Chapter Fifteen
Roberta was so glad to see Grantham, she could hardly speak.
But with her sense of joy came an uncomfortable case of nerves.
As soon as she stepped through the door, her grandmother demanded to know if she was injured, and Gabriel came and clasped her in his arms, saying how sorry he was to have dismissed Mr. Walter as harmless and could she ever forgive him, before Vivienne frantically examined her face as if expecting to see some terrible wound.
Olivia hadn’t arrived yet, although Justina was there with Charles.
“What a brave girl you are!” her sister cried. “It is like one of Annette’s books.”
Roberta gave a shaky smile. “That’s what I said. And sometimes, it feels like a book.”
Gabriel had given her a “look” to remind her that no one apart from him and Vivienne knew the truth, so she must be very, very careful.
She almost said Antonia knows! but that would not please her brother.
The secret must stay a secret, and secrets were tricky things.
She had never been very good at keeping them, and she told herself she would be glad when it was all over.
Although was that strictly true? The more time she spent with Niki, the less she wanted to be on her own again without him. Not just because life would be so very tedious, but because she was enjoying his company more and more. It was as if their secret enclosed them in their own little cocoon.
Olivia arrived the following morning with Ivo and his two sisters and the two children.
Baby Edward was barely two months old, and Lily was two years and a bit.
The whole family looked frayed from the journey, although Roberta was pleased to see their nursemaid was a capable older woman who soon gathered up the children and removed them to the nursery.
Olivia, once freed of her family responsibilities, tracked Roberta down in the stables, where she was reacquainting herself with the horses.
She had brought Arrow with her, and when her sister pulled a face at the sight of him, Roberta felt indignant on her horse’s behalf.
After all, he had won Olivia the race against Ivo down Rotten Row three years ago.
“There you are,” Olivia said unnecessarily. “Is it true?”
Roberta met her suspicious look with wide eyes. “Of course it’s true. Niki and I are engaged.”
“And you flung yourself in front of a bullet to save his life?” Olivia shook her head.
“It is like something you’d see at Covent Garden.
You weren’t hurt, were you? No, of course you weren’t.
You look…” Her frown faded, and suddenly she smiled her beautiful smile. “You look amazing. Congratulations!”
Olivia flung her arms around her and held her tightly.
As the eldest, Olivia had always loved her sisters, Roberta knew that.
All through their childhood, she had tried so hard to look after them and protect them when their mother wasn’t interested—Felicia had wanted a son, not more girls.
But Roberta had often wondered if Olivia also saw them as a chore.
It was only when Roberta had helped Olivia with the dare she had made with Ivo that they had seemed to grow closer, and she had begun to understand Olivia better.
Now she felt guilty that she was risking all of that by lying to her.
“Thank you,” Roberta said, her eyes filling with tears. “And I’m not completely sure why I did it. Throwing myself in front of a loaded pistol, I mean. I’m just so glad no one was hurt.”
“You were jolly brave,” Olivia whispered, giving her another hug for luck before letting her go.
Finally, Roberta felt herself relax. She would need to keep that guard on her tongue, but she could do this. And so what if she was keeping the truth from her sister? She knew for a fact that Olivia had kept plenty of secrets from her. She should be the last one to judge.
Roberta could not remember the last time her family had all lined up at Grantham’s front door.
She gave a nervous smile as her younger sisters shuffled about, Georgia and Edwina elbowing each other, and Edwina wearing a fierce frown that seemed out of place on her round, pretty face.
Roberta reached out and gave Georgia a pinch, which made her jump and glare at her, but at least she stopped causing fights.
Antonia was ignoring them and looking as serene as usual, which probably meant she was looking forward to sneaking off somewhere to read one of her favorite books.
Further up the line, Olivia and Ivo stood close together, smiling and whispering, while Justina and Charles shared their own smiles.
Gabriel and Vivienne were at the front of the line, looking very ducal, and Grandmama was clutching her ebony cane impatiently.
Of course, as always, she had insisted upon being the first to greet their guest.
There was a clatter of wheels and hooves as Niki’s coach made its way down the driveway to the turning circle in front of the house.
The insignia on the side dazzled with gold, and Roberta wondered if Niki should be in something less obvious.
Maybe he should have arrived in disguise under cover of night—maybe she should suggest it to him, just to see his reaction?
“Roberta!” The dowager duchess’s voice interrupted her thoughts. “You should be here with me!”
Obediently, Roberta made her way up the line and stood beside her elderly grandmother.
The coach came to a halt, and a footman rushed down to open the door.
The first person out was Freddie Hart, and Roberta felt herself breathe a sigh of relief.
Of course Freddie would not allow his charge to travel about in such an obvious manner without watching over him.
In the next moment, a group of men rode up on horseback, looking serious and alert, and Roberta relaxed even more.
“Is that him?” Olivia said, and Roberta realized she was holding Baby Edward in her arms. Olivia and Ivo—two restless and reckless people—had settled into domestic bliss in a way that had surprised everybody. Seeing them together now, Ivo with a doting look on his face, made Roberta smile.
Next out of the coach was Ernest, already chattering. And then, at last, Niki descended the vehicle and strolled up the steps to be greeted by the unusually effusive dowager duchess.
“Niki, this is such a pleasure! I’m sure if your grandfather were alive, he would be as thrilled as I am to see our families united at last.”
Roberta was aware of Niki’s swift glance at her as he responded with the warmth he had always shown her grandmother. “It is indeed a pleasure, Your Grace. I am very happy to be here.”
The dowager smiled, but her dark eyes were alert. “I am sure you will grow to love Grantham just as much as my granddaughter,” she said, as if saying it would make it so.
Oh dear, it had begun already. “I am sure I will,” was all he said, but Roberta knew he remembered her warning of her grandmother’s desire to liberate some of his money to help with the upkeep of the house.
Niki reached to take Roberta’s hand and place it in the crook of his elbow. “You are well?” he asked quietly. “You took no hurt from the other night?”
He was serious, his gaze searching. “I am very well,” Roberta assured him. “And you?”
Niki frowned. “Apart from the number of bodyguards I have about me increasing to a ridiculous level, yes, I am well.”
“It’s for your own good, sir,” Freddie interrupted. He had already greeted his best friends Gabriel and Charles and looked perfectly at home in the elaborate entrance hall, with its dome of colored glass high above.
“And I am grateful,” Niki said, sounding as if the words were forced out of him. He turned again to Roberta. “As you can see, I did not bring Leopold,” he spoke a little awkwardly. And, when everyone had dutifully laughed, “Your brother has assured me he has horses I can borrow if I wish to ride.”
“You certainly must ride with me,” Roberta hastened to say. “I want to show you my favorite places.”
“Then I must see them,” he said politely, but there was a sparkle in his dark eyes and a tilt to his lips. She was beginning to read him well, and she knew he wanted to ride with her far more than he wanted to be on show.
The line of Ashtons moved restlessly, still waiting. Roberta took a breath and turned to meet her sisters’ expectant gazes. “You know my sisters? Should I introduce them to you?”
He shook his head as if he was as disinclined as she to draw out this formal moment. “No introductions are necessary.”
“But I have been practicing my curtsy!” Edwina cried in disappointment. She was eight years old now but still very much a child.
Niki smiled gravely down at her. “Then you must certainly show me so I can judge for myself.”
Edwina looked a little anxious about this, but she prepared herself and then went down very low before rising again. She waited eagerly.
Niki applauded with enthusiasm. “It is a very good curtsy indeed,” he said.
Ernest wasn’t so easily won over. He tapped his chin with his forefinger, as if he was judging a competition. “I think there was a slight wobble there. Try again.”
Edwina narrowed her blue eyes at him. “I bet you can’t do it any better.”
Ernest laughed. “No, because I am a boy. I bow.”
“It’s not fair,” Edwina declared, “why do boys always get the easy option?” And she flounced off.
“Don’t laugh,” Vivienne murmured a warning. “It only makes her worse.”
Niki and Ernest exchanged a grin, and it occurred to Roberta that Niki was very good with children and younger people. It was only his peers and the older members of his court he had trouble with. He would make a good father.
She quashed the thought as soon as it appeared in her head and told herself not to be ridiculous. If Niki was ever a father, then it would be with another woman, and if that sent her spirits plummeting then she must ignore it.
Niki and Ernest were shown to their rooms and left to settle in, with the instruction from Vivienne that there would be tea and cake set out in the drawing room when they were ready to join the family.
Roberta was just thinking that the welcoming had gone off better than she had imagined when Olivia took hold of her arm in an unbreakable grip and tugged her into the linen cupboard below the stairs.
Luckily, she had handed the baby over to Ivo earlier—Roberta did not think the baby would enjoy the confines of the cupboard—but it still felt as if Roberta had done something wrong.
Disoriented in the gloom, Roberta tried to protest.
“I’ve changed my mind. I don’t like it,” her sister said in a determined voice. “This isn’t real. It’s some sort of game you are playing.”
Roberta’s nerves jumped and skittered even as she made her voice firm and convincing. “Why wouldn’t it be real? Why shouldn’t Niki and I be wildly in love?”
Olivia narrowed her eyes, and in the half-light she looked just like Edwina.
“You mistake me. There is no reason why you shouldn’t be wildly in love with Prince Nikolai of Holtswig, except that…
” She chewed on her lip. “I can’t see you being very happy in the role of his royal wife.
It will be so restrictive, and Roberta, you are such a free spirit while he is…
Well, very buttoned-down and conservative.
He is an eighty-year-old man in a young man’s body.
I think, for you, it would be a match made in hell. ”
Roberta watched her carefully. “So it isn’t so much that we might not be in love as that you think we are ill-suited? Don’t they say opposites attract?”
“They do say that,” Olivia agreed wryly, “but I have not found it to be so. Ivo and I are deliriously happy”—her eyes shone—“and we are very similar in most ways.”
“Niki and I do have some similarities,” Roberta said firmly. “We both had difficult childhoods. And he is not as ‘buttoned-down’ as you think. It is just a veneer he hides behind. Olivia, he is actually quite shy.”
Olivia didn’t seem to know what to say to that.
After a moment she decided on, “You know your own mind, Robbie. You are a grown woman, and I won’t presume to tell you what to do with your life.
But I would hate to see you unhappy. I went through a similar situation, and I am just so glad I saw sense in time and chose Ivo. ”
“I know you mean well—”
“I also remember the girl who told me she was going to live her own life. That girl is still inside you, and I can imagine her feeling trapped and miserable. There, I have said my piece and will be quiet.”
“Please don’t worry,” Roberta said, her voice a little husky with emotion. “I know what I’m doing.”
Olivia hesitated, and then embraced her and held her tightly. “Come to me if you need to. I will help you in any way I can.”
When they had surreptitiously left the cupboard, Roberta wasn’t sure whether to feel happy to know her sister cared so much, or miserable that she was deceiving her.
The trouble was the deceit no longer seemed real.
She had developed feelings for Niki. She was beginning to think that she was the one who could make his life better, easier, if he would let her.
She was beginning to dream things she had no right to dream.
The drawing room was full of people, and it seemed that Ernest and Edwina had already formed a bond.
They sat together, Edwina giggling, while Georgia glared.
Georgia could be jealous of her younger sister, so Roberta hoped this would not cause another ruckus between them.
At least Antonia was there to keep the peace.
When her grandmother had ruled over Grantham, only the adults would have been allowed to gather in the drawing room for tea, with the children banished to the nursery. Vivienne had a much more carefree attitude to family events, so everyone was allowed here, including Austin, Lily, and Baby Edward.
Roberta was glad to see Freddie Hart across the room. She still shuddered when she remembered the attempt on Niki’s life at the theater. Freddie was speaking in a low, serious voice to Gabriel, and she wondered if there had been any news about the would-be assassin.
“There you are!” the dowager exclaimed, and they all turned to stare.