A Home for Helena (The Lady P Chronicles Book 2) by Susana Ellis Read Free Book Online Page B

creep!”
    Helena looked at the hotel manager with over-bright eyes. “Look, I’m going to my room and I’d appreciate it if you would make sure he does not follow me. Can you do that for me? Or I swear I will call the police!”
    “I don’t know exactly what is going on here, but I can promise you that this man will not follow you to your room, Miss Lloyd.” He shrugged toward the elevators and put a firm hand on Richard Earskine’s shoulder as he bulldozed him toward the hotel entrance.
    “But you don’t understand—” Helena heard him protest as he was escorted out of the hotel.
    She collapsed against the back of the tiny elevator as the doors closed. She’d escaped him for now, but she knew he’d be back. He was a man used to winning. Power. Dominance. She’d seen it more than once in her foster home days. She’d fought off such predators before, as a child, and was not about to stop now.
    But this man was not in his right mind. He was determined to stalk her, and suddenly London was not a safe place for her. In fact, 1817 was looking more appealing all the time.
    At the very least, an adventure to a time long past. At the very best, she would be reunited with her family and have a home at last.
    It sounded incredible. It was incredible. But what harm was there in trying? It wasn’t like she had anything to lose.
    Did she?

4
    June 18, 1817
    Hyde Park
    London

    “ M ove away from her , you blackguard! The girl is clearly unwell and in need of assistance.”
    “I'll assist 'er well enough!” came a boastful voice, accompanied by the approval of a handful of other drunken sots in the crowd.
    Helena was alarmed enough by the threat in their voices to open her eyes and force herself to wake up from the nightmare. It didn't work. Squeezing her eyes shut, she slowly opened them again, and found herself being examined by a pair of eyes encased in a rounded face framed by a black bonnet.
    “The gel's a trollop!” “Wot's she doin' 'ere on the ground?” “Lookit 'ow she's dressed!”
    Helena tried to sit up and get her bearings, but the unfamiliar tightness of the corset she was wearing made it difficult to breathe. She heard a faraway voice apologizing for having to lace her so tightly because of the “too-small size of the gown.” Corset? Gown? Suddenly Helena's memory came rushing back to her, and she dropped back to the ground, instinctively clutching the pendant she wore on a chain around her neck.
    “Where am I?” she demanded. “What year is it?” “Who are you?” This last to the older woman dressed in black who was bending over her. This couldn't really be happening. Even as she'd followed Mrs. Herne's instructions, she'd still had doubts that it would work. Time travel? It was just too bizarre.
    “I am Sister Ignatia from the Church of the True Savior.” The woman swatted at the leering faces of the thugs that surrounded them. “Begone, you debauched sinners, or the Lord Himself will come down from heaven and smite you!”
    At that precise moment, church bells began to ring from all sides, and a bomb went off somewhere, startling their would-be attackers, who dashed off in all directions.
    “W-What happened?” Helena turned wide eyes to Sister Ignatia. “How did you do that?”
    The older woman folded her hands and looked up at the heavens before giving Helena a secret smile. “I did nothing, my dear. It was all the Lord's doing.” She clucked her tongue. “There's some who might call it mere coincidence, but I say it's all the Lord's timing. 'Dost thou know the balancing of the clouds, the wondrous works of him which is perfect in knowledge?'”
    Well, if it wasn't the Lord's doing, it was damned lucky was Helena's irreverent thought. After meeting up with a mysterious gypsy and being told a cockamamie story about being snatched out of her own time, she wasn't ready to discount the possibility.
    Accepting Sister Ignatia's outstretched hand, Helena sat up and eyeballed her