Page 37 of Second Chance Prince
They had not had much time to talk since he had arrived, and not privately, but their interactions had been polite enough. He wondered if that had been all pretense on her part because now she looked a little antagonistic.
“Niki,” she said, dropping any suggestion of protocol. “You are enjoying your stay? When do you leave?”
“Olivia,” Roberta hissed.
Olivia’s eyes went round. “What? It was a simple enough question.”
“Tomorrow, unfortunately,” he said evenly. “And in answer to your question, I have enjoyed my stay very much.”
Olivia nodded and seemed to read the sincerity in his expression. She smiled. “I’m glad. I’m sure you are enjoying it a great deal better than your first visit.”
Niki opened his mouth. They were all turned to him, watching, fascinated. Should he lie? He read the anxiety in Roberta’s eyes. No, he would not lie. He was done with it.
“I am,” he said bluntly. “In some ways, my first visit to Grantham was a disaster. I’m sure you would agree.”
Olivia began to laugh but caught herself. “Yes, Iwouldagree, although I learned a great deal about myself. I think we are both happier with the way things turned out, are we not?”
His smile was completely natural. “We are.”
A wail from the stairs had her turning away to deal with her children, and Niki let his shoulders loosen.
“She is a little intimidating,” Roberta whispered, “but she means well. Did I tell you about her horse race with Ivo along Rotten Row?”
He wondered if he looked as shocked as he felt.
“Remember,” she said gently, “we Ashtons have no shame. You can say whatever you want, and we will probably forgive you. Relax, Niki, you are among friends.”
The next morning, the elderly dowager duchess bid him farewell. As she dispensed with formalities and reached to enclose him in a fragile embrace, she murmured, “You remind me of your grandfather. We all miss him, don’t we?”
Surprised, Niki met her dark eyes as she released him. She looked sad, and he wondered just how often over the years she had regretted her decision not to elope with his grandfather. It would not have worked, he was certain, but that didn’t mean she did not wish she had taken that step into the unknown. Love had called to her, and she had turned her back on it.
He thought he knew how she felt. The dowager had done the right thing, put her home and family first, but how painful must be the regrets! He knew that once the arrangement with Roberta was over, he would regret that too. He would wish…But what would he wish? He didn’t dare imagine what foolish thing he might do in a moment of desperate madness in an effort to keep her. He only knew he must not allow himself. Like the dowager, he must be sensible and remember who he was. His future was Holtswig, and his wife must be someone approved of by his council.
He must fight against this mad impulse.
Roberta would be making her return journey to London the following day, so when he settled into the coach, he was on his own. Well, Ernest and Freddie Hart were with him. The latter had cadged a ride.
“I have a meeting,” he had said. “You would be doing me a favor.”
Niki didn’t for a moment believe him—Freddie was keeping an eye on him—but he agreed politely enough.
Some of the Ashtons waved farewell from the steps of Grantham, Roberta among them. He had bid her farewell politely, and despite her smiles and wishes for a safe journey, he had thought her a little flat. Niki felt the same, but he toldhimself that was probably just because he was not eager to get back to Aunt Matilda’s house in London where people did not treat him like the Ashtons did.
It was a lie. He didn’t want to leave her.
Before he came to Grantham, he had received a message from Chamberlain Francis Ruess. Evidently, the members of his council who had been staying in London had sent word back to Francis. Now he was making the journey from Holtswig to speak with him. Niki guessed what that would be about. His chamberlain was worried he had become inveigled by the British—he had never trusted them and believed they had designs upon Holtswig. Other than that, Niki was sure he had a nice, suitable girl ready to step into the shoes of Niki’s wife and mother to his children; someone Francis approved of. He would be eager to begin promoting their union and extracting Niki from the tentacles of Freddie Hart and his government.
Niki moved restlessly. Francis was old-fashioned. Holtswig could not stand still, they had to modernize to survive, and they could not isolate themselves from Britain and the rest of the world. He would have to explain that to his friend and mentor yet again. But it was the idea of someone other than Roberta at his side that caused him the most anguish. Ending things with her had begun to feel unbearable, and he wasn’t sure what to do about it.
“I have had word that the young man who tried to shoot you at the theater is still not talking.” Freddie’s words were a welcome distraction, and Niki turned to him eagerly.
“Have you discovered who he is?”
“No, but he isn’t a local. A foreigner, we think. Perhaps fromHoltswig. That would make sense. He has admitted to sending you the heart. He seemed proud of it. Said it was a warning.”
“A warning about what?”
“That question he refuses to answer.”
