Page 27 of The Grand Mistletoe Assembly
Pippa and Nancy glanced at each other.
“You go,” Pippa said to her friend. “I’ll return with Jeremy.”
Nancy nodded.
No matter how much Pippa’s heart pained, Nancy was surely just as terrified, if not more. And Pippa needed a moment to collect her wits.
“He broke my fall. A doctor …” Pippa trailed off numbly as emotion clogged her throat.
Dare seemed to understand. “Already sent my man for one.”
They delayed no more. Dare and Nancy set off with Nicholas, and Pippa and Jeremy went to find the skittish horse. It took one torturous hour before they returned home. They met Dare in the entrance hall.
“How is Nicholas?” Pippa asked urgently.
“He suffered a small blow to the head and an injury to the waist. Don’t fret, my lady. Chatteris has thick skin and an impenetrable skull. He started grousing the moment he woke up.”
“He’s awake?” Relief flooded her.
Dare nodded. “His sister is threatening all sorts of ways to keep him in bed.” Dare looked to Pippa. “Might I have a word?”
“Of course, my lord.”
“I’ll go report our return to Nancy,” Jeremy said. “She must be worried about you as well.”
“Thank you,” she said and led Dare into the nearby drawing room.
He pulled a parchment from his pocket and handed it to her.
“What’s this?”
“You dropped it when Chatteris abducted you.”
Pippa’s eyes widened as she unfolded the paper and stared at a familiar face. Usually, this drawing was tucked safely in her mother’s diary. Today, however, for some unfathomable reason, she’d removed the sketch and tucked it into her bodice. In fact, she had drawn many pictures of Nicholas over the years. But this one … this one was her favorite.
“The likeness is quite good,” Dare said, the corner of his mouth twitching. “He looks socarefree.”
Pippa trailed her finger over the soft lines she’d penciled. The very first one she ever drew of him. “The first time we met was when I caught him sniffing flowers in the garden.” She had always loved this memory of Nicholas.
Love.
Pippa loved him.
And this picture was the start of that love. Or to be more exact, the start of her obsession. The enthusiasm to tease. Fascination to taunt. Fixation to poke through that thick armor that clung to him.
Pippa met Dare’s gaze. “Thank you for returning this to me.”
He inclined his head. “I am just relieved you are unharmed.”
“I appreciate your concern.”
Dare waved a casual hand. Then he laughed. “It’s a peculiar feeling, this feeling of being used.”
“I’m not sure I understand, my lord.”
“The reason I find myself in your and Lady Nancy’s company the past two days. However, it has been quite interesting.”
What else could Pippa say but, “We didn’t actually get to the using part.”
