They walked inside, and stopping in front of the staircase, the earl gave her another squeeze. “My girl, today you have given me the greatest present of all. I may be losing Caroline, but seeing you ride up, I feel as though a guardian angel has now blessed me with a whole new family member.”
Dare leaned back and catching her eye, quirked an eyebrow. She gave a small, knowing shrug and headed up to her room. It was good to be home.
* * * *
It wasn’t long before Nivea slipped into a bath to wash off the dust of the travels. As she was drying off, her maid, Emma, brought in a fresh dress for the evening. After pulling the garment over Nivea’s head and beginning to work the buttons, Emma exclaimed, “Oh, Miss Nivea, this gown will not do. Look how much room it has. Have you been sick? I cannot pull it tight enough to wear.”
“No Emma, I have not been sick. I think I have finally found an advantage to riding. After years of attempted starvation, I found a little exercise helped me slim down a tad.”
“Oh, this is more than a tad, my lady. You’ve dropped almost half a stone. I will need to take in this dress afore you can wear it. Let me find another one that we can make work.”
She prowled through the closet and retrieved another gown, rose-colored, with a pale overskirt of mauve. Pulling it over Nivea’s head, she cinched it up to make it fit. “There, much better. It may be a few years old, but it looks lovely. Now, let me add a little curl to your hair and you’ll be perfect.”
Feeling rather triumphant, Nivea headed downstairs to join the guests. She could hear the chatter of conversation before she’d made it down the stairs. Entering the room, she saw it was packed full of guests, eager to join the celebration of Caroline and Nicholas’s nuptials. She recognized most of the faces, but sought out her sister and mother first. They were standing to the right of the doorway and waved her over.
“Nivvy, there you are! I was starting to worry about you.” Caroline greeted her with a hug. Her sister was most visibly a Horsham, with a stocky figure and plain brown hair. But her face was aglow with love.
Nivea returned the hug and then gave her stepmother a light squeeze. Slender and elegant, with blond hair that fell in well-tamed waves around her shoulders, there could be no doubt Amelia was the earl’s second wife. She had known the earl when they were children. It was only when she’d brought her daughters, Abby and Constance, to London, following the death of her husband, that the two had been reunited. With a demeanor as sweet as her face, the Horshams had been happy to welcome her into the family.
“I heard from the earl you had quite an adventure,” Amelia said.
“Yes, the carriage broke down outside of Norwalk and we had to proceed without it.”
“And you had to ride a horse for three days? How on earth did you survive?” her sister exclaimed.
“I’ll admit, the first day was agony, but by the end, I’d quite gotten the hang of it. In fact, after seeing Popa’s expression when I rode up, it was almost worth it!’
They all giggled at the thought.
“What are you three laughing at?”
“Abby! How good to see you.” Nivea turned as her stepsister and her husband, Lord Godwin, joined them. “Thomas, welcome. I’m glad you both could come.”
“We wouldn’t have missed it,” Abby responded. “It is a wonderful excuse to bring our families together.”
“Speaking of family, Mama, I was hoping you could go upstairs and sit with Lizzie and Jamie,” Abby said. “They refuse to take a nap without a kiss from grandmamma.”
“Certainly. If you’ll excuse me.” Amelia smiled and darted for the door.
“She loves spending time with those two. No matter what trouble they cause, she treasures them. I don’t know why she’s so tolerant,” Abby mused.
“Probably because they remind her of her own darling daughter,” her husband responded with a wry smile.
She looked at him sweetly and patted his cheek, oblivious to the scar that crossed his face. “You may be right.” Turning to Nivea, she explained, “I was a bit of a wild child growing up, always outside running and riding. It drove Mama crazy. Now, my two are no better.”
Thomas took her hand and squeezed. “But she loves you all, and so do I.” Despite social convention, he kept his hand wrapped around hers as they stood there.
They were a handsome couple. Both had rich chestnut hair, piercing eyes, and an athletic grace that Nivea envied. They fit in well with the Horsham family. Abby loved horses and Thomas had been friends with William since they were schoolboys. The couple had met the year Thomas had resigned from his regiment to assume his title as Earl of Devonshire, and they quickly had become inseparable.
Well used to their displays of affection, Nivea returned to her conversation with Caroline. “So, who else is here, Caro?”
“Almost everyone. Nicholas’s family and friends are here, including Lord and Lady Wilshire.” She made a face. “It’s not him I mind so much, but his wife is awful. Then there’s Briar and Joseph, William and Betsy, of course. Betsy looks quite marvelous considering she just had a babe.”
“I’m sure the joy of having the first son in a generation has made things much easier for her.”
“Yes, her da’ could never accept that he had four daughters and her ma never forgave her for being a bluestocking. Until now, that is.”
They all smiled, except for Thomas who obviously wasn’t paying any attention.
“If you don’t mind, luv, I am going to go join the men so you and your friends can talk.” Thomas gave his wife a squeeze and headed off.
“I hope Nicholas still looks at me like that after we get married,” said Caroline wistfully.
“I just hope I can get someone to look at me that way ever,” mourned Nivea.
Abby hugged her. “Don’t worry, your time will come. Someday a fine, young gentleman will be smart enough to see your amazing qualities.”
Nivea sighed, not at all certain. Considering no one had noticed in her first five seasons, there was no reason to believe anyone would appear now.
Feeling a little uncomfortable with the conversation, she excused herself to greet her brother. William was standing near the window with his friend, Lord Duxbury. In the past, Joseph had favored the brightest of outfits, but since he had settled down with Thomas’s sister Briar, he had developed a more sedate appearance. Tonight, he was attired all in gray, but as she approached, an enormous ruby pin sparkled in his cravat. It appeared he was not completely reformed.
The two men could not have looked more different. As always, her brother appeared as though he’d just rolled out of bed. His grey houndstooth jacket was patched and baggy, his brown hair loosened from his queue, and his boots hadn’t seen a brush in over a fortnight. Nivea loved him, but was amazed how cavalier he was about fashion. How easy it was to be a man.
She returned his hug as he greeted her. “Nivvy, welcome home! I trust you survived the trip from London all right. Lord Landis was no doubt a perfect gentleman?”
He did not notice the flash of pain his teasing caused. Nivea knew she was virtually the only woman Dare would treat respectfully, and that wasn’t a compliment.
She was tempted to snap a retort, when a male voice behind her responded, “Yes Horsham, your sister was in good hands. We had a bit of an adventure, but arrived intact.”
As he joined the circle, Dare took a pinch of snuff from his jeweled box, his attention fixed on his male cohorts.
Would it kill him to acknowledge her? If she had been any other woman, he would have cast a sly glance at her, perhaps brushed a hand over her arm, letting