“Are you certain you want me here?” he asked.
She grabbed his hand and pleaded with her eyes for him to stay. He nodded, offering an encouraging smile.
Lavinia sat adjacent to Helena and arranged her skirts. Helena eyed her sister’s modest gown, confused by the picture she presented. She hadn’t known what to expect when she finally found Lavinia, but it wasn’t this self-possessed young woman who could be mistaken for a lady. In fact, she was more convincing than Helena had ever felt herself to be.
Pink raced up Lavinia’s face and disappeared into her hairline. Helena broke out of her trance. She had been staring.
“Lord Thorne told me you know about Madam Montgomery and Whitechapel. You shouldn’t even be in the same house with me, much less—”
“How did it happen?” Helena dreaded her sister’s next words, but she had to know if their father had wagered away Lavinia’s freedom too.
Her sister’s gaze dropped to the carpet. “I tried to take care of everyone just like you asked, but I am not you. I didn’t know how to sew, so I had to find work elsewhere.”
Her heart squeezed. “Oh, Lavinia. I never meant to place that burden on you. Was there no place else you could find work?”
Lavinia’s head snapped up and there was a defiant spark in her eyes. “Do you think I wanted to become a whore? I fought it like the devil himself, but eventually—” Her sister’s throat worked as she fought against the emotions bubbling to the surface. “I worked as a cleaning woman for a time and that kept us from starvation, but it would never provide a better existence for the younger ones. I took a position in a tavern because I could earn a better wage. That is where I met John O’Riley and my future was cast in stone. Every day he would come to the tavern and try to lure me into the brothel. He made promises that I knew were false, so I refused his offers for weeks.
“Then one morning, the son of a longtime family friend came to call. Father had been an invalid for almost a year at that point. He was very ill when Mr. White appeared.”
“How did Father become an invalid?”
Lavinia’s gaze cut to Sebastian as if to question his presence when they were discussing family matters. Helena nodded that it was all right to proceed. He would need to know the ugly truth about her father, so there was no doubt he should cut ties with her.
“He…uh, fell…from the Westminster Bridge.”
“You mean he jumped.” It wouldn’t have been the first time he was deep in his cups and feeling sorry for himself. Helena had never been so happy her father was such a poor hazard player as the day he tore the house apart searching for his firearm only to remember he had wagered it away a month earlier.
Lavinia sighed. “Yes, he jumped, although it seemed wise to repeat his version of having fallen. As luck would have it, he dove from the bridge in the middle of the day when travel on the Thames was at its peak. He was fished out of the water and brought home with a broken back. He couldn’t move his arms or legs and had to be cared for like a baby. I wanted nothing to do with him, so Pearl took it upon herself to be his nurse. She has Mama’s patience.”
Helena perked up at mention of her other sister. “Where is Pearl now?”
“Cora said Pearl is living in Haslemere. She answered an advertisement to play nursemaid to an injured farmer. Apparently she likes caring for others and is good at it.” Lavinia shrugged. “It isn’t the life I wanted for her, but it is better thanmost alternatives.”
Helena didn’t know how to respond. If she again expressed sorrow for how Lavinia’s life had turned out, she feared angering her. Instead, she focused on what they had in common, a love for their sisters. “Where are the others? Cora and Gracie?”
“Cora is married and Gracie is here. She is asleep abovestairs, but I can take you to see her if you like.”
Her sisters were alive. Gracie was here, in this very house. Tears burned in her throat and she swallowed to ease the ache. “I—I do want to see her, but I have many questions yet.”
Lavinia nodded. “As do I, but you are eldest. I will answer whatever you wish to know.”