Love & Misunderstanding

Chapter Twenty Five - Helene's POV

"I have known you for twenty-four years and we have rarely been late for anything, Father. Instead we usually end up arriving half an hour early," Alexander complained.

Father was known to be quite impatient. His greatest fear seemed to be that we would be late on occasions like this. To a certain extent, I could understand why he was so concerned with time. Punctuality was a must in English society. Eventually, he must have come to the conclusion that if we always arrived half an hour early we would never be late. It became annoying at times, but that was simply the way he was.

As we pulled out, I began to think about Louise. I had not left on the best terms with her, and I was worried to a certain extent. Normally she forgot these things with time, but when she did not, she was known to start vicious rumours about people. Having rumours floating about was the last thing I needed right now.

I had actually heard that she was now officially engaged to James Caldwell. I did not know the exact details, but according to what I had heard from my mother, James had proposed to her only two weeks after I had left. The thought of her being the sister-in-law to Matthew only further convinced me to stay away from her. However, I knew that I could not avoid her forever. If she had forgotten about what happened, chances are that she would be gloating about how wonderful her new fiance was.

It filled me with dread to think about how their marriage would fare. Louise was easily distracted by handsome men, and in all honesty, I could imagine her being unfaithful to James. She had nearly forgotten about him when she had met Mr. Johnson. Luckily, she had snapped out of it when he left. For once in my life, I actually found myself feeling a bit sorry for James.

"Prepare yourself," Alexander teased. "We are nearly there."

I rolled my eyes. "I have eyes as well, Alexander." I felt a lump form in my throat as we pulled up to the Caldwell manor. I could not help but wonder what misfortunes I would be put through today. The last time that I had been here, Matthew had proposed to me. I doubted that would happen again, for Matthew's feelings towards me had surely changed since then, but still. I could not shake the feeling that trouble was approaching.

Climbing out of the carriage, I began to look around. There was already a large crowd of people assembled across the entire estate. I could spot all of the Gilmore's except Jonathan, which disappointed me greatly, but I was quite pleased to note that Matthew was missing as well. Although, that probably meant that the two friends were off somewhere else.

"Helene!" someone called out to me all of a sudden. To my surprise, it was none other than Louise. "I am so glad that you are back!"

"It is nice to see that I was missed," I greeted her with a smile.

"Of course I missed you. I had no one to talk to while you were gone," she replied.

"Did you not have James to talk to? I heard that he finally proposed to you."

Nodding her head, she squealed with delight as she held out her hand to show me her fancy engagement ring. I had to admit that the sight of it was rather impressive, but I doubted that it would hold any sentimental value to her. It was nothing more than a shiny piece of jewelry to her. I highly doubted that it reminded her of her love for James, if there even was any inside her shallow heart.

"The wedding is to be held in the summer; although an official date has not yet been chosen," she explained.

"I wish you two all the best."

"Now I just need to find you a husband," she teased.

I sighed, "Have you not given up on that?"