Page 87 of A Sight to Behold
“Lady Penelope and Lady Beatrice, you both look lovely this evening.” He demonstratively kissed the backs of their hands as a gentleman should, each in turn, in order of age, Pippa first. With flair of a host in control, the earl positioned himself in plain sight of the guests who’d started to fill the room. And then Pippa looked up from her hand and saw seven rather sweet faces. They were all there, Nick, Wendy, Felix, Alfie, Andre, and Lance with Isabel.
“They’re here!” Pippa watched the footmen take the men’s hats and Wendy’s pelisse. Isabel had a feather stole wrapped dramatically around her neck. It was her first evening back in society since she and Lance had been cast away into the countryside. This was a turning point for her as much as it would hopefully be for Pippa.
“Oh my,” Bea exclaimed. “Who’s the tall one with the wavy hair?”
“Alfie Collins, the apothecary.” Pippa led Bea to her new friends—her new family, with any luck. “The one who made Isabel’s perfume?” Bea blinked bashfully in his direction, batting her eyelashes.
Nick wore a dashing ensemble of a black evening frock and cream breeches. His black boots were polished to a shine, and he looked awfully handsome.
“You dressed for an oral exam, didn’t you?” Pippa said cheekily as she pushed her glasses up her nose just when it was her turn to greet the doctors. Nick tugged at his stiff cravat. It was a more complicated knot than he usually wore.
“Lance picked this out,” Nick said, running one elegant long and yet muscular finger through the inside of the cravat.
Pippa smiled at Isabel and Lance. They were positively gleaming with pride and if Pippa wasn’t completely mistaken, there was a large dose of magnificent energy in Isabel’s manner of flouting the feather stole. And Lance was prancing beside her with a hand lower on her back than seemed appropriate.
Nick smiled when Pippa returned his gaze with wide eyes, pinching her lips. “They’ve been at it since that morning.”
“No!”
“Oh yes! The only reason they came out of their room tonight was to make a grand reentrance in society.” He looked baffled, like a schoolboy who’d emerged from the dimly lit library only to be blinded by the sun’s brightness. Except that the dazzling luxury of the ball couldn’t dazzle Pippa anymore. With any luck, this night was her grand exit.
She was ready to leave the embarrassments behind, the gossip, and especially her father’s complete lack of understanding.
Bea came to her side, blinking bashfully over her shoulder when Alfie reached out to take her hand, pressing a kiss to the back of it. “This is my cousin, Lady Beatrice Weatherby.”
Pippa made introductions for the rest of the doctors and their nurse and then the Earl of Langley came to lead Wendy into the ballroom. Wendy looked every inch a lady in the gown Pippa and Violet had ordered for her at the modiste’s. Adorned with borrowed jewels and her hair elegantly arranged by Violet’s maid, she must have felt as though she had stepped straight out of one of the novels she so adored. In this moment, Wendy was obviously in her glory, basking in the enchantment of her transformation.
Felix and Andre were quickly lost in the crowd and Pippa remained in the hall on the side of the foyer. Nick was with her.
“Are you truly willing to give all this up for me?”
She turned to him and looked into his gorgeous blue eyes. His gaze was so intelligent and filled such warmth and goodness, her heart hurt. “If our plans work, I’m not giving anything up. I’ll finally step into the role my grandfather had intended for me and all I will take my leave from are the same people who never wanted me to have any—”
“Pippa, he’s here.” Violet swished to her side and whispered in her ear. “Good evening, Dr. Folsham.” Violet reached her hand out and Nick greeted her. “Please join us in the library.”
*
Minutes later, inthe elegant library with dark-walnut shelves and leather-bound treatises perfectly in rows from the ground to the ceiling, Nick felt thoroughly out of place.
“What’s this all about?” an elderly man with sideswept long great hairs over a bald spot said. He was heavyset and sweatingprofusely. “Pippa! Take those spectacles off, you’re making a fool of yourself.”
Her father.
Nick noticed Pippa tensing. She pushed the glasses up over the bridge of her nose, making sure they remained well positioned. A sign of defiance.
“Would you like some wine?” the Earl of Langley asked. “You look unwell,” he continued, pouring some water into a glass. There’d been a single one on a silver platter. It was already filled with ipecac and now that the earl swirled the water in it, he was ready to administer Father’s second dose. It wouldn’t be long now.
The earl handed him the glass and the Duke of Sussex took a large swig. A drop of the liquid rolled down the corner of his mouth and Nick tried not to grimace in disgust. How could a blob of a caricature like that be a peer of the Realm and the father of a daughter like Pippa? It must have been her mother who was the amazing beauty, intelligent, and good natured. No wonder Pippa tried to get away from him. And no wonder her maternal grandfather had written the duke out of his will.
“I’m here!” A white-haired man entered and then shut the door. “My apologies for my tardiness, there was trouble with the carriage.” The man was short but slim, beyond middle-aged, but his demeanor was sure and deliberate. His elegant but slightly shabby attire reflected his ecclesiastical status.
“What’s the archbishop doing here?” Pippa’s father asked. “And who’s this?”
The earl nodded at Nick. He recognized this was his cue to speak. “Your Grace, my name is Nicholas Folsham.”
“DoctorNicholas Folsham,” Pippa added.
Her father grunted like a boar.
