The last thing she needed or wanted was to have her entire family angry with her. Admittedly, for the most part, they hadn’t said anything that wasn’t true. But her ideas always seemed so brilliant when they first occurred to her, and hadn’t hiring a family for Christmas seemed nothing short of inspired? And, indeed, wouldn’t it all have gone rather uneventfully, had it not been for the unexpected? Her mother and sister returning home, and . . .

And Grayson!

Why, if Grayson hadn’t appeared dragging the past along with him, wouldn’t she still want marriage to Nikolai? Although, possibly, she might have come to her senses about him even without Grayson’s interference. Still, he had made this farce of hers much more complicated and confusing. She didn’t know what she wanted now. Nor did she know what he wanted.

What was he up to? Why hadn’t he told her he had money? What did he really want?

Past time to find out.

Twenty

Twenty

“Camille.” Nikolai took her elbow and steered her into the hall. The others were moving from the dining room into the parlor. “I must speak with you alone.”

“Very well.” She cast him her brightest smile, knowing full well Grayson lingered a bit behind the rest of the group. While he was subtle, he was definitely watching them both. But then she had noticed she was never out of his sight or Beryl’s. One might think they were conspirators of some sort, which was nothing more than the oddest of notions. Beryl would willingly cut her arm off before she cooperated with Grayson in anything.

While the food at dinner had been excellent, the same could not be said of the company. Thank God, her actors had done their part. Between Mrs. Montgomery-Wells’s reminiscences of who knew what, and Mr. Henderson’s endless anecdotes, and Miss Murdock’s relentless flirtation—equally divided between Nikolai and Grayson—it was easy to overlook the fact that neither she nor her mother and sisters said much of anything beyond an occasional overly polite comment. The tension in the air seemed to her thick enough to cut with a knife. Hopefully, Nikolai did not notice; although Grayson obviously did, given the way she caught his speculative gaze on her every time she happened to look at him.

“What is it, Nikolai?” She smiled up at the prince.

His brow furrowed in obvious displeasure. “All is not going as I had hoped.”

“Oh?”

“Between your family and the preparations for Christmas, I have scarcely had any time alone with you at all.”

“I know and I do regret that.” She heaved a heartfelt sigh. “But you must understand, with the entire family in residence, well . . .” She shrugged apologetically.

“Someone is always with us.” He huffed in frustration.

“It does seem that way.” She chanced a quick look into the dining room; Grayson had at last gone into the parlor.