Chapter Five #2
It sounded ridiculous, but looking into Antonia’s grave face, Roberta didn’t doubt for a second that her sister was capable of those things. All the same, she should say “no,” but even as she went to do so, she realized she didn’t want to. She wanted Antonia at her side. She did need her.
“I suppose I can ask if that is acceptable,” she said slowly. “Or maybe…I will just tell them you are coming with me. Not give them the chance to refuse.”
Antonia smiled.
“But for goodness’ sake, don’t tell anyone! Especially not Georgia! She can’t be trusted. She will use all of this in some dastardly way.”
Georgia was not their favorite sister. She seemed to go out of her way to upset others and then find it terribly amusing.
They had thought after the incident at Ivo’s house, when she threw Edwina’s doll from the window in a fit of spite and caused Olivia to be kidnapped by Ivo’s enemy, that she must have learned her lesson.
Although all had ended well, Georgia had been very repentant, quieter and more thoughtful, but it hadn’t lasted.
All too soon, her true nature had returned.
“My lips are sealed,” Antonia responded, but there was a sparkle of laughter in her eyes.
All of the Ashton sisters had blue eyes, but Antonia’s were particularly brilliant, almost aquamarine.
People did not realize it because she kept them lowered modestly most of the time, but Roberta knew that wasn’t so much modesty as Antonia’s trick of pretending to be invisible so that she could observe the world unseen.
Roberta wondered if perhaps Antonia was right. That if anyone could discover if there was an enemy hiding somewhere close to Niki, it would be her clever sister.
The official engagement announcement was only days away, and Roberta found herself caught up in the excitement despite her secret concerns. News had spread throughout the ton that something was afoot—Freddie’s work, she guessed—and there were whispers wherever she went.
This would probably be the most exciting moment of her life, and she wished her sisters were all here with her.
But then wouldn’t she have had to tell them the truth?
She had moaned to Gabriel about it, but although he sympathized, he reminded her sternly that she could not do that.
Of course, as he lectured her, she did not tell him she had already taken Antonia into her confidence.
“The more people who know the truth, the more likely it is to leak out. When this is all over…Well, perhaps you can tell them then, although I’m not sure the prince would want his business to be common knowledge. But for now, you need to concentrate on playing your part, Robbie.”
It occurred to her that now might be the time to ask Antonia’s question. Gabriel would know the answer. He looked at her sympathetically when she finished, as if…“No, no, I don’t want it to be real!” she assured him. “I just wondered, that’s all.”
“I imagine he would be expected to marry someone equal in rank, or a woman from his own country. Roberta, I don’t think you will lose anything by your engagement. I wouldn’t have let Freddie ask you to do it if I thought that. People will look at you differently.”
“With more respect?” she teased. “‘There goes that Ashton girl who turned her nose up at a prince’? That sort of thing.”
“I never know whether or not you are being serious,” he growled.
So far, playing her part had been fun. There were fittings for dresses, one for the engagement itself and others for the events to follow.
She thought Gabriel must have scrimped and saved for the occasion, but now, when she tentatively asked him how much this was costing him, he grumbled that the prince was paying.
Roberta remembered Freddie mentioning something about payment, and she was relieved—the Ashtons were financially embarrassed most of the time and more than usual right now because of the state of the east wing.
Gabriel really did not need anything more to worry about, but she could tell his pride was dented at the thought of someone else bankrolling his sister’s wardrobe.
“He will get over it,” Vivienne assured her later, when they were in the sitting room.
She bounced Austin on her hip until his contagious giggles filled the air.
Austin had a nursemaid, but Vivienne took every opportunity she could to liberate him.
At nearly two years old he wasn’t a baby anymore and was growing into a friendly, charming little boy.
“And Niki is far richer than us,” Roberta continued the conversation as she pretended to tickle her nephew.
Vivienne appeared thoughtful. “And yet,” she said, “I would not change our lives for his. Money does not bring happiness.”
“It helps. Gabriel needs to save every penny for Grantham.”
Vivienne sighed. “Yes, he does. I may not have lived in Grantham all of my life, but it is my home, and I hate to see it in disrepair.”
“Let us hope then that no more of it falls down before I can afford to fix it,” Gabriel said, entering the room and joining the conversation.
Austin cried out, demanding to go to his father, and Gabriel swung him up into his arms until the little boy shrieked with excitement. Vivienne shook her head at their antics, but she was smiling.
Roberta understood why her sister-in-law did not want a life other than the one she had.
She and Gabriel were just as much in love as they had been when they married.
It made her happy to see it, but also a little sad for herself.
She wondered if that was why she did not want to marry—apart from wanting to live a bigger life—because she would never find a man who loved her as much.
There had never been anyone she was the slightest bit interested in, apart from Niki, but there had been interest in her.
Mr. Walter had been absent from her vicinity lately, which she was grateful for, but usually, Roberta had found it simpler to be friends with her dance partners rather than to expect a romantic relationship.
She wasn’t sure whether this was because of her childhood and a father who was not to be relied upon, or just part of her independent personality.
Whenever she allowed her thoughts to stray to her infatuation with Niki—something she would prefer to forget—the memories of that summer were a mixture of embarrassing and excruciating.
If she could have, she would have blocked them from her mind entirely.
And yet, surprisingly, Niki seemed to have no trouble remembering them.
After their ride in the park where Niki had proposed, he had sent her an immense bouquet of flowers. Roberta was surprised and gratified, until she realized that of course it was all show. He wanted to convince everyone that romance was in the air.
Other gifts began to arrive, one each day, until it became a daily household event.
There was a high level of excitement when the door knocker went first thing in the morning.
Gabriel was worried some of the presents might have to be returned if they were valuable, but Niki was too clever for that.
He sent items that were never too personal or expensive, like gloves and a shawl, and others that made Roberta laugh, like a cameo portrait of Leopold.
The book on royal etiquette wasn’t so amusing.
But she began to wonder if Niki understood her better than she had imagined.
As for the prince himself, she did not see him again until the morning of the engagement.
She had already been out riding, so when she was told he was waiting, she had to quickly change into something more becoming.
It tickled her sense of humor to imagine striding into the sitting room in her male attire, but the shock on Niki’s face would not be worth the uproar that would follow.
A maid helped her into a pale pink morning gown with a cream satin ribbon tied beneath her bosom, and her hair was quickly arranged into a simple chignon.
Niki looked up when she entered the room.
For a moment, his face brightened, as if he had been looking forward to seeing her, but almost immediately he resumed his stiff, polite mask.
It made her a little disgruntled. She would never have expected him to break into poetry and compare her to the moon and stars, but a smile would have been nice.
He was accompanied on his visit by Karl and a couple of gentlemen from his entourage, so it was all very proper. Once the greetings were made, Roberta sat with Vivienne and Gabriel, and Niki sat opposite with his brother.
Roberta thought it a pity she could not speak to him as she usually did when they were in private. Then she could make a joke or at least make him smile. But with so many eyes fastened upon them, it wasn’t possible to relax, and she was very much aware of her unfortunate ability to make a faux pas.
Karl’s amused gaze darted from Niki to Roberta and then back again, and she wondered if he had guessed the truth.
Perhaps Niki had told him? He must know that the engagement was happening, with all the preparations going forward for tonight, but did Niki trust his brother enough to explain the situation?
“Tonight will be a crush,” Karl said with a lift of his eyebrows. “I don’t think a single invitation has been turned down. Aunt Matilda doesn’t know whether to be proud that it is such a hit, or worried there will not be enough of everything.”
“There will certainly be enough for supper.” Niki spoke drolly. “We will be sending coachloads of leftovers to the poor.”
“Is that what you do in Holtswig?” Roberta asked with interest. “Send your leftovers to the poor?”
“It is tradition,” he replied. “Isn’t that done here in London?”
Gabriel and Vivienne exchanged a glance. “Not that I am aware,” he said, “but then we probably don’t throw any parties as grand as this one.”
“She wants to make a splash because the king will be there,” Karl said with a grin.
There was a nervous silence. Roberta felt herself stiffen and was aware of Vivienne taking her hand in a warm grasp. “The king?” Gabriel repeated, as if he thought he’d misheard.
After a long wait, George, the Prince Regent of the United Kingdom, had ascended the British throne at the beginning of the previous year, when his father had died, and was now known as George IV.
Nothing apart from his title had changed—he was still an extravagant spendthrift and heartily disliked by the people he ruled over.
His coronation was last month and was the most excessive occasion one could imagine.
There was certainly no thrift being practiced in the royal household, and Roberta knew what Gabriel thought of that.
“We are distantly related,” Niki spoke, bringing her attention back to him. There was something in his dark eyes, as if he was sending her a warning. “After you have been presented to him, I will see you are kept at a safe distance.”
She blinked, opened her mouth, and closed it again. Did Niki think she wouldn’t be able to control her tendency to blurt out something inappropriate? Was he afraid she was going to embarrass him? Although he could well be right, it still stung.
“My brother is being protective,” Karl interrupted her thoughts with a smile. “The king has a certain, eh, reputation when it comes to beautiful women.”
“Reputation?” Roberta said doubtfully. “Oh, I see. That is…” It was then that she realized that far from being concerned about Roberta embarrassing him, Niki was protecting her.
She felt a rush of warmth. “I will do my best to maintain my distance,” she said.
“Unless…I would not want to be ill-mannered, of course. Do you think…?” Her words fumbled to a halt.
Niki was still watching her, and he bit his lip as if he was trying not to smile. “The king may not even come tonight,” he said reassuringly. “I believe he has been suffering some illness over the past week.”
“He overindulges,” Karl spoke up. “But who is to say we would not all overindulge in his place?” He patted the slight rounding of his stomach with a rueful laugh.
Niki shot him a frown, but Karl seemed unaffected. Roberta understood all too well how easy it was to say something Niki disapproved of. Karl was such an affable and good-tempered man. She liked him more and more.
One of Niki’s entourage leaned close, and she heard him say, “We have stayed the allotted half hour, sir.”
Niki immediately got to his feet, and Karl followed more reluctantly, with a tolerant grimace in his brother’s direction.
The rest of them stood up too, and Niki came to take Roberta’s hand in a formal manner.
He bent over it, and she felt the warmth of his breath against her skin.
For some reason, it made her shiver a little.
And then he straightened, and she tried to read whatever thoughts were on his face.
“I look forward to tonight.”
“Oh, me—me too,” she said hastily, when he paused and seemed to be expecting a reply.
Niki nodded and turned away, and then Karl bowed and smiled and lifted his brows, as if to say: What will we do with him? And then they were gone.
“Good heavens,” Vivienne murmured when the door closed. “Does the prince ever relax?”
“No,” Gabriel said. “I don’t think he does. Perhaps he doesn’t dare in case that is the moment someone chooses to attack him.”
Roberta shuddered, the words tumbling from her. “Oh no, I can’t bear the thought of it!”
Gabriel inspected her with a thoughtful look, and then he wrapped an arm about her and gave her a squeeze.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “Freddie will make sure nothing happens to him. Enjoy yourself, Roberta. This is the sort of opportunity that will never come again, so you may as well make the most of it. Didn’t you want to join a circus when you were younger? ”
“Yes. Why?”
“Because I have a feeling this engagement may turn out to be a true spectacle.”