She nodded to old friends and new acquaintances and made her way around the grounds, checking, as any good hostess would, on the enjoyment of her guests. Perhaps she was more nostalgic this year because it was a milestone of sorts. In the past few months Jared had reimbursed Robert for all the funds he had poured into the castle and estate. He had further paid back Cece’s father for the loan he’d insisted they accept when Jared refused any sort of dowry. Today the Earl of Graystone’s financial footing was as sound as the Bank of En gland itself.
Cece waved to her parents, chatting with neighbors. On hand for the party this year, their visit here was a brief stop on their way to see the pyramids of Egypt. They traveled a great deal these days.
Olivia and Robert had left just moments earlier. The couple lived in the mansion in London, sharing it with the rest of the family when Parliament was in session. And rumors were ripe in the City that Robert could become the next prime minister. Still, if there was one thing she’d learned through the years, London gossip was more often wrong than right.
Cece spotted Lady Millicent engaged in enraptured conversation with an older gentleman and grinned. Would he be husband number four?
Her own life was exceedingly dull in comparison to her sister’s. Oh, certainly she kept an active hand in the business. And she was one of the founders and directors of the Ladies Motoring Society. Politics occupied more and more of her time, with Jared’s increasing interest in Parliament. And then there were the children. Two girls and a boy were a handful, even with the help of a governess. Cece chuckled. Perhaps her life wasn’t so dull after all.
She paused, and her satisfied gaze skimmed the manicured lawns, carefully groomed gardens and the crowd of partygoers. She rarely thought about Nellie Bly these days. Cece had taken a far different path than she’d orginally expected, but it had led her to a life she wouldn’t trade for a page-one byline. A good life, filled with joy and laughter and love.
She studied the brown paper-wrapped parcel she still clutched in her hand with idle curiosity. Olivia had given it to her, along with a twinkle in her eye and a warning that she would need it with children of her own. Cece never would have dreamed how well she and her mother-in-law got along. Of course, Olivia had her own life to live these days.
Cece ripped off the wrapping and stared at a worn, threadbare copy of children’s fairy tales. A faded blue ribbon dangled from a page somewhere near the center of the book. The volume seemed to fall open naturally at the page it marked, and she smiled.
It was “The Princess and the Pea.”
Her gaze fell to the final lines. Hans Christian Andersen had ended his tale with the words, “and this is a true story.” But beneath the printed lines someone, no doubt Olivia, had added her own ending.
Cece laughed aloud. Whoever would have thought, back in the last years of the last century, that the mother so determined to ensure that the woman who would carry her family name into the future be worthy of the honor, would have penned her own ending to their story. In Olivia’s still strong, decisive hand, the flourishing script swept across the page.
“And they lived happily ever after.”
Author’s Note
There was indeed a race from Paris to Bordeaux and back in June of 1895. The round-trip course stretched 732 miles. Emile Lavassor won the race in just over 48 hours, a remarkable feat. However, a race in Britain that year would have been difficult, if not impossible. It wasn’t until November 1896 that the law requiring that a man waving a red flag walk in front of an automobile was repealed. That prompted the first London-to-Brighton run with thirty-five motorcars. The run is still held today on the first Sunday in November. Attracting hundreds of cars, it’s restricted to those built before 1905.
Also in 1895, nine American heiresses married British lords.
Not all of them lived happily ever after.
Other books by Victoria Alexander:
YESTERDAY & FOREVER
THE PERFECT WIFE
THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS
PARADISE BAY
THE CAT’S MEOW
BELIEVE
PLAY IT AGAIN, SAM
SANTA PAWS
THE EMPEROR’S NEW CLOTHES
Copyright
THE PRINCESS & THE PEA. Copyright © 1996 by Cheryl Griffin. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub Edition © May 2010 ISBN: 978-0-06-202080-2
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