Love & Misunderstanding

Chapter Seventeen - Helene's POV

I was so nervous as we rode through the streets of London. It felt like my stomach was twisted into a tight knot, which didn't help me at all. The thing I was the most nervous about was meeting the Gilmore's relatives. For some reason I imagined them to be even more snobby than Mrs. Gilmore, if that was even humanly possible. The thought of living with three snobs for a whole month made me question why I had even come to begin with.

By now you must be wondering how I ever managed to convince my father to let me go. I assure you that it was not easy. He had been against the idea in the beginning, but after he stopped to think about it, he began to realize that Mr. Gilmore would not let anything bad happen to me and eventually gave me his permission. On Thursday morning, I said my goodbyes to everyone and promised to bring back some gifts for Giselle and Henry.

Mr. Johnson had left two days before me. He told me that he could not be with Caroline, but that he would try to come back and visit again, which I sincerely hoped that he would. Louise was devastated when I told her that he was a lowly farmer. Luckily, James had not even noticed her attempts to get Mr. Johnson's attention. Everything had turned out all right I suppose.

I glanced at the other passengers in the carriage. Caroline was seated on my left, with Mr. Gilmore directly opposite to me and Jonathan at his side. Vincent would have liked to ride with us; however, Mrs. Gilmore had insisted that he ride with her and a couple of servants. I thanked God that I did not have to be in the same carriage with her.

"What do you think of London so far, Miss Hoffman?" Mr. Gilmore asked.

"It is certainly bigger than I imagined," I commented.

"I suppose that it would seem large to someone who has never been here before," he replied.

He was probably right. It would seem large to me. To him, it was nothing new. From what I had heard, he had spent a good amount of time here. His father was rumoured to have had a holiday estate somewhere in the city. Unfortunately, we would not be staying there. We would be staying with his sister and her husband at their house.

"Is there anything in particular that you would like to see?" Caroline asked.

"I do not want to be a burden to any of you. Just being in London is enough."

"You are not a burden, Miss Hoffman," Mr. Gilmore assured me. "We are very pleased to have you with us."

"If I have time, I will try to show you around a bit. Although I fear that my aunt will keep me busy," Caroline stated.

Just then, our carriage came to a halt, and a moment later, one of the servants scurried forward to open the door for us. Jonathan and Mr. Gilmore got out first, out of protocol. As expected, it was Mr. Gilmore who helped both of us out, while Jonathan stood off to the side, observing everything in silence. Had I observed such behaviour a few months ago, I would have concluded that he was simply being arrogant, but now that I knew him, I knew that it was only because he did not wish to have any additional attention drawn towards him.

My eyes widened the moment I saw the house. It was enormous! It made the Gilmore's estate look like a modest home! "It looks like a palace," I mumbled.