Chapter Ten
The meal was as delicious as promised, and conversation flowed reasonably easily, although his twin cousins seemed to be in the middle of an argument, with glares at each other and sulky responses to their mother’s efforts to settle whatever was bothering them.
Their brother, Tomas, was quiet, picking at the food on his plate and refusing to take part.
After their encounter the night of the package delivery, Niki had thought a great deal about Tomas, but as he reminded himself, the boy was sixteen, after all, so that may explain it. Sixteen was always a difficult age.
Tomas reminded Niki uncomfortably of a period a few years ago when Ernest had been grumpy and uncommunicative, but that was because of a dragon of a woman their father had employed to teach Ernest how to comport himself in society.
Remembering a similar incident in his own childhood, Niki had sent her packing.
Their father had been too ill at the time to make a fuss, and once Ernest’s good nature was restored, they put it behind them.
It was yet another link between himself and Roberta.
He remembered the story she had told of an unpleasant governess and how her brother had sent her off on an extended “holiday” to Scotland.
Niki looked across the table to where Roberta was sitting beside Antonia and Ernest. The two younger people were chatting, and he could see Roberta listening and trying not to laugh.
No doubt his brother was telling them about the antics of his new puppy, a gift from Karl.
He told anyone who would listen. The animal had been meant as a hunting dog, but somehow it was now sleeping on Ernest’s bed.
He turned to speak with his aunt, only to find she was listening closely to Freddie Hart, who was seated on her other side.
They were conversing together in low voices, and Freddie’s hazel eyes were focused on her to the exclusion of all else.
Which seemed out of character—the man usually had eyes everywhere.
Niki wondered how old he was. In his mid-thirties or a little older?
Matilda was nearly forty—she was the much-younger sister of his father and the child his grandfather had produced in his old age.
She had never quite fit into the Holtswig royal family, preferring to marry an Englishman and live abroad, and now she seemed to be finding common ground with Freddie Hart.
Niki decided not to borrow trouble—it was probably nothing—even when he saw the two of them smiling at each other as if they had just found the elixir of life.
Once luncheon was out of the way, Niki offered Roberta his arm, and they set off for their stroll in the gardens.
Antonia and Ernest followed, with Ernest’s puppy, while the warring twins trailed behind and their sullen brother vanished entirely.
Matilda and her other guests remained in the house, but Niki noticed a gentleman he had not observed before lingering about the garden and keeping a watchful eye on him.
So Freddie wasn’t as distracted as he had thought him.
They walked in silence for a time, Roberta looking about her at the lush flowers and the bees gathering pollen. Everything in the garden was at its zenith. It felt as if the whole world was enjoying the English sunshine, and Niki wished he could turn off his inner thoughts and enjoy it too.
Antonia let out a shriek, which had Roberta turning in surprise. “My sister is the quiet one,” she said. “Usually.”
“Ernest is not the quiet one in my family. He and Karl are alike in many ways. They have the gift of making many friends, and they could charm the birds down from the trees. Unlike me.”
It was meant to amuse her, but Roberta did not smile. For a long, uncomfortable moment, her blue eyes searched his expression, and he wondered what she was looking for, but when she spoke at last it was only to say, “I expect you have more important matters to deal with than Ernest does.”
That was true enough, but Niki did not want to talk about the pressures he was experiencing: the heavy burden of Holtswig and the threats against his life. It would sour what was proving to be a pleasant day.
“Do you remember earlier we spoke of Grantham and your grandmother’s invitation? I will be able to travel there sooner than I thought. There is a meeting on Friday, which I am going to cancel, and Saturday and Sunday will be free. If the invitation is still open, I will write and tell the dowager.”
Roberta was silent, and his heart sank. Did she not want him there?
Before he could assure her he did not have to come if it was inconvenient, she spoke.
“I know Grandmama is fond of you, of course she is, but she is sure to mention the east wing. Grantham has always been very important to her, and she worries about it. My grandfather and my father both contributed to its demise, and Gabriel can only do so much—”
Niki interrupted her. “Please don’t concern yourself. I understand. Your grandmother’s love for Grantham is well known. She turned down my grandfather’s offer to elope, remember, because she loved Grantham more. When she speaks, I will listen to her with polite attention.”
“But you don’t understand,” Roberta said quickly. “She believes that if we marry, you will pay for the repairs to the east wing and everything else that needs doing. She doesn’t know Gabriel has already turned down your—your offer.”
“Oh. I see.” He looked away. He felt a twinge of disappointment that the dowager was conniving to use his money for her house and wanted him to visit for that reason rather than because she was fond of him.
But then he told himself not to be a sentimental fool.
In his experience, very few people did not have ulterior motives when it came to asking him to visit them.
And really, why should he not help? He was wealthy enough to rebuild Grantham ten times over.
Niki took a breath and found Roberta watching him anxiously. “I would be happy to discuss—”
She looked horrified. “Goodness me, no, Niki! Apart from the unfairness of asking such a thing of you, Gabriel would be furious. He has plans to raise the money, and he is too proud to ask for help.”
There seemed to be nothing to say to that, so he moved on. “Will your entire family be there? Last time I visited, there were rather a lot of them.”
She smiled. “It just seems that way, but yes, I imagine they will be there. Oh, and there are more of them now. But I will make sure you do not become overwhelmed by it all.”
He was curious to know why she thought him so easily knocked off-kilter by things he dealt with every day. Could she see inside him to the shy, awkward boy who still resided beneath his unsociable exterior? Those watchful blue eyes of hers saw a great deal.
“I am sure I can cope,” he said stiffly, embarrassed that his feelings were so accessible to her.
She was staring into the distance. “You know, Niki, I have just realized that my family will be much harder to convince that we are in love than anyone we have met so far. Gabriel still says we cannot tell them the truth in case word gets out. And they will be watching us like hawks. You do know that, don’t you? ”
He wasn’t sure what to say. Being watched like a hawk? He had had that all his life. He believed he could keep up the pretense, but what of Roberta? Would they see through her playacting?
“I have just thought of a way to satisfy them!” Abruptly she stopped walking and spun to face him. “Would you like to hear it?”
Her skirts brushed a large rosemary bush, and suddenly the scent was all around them. He felt dizzy and almost forgot to answer. “Yes,” he said, a little breathlessly. “What is your idea, Roberta?”
She smiled reassuringly at whatever she read on his face and reached out to take his hand in a comforting manner.
Niki tried not to flinch at the contact.
Not because he did not like to be touched, but because right now he wanted more than anything to take her in his arms and kiss the life out of her.
He didn’t, of course he didn’t. He imagined how shocked she would be.
How shocked Chamberlain Francis would be if he began to suspect this engagement was real.
Niki trusted his judgment. Francis knew the Holtswig people’s minds, and despite Niki going against his advice with the engagement, he must not take it further if he wanted to continue to rule his country.
Roberta was chattering away, still in that conspiratorial voice. Now there was a gleam of mischief in her eyes.
“I promise you, it’s nothing too terrible. To convince them we will just need to be more physical with each other. Have you seen Gabriel and Vivienne? They are always touching each other—little brushes of their hands, or a kiss when they think no one is looking.”
Niki could not say he watched the duke and duchess that closely, but he could tell they were very fond of each other, so he nodded.
“Yes, you can see. It is so obvious they are in love. If we did the same…Perhaps if we are caught kissing?” Her face lit up at the idea, and then she frowned.
“Although we would need to stage the moment so that they think we don’t know we’re being watched.
A stolen kiss! Yes, I think if we managed that, then it would persuade even Olivia, and she will be the most difficult one to convince. ”
“Will she?” he repeated faintly. A kiss? Had she read his mind? He found his heart was beating far too fast at the thought of leaning in and pressing his lips to hers.
“Oh yes. You can be sure she will be on the watch for any sign that we are playacting. She wrote me a letter to congratulate me, but Antonia doesn’t believe it.
She says Olivia is already suspicious.” She looked uneasy when she said that and glanced at him nervously, but he barely noticed.
He was still thinking about kissing her.
“I understand.” He nodded thoughtfully, but inside his chest, his heart seemed to be doing a strange dance. “We must become actors then.” He pulled a face. “But I was never particularly good at plays and charades.”
“I think you are very good at hiding your feelings,” she responded tartly, and then softened her tone. “I’m not expecting that we should suddenly turn into different people, people who are not like us. I mean we have to think ourselves into the role of a happily engaged couple. In love.”
“I do see that.” And then, to his amazement, he heard himself say, “Perhaps we should practice before we arrive at Grantham. Just to be sure it works.”
She looked at him, and then away again. His gaze slid to her lips and lingered before he realized what he was doing and also quickly looked away.
“We don’t have to—” he began.
“No, no, we should. You are right. We need to—to practice.”
She turned to look behind. Antonia and Ernest were back at the pond, laughing at the puppy’s antics, and the twins had vanished into the house. If the bodyguard was still about then Niki could not see him, so he was either very good at his job or too lazy to follow them.
“This way!” Roberta was tugging him by the hand around some taller shrubs. There was a topiary shaped like a bird, and she stepped to the side of it, into a private space that was mostly hidden from all vantage points. Satisfied, she looked at him. “That should do,” she said, and waited.
Niki swallowed. “What do you…?”
“Kiss me,” she said impatiently. “Before anyone notices we are missing.”
Niki might not be very experienced, although he had kissed women before.
At least he had done that. But this was different.
This was a girl he knew and was attracted to, no matter how hard he tried to pretend it wasn’t so.
This kiss mattered to him, and the only way he could deal with it was to pretend that it didn’t.
Nonchalantly, he leaned in and captured her lips with his.
Warm and soft and so delicious. Now that he had started, he wondered if he would be able to stop kissing her. She moved closer, her arms encircling his neck, and the warm, soft sensation of her body pressing against his was so very good.
That was when Niki knew he was in trouble. He should stop. Because if he wasn’t very careful, this practice kiss was going to turn real.