Yesterday evening, Natasha had mentioned to her mother that the Carrington children were known for making matches unusual for their station. She had made the comment to her mother, by way of assuaging her worries about her own treatment in the world of the Carringtons, but Olivia suspected she had been Natasha’s real audience.
“Percy said that many whispered about his sister Beatrice’s marriage. They said a humble barrister was unworthy of an earl’s sister. And apparently his sister-in-law, who is married to his brother, Lawrence, is the daughter of a country gentleman of small, obscure estate.”
“By comparison, you are an heiress,” Eloisa had said dryly.
“I am only pointing out,” Natasha had said, casting a sly look at Olivia, “that the Carringtons tend to make unconventional matches.”
Olivia had appreciated the sweetness of Natasha’s intention, but it also showed her youthful blindness to the true ways of the world. Natashawasan heiress, even if Eloisa’s trepidation on other grounds was warranted. Olivia was well aware that, compared to herself, the Carrington children’s spouses were only unorthodox.
Now, her nerves threatened to get the best of her. If she was received coldly by Augustus’s mother and his sisters, she did not know how she could ever consent to be his wife. The truth was that, even if they received her with a cordiality, she still struggled to see a path forward.
Even if, at the same time, when she was honest with herself, she desperately wanted to sayyesto his proposal.
She had not even been able to broach the subject with Eloisa. For some reason, she found the idea of discussing his proposal in the same style as she had once debated marrying Mr. Laurent inexpressibly painful. No, she wanted to discuss the matter only with him.
The carriage had reached the door of Carrington Place and soon the footman had handed her down and was guiding her to the entrance.
When the door swung open, she was surprised to see Augustus waiting for her in the entryway.
He looked, this morning, even more handsome than usual. The sharp blue of his eyes flashed when he saw her and she knew, because his gaze seemed to mirror her own thoughts, that he was thinking of when they could be alone together again. A little shiver ran down her spine.
“Miss Watson,” he said, his deep voice soothing her nerves, offering her his arm. “This way.”
When she took his arm, the tautness of his muscles and the warmth he emitted comforted her. It made facing the Carrington women feel just a little more manageable.
As they turned towards the drawing room, Olivia noted that the place had hardly changed.
She, however, had altered a great deal. She could see now what she had only been able to vaguely intuit back then. While the townhouse was elegant in its way, it was not fashioned to shine. It was meant to be a place of family comforts and ease. She had been in enough fine homes now to see a difference that, when she worked here, had not been quite discernable to her.
They entered the drawing room, which appeared to still be the place that the family congregated, as it had been years ago.
For a moment, after they entered, Olivia took in the four women assembled near the fire. Petunia and Elizabeth, she recognized most immediately from Almack’s, and she was relieved to see their faces looking so relaxed and friendly at her appearance. The other young lady sitting with them, attired simply in a gray dress that surely many would find not fine enough for an earl’s sister, must be Willa. She had blond hair like the Dowager Countess and Augustus, but it was a shade or two lighter than theirs, less golden and more champagne. Her spectacles were thick and gave her a studious, careful look.
The Dowager Countess rose and walked towards her. Olivia remembered Augustus’s mother as a kind mistress with a gentle beauty about her. She could see that the years had not changed this impression, although her face did now have more lines and softness to its angles. Before she could complete her inspection of the woman, she found her hand clasped in the dowager’s own. Startled by the warm reception, she shook her hand in turn, and made to open her mouth in greeting, but the older woman had already spoken.
“Miss Watson, it is so good to see you after so long an absence. You cannot know how happy I am to see you looking so well.”
“Thank you, my lady,” Olivia said, giving a little curtesy in response. She was sure her face showed her discomfort. After all, she had left the Dowager Countess’s employ without notice and the woman had every right to think ill of her for it. While she appreciated the kindness of her greeting, it could not completely soothe her discomfort.
“Come, please, sit,” she said, gesturing towards an armchair between herself and Willa, “We are all so glad that Augustus has brought you to see us. Lady Petunia and Lady Elizabeth have told me they have had the pleasure of meeting you recently. Please let me introduce you to my second eldest daughter, Lady Willa.”
When they were all seated, Olivia feared silence, but, as it turned out, she needn’t have worried.
“We are all so delighted,” the countess said smoothly, “about the engagement between our Percy and your Miss Mapperton. She is such a delightful young lady. I hope that Mrs. Mapperton is as happy as we are about the match.”
“Assuredly, she is,” Olivia replied, finding her voice steadier than she had imagined she would. “A daughter’s first season it is an anxious time for any mother. I don’t think she had dared to hope that her daughter could be so happy.”
The Dowager Countess nodded. “Mrs. Mapperton will be here tomorrow for tea and I am so looking forward to our tete-a-tete. I do hope we will be great friends. I hope that she plans to stay in England for a time after the wedding. It would be a shame for Natasha to lose her company so soon.”
Olivia felt somewhat confused at this mention of a return to France, which she knew Eloisa had officially resolved on, but which felt, somehow, like a far-off proposition now for the entirety of their household.
“Well, as Percy’s sister, I must say,” Petunia burst in, “that I am so very glad he has chosen a bride who is so glamorous. I am sure that no one in society is as admired as Miss Mapperton and she can teach me all of her tricks once she is my sister-in-law. Next season, I aim to enchant.”
“What about Lord Edgar?” Augustus said from Olivia’s side, “From what I hear, he finds you quite enchanting.”
Petunia scowled. “Please, brother. I do not know what is wrong with Lord Edgar—we have known each other since we were children. How I could see him in any light other than that of a friend, I could never comprehend. No, I want to enchant fellows of a different order all together. And I will need all the glamorous sisters-in-law I can to help me.”
With these words, Petunia settled on Olivia a probing look. Her connotation was unmistakable.
