Page 26

But Lydia stood her ground, determined to hear all she could.

—Pride and Prejudice

THE NEXT TWO weeks passed by quickly. To Lydia’s delight, Thomas spent more time with her and Chloe during the day and actually contributed to their conversations.

The trio went on two additional swimming picnics.

And Lydia learned more about fossils and helped them piece together the skeleton of a large vertebra.

She wasn’t educated or an intellectual, but she did have a knack for putting the right bones in the correct places.

In return, Lydia taught the father and daughter pair strategies on how to play cards.

If they’d been playing for real money, Lydia would have won a fortune from them.

Thomas was fortunately kind enough to ask Lydia to purchase a new ball gown for herself and Chloe for the royal dinner.

And when they asked, he even accompanied them to the modiste and helped pick the color of their gowns.

Thomas chose an azure blue for Lydia, saying that it reminded him of her love for the sea.

For Chloe, a verdant damask that brought color to her cheeks.

The night of the royal dinner party, Lydia and Chloe walked arm in arm down the stairs. As usual, Thomas was waiting at the bottom.

“How beautiful you both look!” he said, smiling. “And I have a present for each of you.”

Lydia tried to suppress a smile. She didn’t need anything, but it was so lovely that Thomas had thought of her.

He opened a velvet box for Chloe, and inside was a lovely emerald necklace that matched her beautiful verdant gown to perfection. Chloe gasped and squealed, and Lydia was scarcely less excited for her dear charge. The necklace had to cost at least five hundred guineas.

“Put it on me, Papa!” Chloe demanded.

His daughter turned around, and Thomas put the necklace around her neck and clasped it. Chloe touched the emeralds with awe.

“And we can’t have Lydia going to meet the king without a necklace, too,” Thomas said quietly. He took a second velvet box from a side table and opened it.

Lydia could not breathe. It was a sapphire and diamond necklace—intricate, beautiful, and very costly. “I love it! I have never seen a more beautiful necklace. But perhaps it is too dear to give to me. I can borrow it for the evening, and Chloe may have it after.”

Both father and daughter protested.

“I couldn’t take it,” Chloe insisted. “Papa bought it for you.”

“The necklace is a small token of my high esteem, Lydia.”

Lydia fingered the jewels. “But I adore you both, and I don’t need any gifts. I am unable to give you anything near as dear in return.”

Chloe picked up the necklace that her father was still holding in the box and put it around Lydia’s neck. “Nonsense, Lydia. You gave me a bathing gown and taught me how to swim. Papa, too, but he only sinks.”

“The materials cost me less than two shillings.”

Thomas took Lydia’s hand and kissed the top of it. “The price of the gift does not matter. It is the spirit in which the present is given. I bought this necklace because the sapphires reminded me of the water—it’s always moving, and so are you.”

Lydia let out a watery chuckle. “I do find it quite difficult to stay still.”

He pressed another kiss to her hand. “You bring so much energy and happiness into our home. I would not want you any other way.”

“Nor I!” Chloe said loudly.

Wiping away a tear from her eye, Lydia said, “Thank you very much, Kingston. I have never received a more meaningful or lovelier gift.”

Thomas tucked her hand into the crook of his arm and offered his other arm to his daughter. “Shall we be off? I don’t believe you are supposed to keep a king waiting.”

In the carriage, Lydia looked down at the priceless piece of jewelry and at her bodice that rose and fell rapidly. She still could not quite believe that she was about to meet King George IV. She. Lydia. The unwanted, too noisy and boisterous fifth daughter. A woman who had made so many mistakes.

She glanced across the carriage at Thomas and Chloe.

When she was with them, Lydia didn’t feel like a disappointing daughter.

She loved the fact that she could make both Thomas and Chloe laugh.

She adored pulling them out of their shells and learning more about their thoughts and interests.

And a lot of facts about fossils. But they never made Lydia feel stupid or inferior.

Both Thomas and Chloe seemed to enjoy explaining things to her and answering her questions.

Besides, she was the same girl who had demanded that a stranger named Mr. Bingley keep his promise and hold a ball. Surely that girl would not have been cowed by royalty. That girl had been dauntless and daring.

The carriage came to a stop, and a footman opened the door.

Lydia followed Chloe out, and the sight before her made her catch her breath.

During the day, the Royal Pavilion was a golden marvel.

At night, it was lit up by lanterns and looked positively magical.

Like they were about to enter a fantastical new world.

Lydia had been intrigued by the royal residence from her first stay in Brighton with Harriet Forster all those years ago.

But she’d never anticipated that she would one day receive an invitation to go inside.

And it was now larger and more ornate than it had been then.

Her hand moved to her mouth to cover her exclamation of wonder.

The inside was even more enchanting. They gave the footman their wraps and were ushered into a dining room with a domed ceiling.

It almost felt like entering a jungle. The ceiling was a bright blue like the sapphires around her throat, but there were large, palmlike green leaves painted around the dome and an enormous chandelier in the middle.

Truthfully, she had never seen anything quite like it.

The crystals sparkled in the candlelight.

There were gold carvings topped with what looked like flowers or leaves.

Smaller chandeliers in the same style circled the room. Beautiful paintings adorned every wall.

There was a large dining table in the center and a long line of tall gold candelabras in the middle of it. It was a room truly fit for a king.

Lydia glanced around for a familiar face and saw both Lady Margaret and Mark.

She couldn’t help but smile in relief. They were standing by a fashionable older couple who appeared to be Lady Margaret’s parents, the Earl and Countess of Lockwood.

Lady Lockwood wore a diamond tiara in her dark curls and a diamond collar at her throat.

Lydia couldn’t help but be glad to be wearing a new gown and Thomas’s sapphires around her neck.

Mark waved when he saw their group and ushered them to stand by his family. “Mrs. Wickham, Lord Kingston, Miss Holden, may I introduce you to my aunt and uncle, Lord and Lady Lockwood?”

Lydia dipped a low curtsy, as did Chloe. Lady Lockwood acknowledged them with a supercilious nod of her head—signifying that the honor of the meeting was entirely theirs .

Luckily, Lady Margaret’s greeting was much warmer. “I am delighted to see you, Chloe. It feels like it has been an age, but in truth, only three days. You and Mrs. Wickham must promise to call on me tomorrow.”

“Of course!” Chloe said, smiling. “And you must come to my home the day after and see my collection of devil’s fingers.”

Lady Lockwood harrumphed. “Excuse me? What sort of collection do you mean to show my daughter?”

Chloe paled and stepped back from the glittering and haughty countess.

“The term devil’s fingers is simply a common nickname for belemnite fossils or shells.

Like her father, Miss Holden is a naturalist and knows a great deal about old bones.

” Lydia was pretty certain that the countess had no idea it was a belemnite fossil or shell. A month ago, she wouldn’t have either.

Lady Lockwood looked through the lorgnette glasses that hung from a silver chain on her wrist at Chloe. “An odd accomplishment for a young woman.”

“I think it’s brilliant, Aunt,” Mark said, his eyes soft as he looked at Chloe, who had retreated back into her shell.

“And what is brilliant, pray?” a voice said from behind them. Everyone in their circle turned to see a larger, older man who wore the most elaborate, bespangled, and decorated salmon-pink coat Lydia had ever seen. His face was rather red, but there was a merriness to it.

Lord and Lady Lockwood immediately bowed to him. “Your Majesty.”

Lydia found herself just as bereft of words as Chloe, but they were both able to curtsy deeply to the King of England, formally the Prince Regent.

Mark was the first one to speak. “Your Majesty, the honorable Miss Holden is an expert on fossils.”

The king held out his hands to Chloe, who instantly placed her fingers inside them. George IV squeezed and then released them. “It is a rare jewel of a young lady who is both as pretty as she is intelligent.”

He turned to Lydia.

“This is Mrs. Wickham,” Mark explained. “She is a widow of one of my former army officers and has saved my life twice.”

The king shook Lydia’s hand and even pressed a rather wet kiss to the top of it. “The safety of our entire empire rests on such men. I honor you and your loss, ma’am.”

Still too awestruck to speak, Lydia nodded eagerly.

Mark pointed to Thomas. “And this gentleman is Viscount Kingston. Like his daughter, he, too, is a renowned naturalist and collector of fossils.”

George IV didn’t shake Thomas’s hand, but he bowed his head to him. “I am a collector myself. But not of old bones, eh? What do you think of my little Oriental palace?”

Thomas did not speak for several moments, and Lydia’s heart dropped. This was no time to think! Thomas’s quiet nature made strangers think he was proud and cold—not shy.

At last, Thomas opened his mouth. “I feel as if I have been fully transported to a new world, Your Majesty.”