from her, Miss Helen pressed her fingers to her lips and shook her head.
    Beth closed her mouth and swallowed before saying more. “We were in Sherwood Forest, fighting Prince John.”
    Samuel had been pleased to discover that nearly all of the adventures Miss Helen’s imagination conjured were based in literature. Without her even realizing it, Beth’s education had begun.
    “And why were we fighting Prince John?” Miss Helen asked.
    “He took everyone’s money,” Beth said. “And they were going to starve.”
    “Unfair taxation,” Miss Helen clarified.
    “He was bad.” Beth reached for her glass and tipped it sideways.
    Samuel caught it before her