Helena suppressed a sigh. She was very put out with Cora, and she would like to leave her sister to correct her own mess, but she couldn’t. “I will pay your debt, but then you must promise never to do anything like this again.”
Cora’s eyes widened. “Do you have that sort of money? I saw you leave in a hack the other day. I thought widows’ pensions barely amounted to anything.”
Sebastian cleared his throat. “Helena, do you recall your conversation with St. Ambrose? You are not likely to help your sister by making this problem disappear. Another will rear its head soon enough.”
Helena refused to meet his gaze, instead focusing on her sister’s somber expression. She saw a flash of the troubled young girl who had lost a mother, and then slowly watched her family deteriorate, beginning with Helena leaving home. It wasn’t right that her sister should lose her belongings and have her marriage ruined over a foolish choice.
“I have the means to cover your debt. I will help you.”
A smile lit Cora’s face as she sprang from her seat to toss her arms around Helena’s neck. “Thank you! Thank you! I will repay you. I promise.”
Helena eased from her sister’s tight grip. “You don’t owe me anything. You are my sister. I only ask that you never gamble again.”
“Pfft!” She flicked her wrist. “I don’t gamble that often. I’m not like Papa. I told you I only wanted to pay my dressmaker, and I could have won if I hadn’t been distracted and lost count.” She offered a smile to Sebastian and Fergus. “Goodness, I should make some tea. Where are my manners?”
Helena grabbed Cora’s hand before she flitted away, her fingers encircling her sister’s dainty wrist. “I must have your word. If I cannot trust you to pay your debt and not get into a similar situation, I cannot give you the money.”
Cora’s eyes hardened like a frozen lake and she jerked free of Helena’s hold. “Are you accusing me of being a liar?”
“She did no such thing,” Sebastian said, moving to stand at Helena’s side.
Cora ignored him. “How dare you pretend you are better than me? How dare you believe you suffered more?”
“I never said—”
Cora slammed her palm against the table. “Do you truly think you are so honorable because you went off and married some bleeding toff with a castle and wealth, and now ye’re a lady?” Her sister sneered the last word.
“That is enough,” Sebastian said.
“I’ll damn well decide when I have said enough.” She punched her fists down to her sides and held them there, trembling. “You think you saved our family by leaving with Prestwick. And Lavinia? Good Lord, she reeks of martyrdom, giving up her virtue like she did. Well, what about me? What about my sacrifice?”
“We all suffered, Cora. I cannot deny the truth of that.”
“Well, your suffering is over now, isn’t it?”
The door swung open, and Mr. White froze in the threshold when he spotted them in the kitchen. Cora didn’t see him, however. Her face was bright red, and Helena knew she could be as difficult to stop as a runaway team of horses when she lost her temper.
“Cora.” She tried to alert her sister to Mr. White’s presence.
“Do not ‘Cora’ me.” She stomped her foot, reminding Helena of the young girl she had known long ago. The girl who had beat her fists against Wickie and demanded he leave her sister alone. “No one ever thanks me for my sacrifice! Have you seen the man I was forced to marry? He’s old. And I had to throw my life away just so our sisters could have a roof over their heads and food in their bellies. It isn’t fair! I gave up everything for them.”
Mr. White’s complexion drained of color, and his mouth hung slack. His mother stood behind him and elbowed her way into the room. Her face was a molten mask. She marched to Cora and slapped her. The crack rent the air. Helena bolted from her seat with a sharp cry of surprise.
Mrs. White snarled in Cora’s face. “After everything Thomas has done for you, and you repay him by squandering his money and disparaging him? He should toss you on the streets where you belong. You ungrateful little cow.”