Simply Shameless by Kate Pearce

into the back room of her office where she kept her records and hauled out some of the large leather client books until she found the one labeled L-M.
    Wiping dust from the surface, she lugged the huge volume onto her desk and started her search.
    "Ah, yes, here he is."
    Her ringer alighted on his name. Not a paid-up member, but he had been admitted as a guest on several occasions by Sir Harry Jones. It was unfortunate that he was only a guest. If he had been a member, she would have far more intimate information about him and his sexual preferences. Helene tried to picture his friend, Sir Harry, whom knew she had served in the military during the Napoleonic campaigns in Spain.
    A sudden sharp image of the two men sitting close together in one of the salons came to Helene, and she slammed the book shut. She had to get to Marguerite. Lord Justin Lockwood was not the sort of man who should ever marry. He seemed far too interested in his best friend. A sudden commotion outside her door made her look up. Judd, her butler, flung open the door.
    "I apologize, madame, but these two persons insisted on seeing you."
    With a sense of shock, Helene stared into the determined faces of the young man and woman who had pushed their way past her butler. How on earth had they found her? The young man smiled without humor and sketched a bow.
    "Bonjour. Aren't you going to wish us a happy birthday, Maman."

Chapter Seven
    "It isn't your birthday until tomorrow."
    Helene's reply was automatic. She took a deep steadying breath. "Christian, Lisette, what are you doing here? You are supposed to be at school."
    She leaned back and gripped the edge of the desk, desperate to feel something solid behind her. Something to hold her up after the series of shocks she had suffered that morning.
    Christian shared a quick conspiratorial glance with his sister. "We decided we didn't need to go to school anymore. We used the money you sent us for our birthday to come and visit you instead."
    Christian smiled again, but his smile was not meant to reassure. He took his sister's hand and guided her into one of the chairs facing the desk. Helene fought to recover her customary composure. If Christian meant to shock her into agreeing to anything he suggested by turning up so unexpectedly, he would have a battle on his hands.
    "I repeat, what are you doing here?"
    "Don't you know, Maman}"
    "If I did, why would I be asking you?"
    Christian nodded, his hazel eyes narrowed as he studied her. "Setting aside the fact that you have lied to us for years about your occupation and refused to let us visit you in England—"
    Helene lifted her chin. "I am not accountable to you for my actions. I did what was best for us all."
    "Best for you, you mean."
    Helene released her grip on the desk and sat down behind it, needing a barrier between her children and herself. It was easy for Christian to stand there and condemn her, so easy for him to judge her and find her wanting. God, she did that to herself every day anyway; she hardly needed his help. Surreptitiously, greedily, she studied her son. The length of his legs and his height came from his father. His features and hair color from her.
    "I refuse to argue with you about any of this until you tell me exactly why you decided to cross the channel and find me."
    Christian sat down next to Lisette and took her gloved hand. Lisette was almost as tall as her twin, her hair a shade darker, her eyes a light golden hazel that reminded Helene of Philip.
    "It's about Marguerite."
    "I received this from her today." Helene found the letter she'd just read and showed it to the twins. "Apparently she has married. Did you know of this?"
    "Of course we did. She left a letter for the nuns, and they came to tell us." Lisette leaned forward, her gaze as condemning as her brother's. "We guessed she had eloped, but we wondered if it was some scheme of yours."
    "And that is why you are here? To accuse me of yet another - crime?" Helene rubbed her