Loving Helen by Michele Paige Holmes Page B

father if she does not absolutely adore this dollhouse.” His gaze and tone turned serious. “I thank you both.” He looked from Miss Helen to her maid, who was busily sewing in the opposite corner. “It would have been very plain without your talents.”
    “I am so glad we finished in time,” Miss Helen said.
    “As am I.” Samuel glanced at her as an acute and strange awareness concerning time passed over him. The past three Decembers had been nothing but misery. Of course giving Beth presents had always made for joy on Christmas morning, but the month leading up to the holiday had seemed to crawl by, a time during which the constant loneliness that was his only companion hurt more keenly. But this December had been different. It has passed quickly — too quickly — filled with delightful evenings spent at Miss Helen’s side, as together they created this treasure for Beth.
    “Christmas Eve will not see us up late working,” Samuel said, half wishing it would have. The invitation to Nicholas’s Christmas Eve ball still lay in his coat pocket, where it had for several days, ever since he’d received it. The time for a proper response had long passed, and Samuel was not yet certain whether he wished to attend — to see for myself the path Grace has chosen, and to discover that my hope has been in vain.
    Had the dollhouse not been completed, his decision would have been easy. Making Christmas ready for Beth would have come first.
    “You are finished?” Harrison asked, entering the room, snow still clinging to his boots. “And just in the nick of time.” He pulled a letter from his pocket and directed his gaze at Miss Helen. “This arrived from your father. It appears he’s had it for some time and didn’t send it on. It had already been opened.”
    Miss Helen took the letter and read it quickly, her fingers trembling. “It is from Lord Sutherland,” she said, glancing about the room at the three of them. “He has requested my company, and Christopher’s — and yours—” she glanced up at Miranda and then Harrison — “for the duration of the Christmas season.”
    Samuel watched as a myriad of emotions crossed Miss Helen’s face. Her first thought, he would have bet, had been elation at the thought of seeing Grace. And her second thought seemed to be one of disappointment and perhaps sadness, making him wonder if she was thinking of Beth and how she would miss their daily adventures.
    Will she miss me? Or does she think of me simply as Beth’s father? It was entirely probable that she did, older as he was.
    Regardless of Miss Helen’s feelings, they would miss her. Over the past few weeks it seemed she had spent more time with Beth than her nanny did. Several times, Samuel had been on the verge of asking Miss Helen if she would consider a position as Beth’s governess, something that would make Beth immensely happy and bring him a great deal of relief. He would worry about Miss Helen were she to become a governess elsewhere. And besides, her quiet, reserved manner was the very antithesis of Beth’s rambunctious one. They were a good balance for each other. But now that the matter of the inheritance had been settled favorably, Miss Helen would not need to be employed. Neither did she need to stay any longer, now that she had been summoned to Sutherland Hall.
    “You must go,” Samuel forced himself to say. “Your sister should not be without you at Christmas.” Grace had been away from her family long enough. Whatever was to happen between her and Nicholas would happen, and it would not be affected by proximity to her family now.
    “But Lord Sutherland —” Miss Helen set the letter aside and dropped into a chair.
    “Do not be frightened of Nicholas,” Samuel said. “I believe your sister has tamed him considerably, else he would have run me over the day I spied them kissing at the crossroad.”
    “What?” Miss Helen stood abruptly. “They were kissing — on the road?”
    “ He