Page 20 of Waiting for Love

Olivia laughed. “No, don’t scold. It’s very generous of her to share.”

“We are trying to stay out of the way,” Miss Jamison offered tentatively, seating herself again. “With all the bustle in the house.”

“Yes. So am I.” Olivia smiled. “I’m tempted to greet my brother like this.” She held out her now-dirty hands and gestured to her cloak. “But I’m afraid it would scandalize Peters and Mrs. Hardy.”

Miss Jamison smiled nervously. To spare her, Olivia turned her attention to Hannah, who was unintimidated by the fact that she was playing with one of the ladies of the house.

They took turns digging. Olivia loved the scent of freshly turned soil. She tried entering Hannah’s imaginary world, where they were searching for fairies, who liked to hide with bunnies. All went well for quite some time, until Hannah suddenly became furious that the fairies remained hidden. She threw the trowel across the path with some force.

“Hannah!” Miss Jamison said, reddening. “I am so sorry, my lady. She is at the difficult stage where she will not nap even though she needs to.”

Olivia stretched across the path to grab the trowel, then returned it to Hannah.

“I think it is fairy naptime,” she said. “That is why we are having so much trouble finding them. Shall we hunt for buried treasure instead?”

Hannah cast her a scowl, her skepticism enhanced by dark, peaked eyebrows that contrasted sharply with her pale-ivory skin. She could be a fairy herself.

“Try here.” Olivia pointed to a shallow hole they had begun and then discarded. “We will look for gold. I’m sure pirates have left some.”

“No,” Hannah said firmly. Nevertheless, she began to dig. “Fairies.” She began singing again to herself, a muddle of words Olivia could not distinguish, except for “king” and “Papa” and “bunny.”

Olivia helped by scooping out dirt and pebbles with her hands, accomplishing more than Hannah did with her trowel. She enjoyed the game immensely. She was too old to play but had been an imaginative child and regretted, at times, that make-believe was frowned upon in the adult world. Maybe it was selfish, but she wished Benjamin wouldn’t be so strict. It wasn’t any of her business, of course, but Benjamin was busy all day and Miss Jamison was not exactly lively.

As these thoughts spun through her head, she noticed Hannah again growing petulant. So she sneaked a pin from her hair and, after distracting the girl with a gesture, dropped the pin into the hole and sprinkled dirt over it.

“No fairies yet, but maybe fairy gold,” she suggested. “Keep looking.”

Hannah plunged the trowel into the hole.

“Oh, Hannah! Look! You found it!”

While the child laughed and squirmed, Olivia brushed the dirt from the pin.

“Treasure!” she exclaimed. “You found gold!”

The game was not a new one. Crispin used to bury pirate treasure all over the estate for Olivia and Reg to “discover.” She imagined it to have universal appeal, but Hannah appeared confused. Treasure and gold were apparently not in her vocabulary. Trying to hold Hannah’s interest, she threaded the pin in and out of one of the girl’s braids until it held firm.

“Very pretty,” Olivia said, letting the braid rest on Hannah’s shoulder.

Hannah reached out a grubby hand and patted Olivia’s hair. “Pretty.”

Olivia smiled. “Thank you.”

At that moment, she heard the sound of the gate banging and pattering footsteps. In a few moments, Tansy appeared, breathing heavily.

“Oh, Lady Olivia. Here you are! Your mother sent me to find you and I’ve been looking all over!”

“I’ve been here. What is it?

“A rider has come. The earl will be here within the hour.”

“Oh!” Olivia scrambled to her feet, suddenly embarrassed by her soiled gown and dirt-encrusted hands. “Oh, good heavens.” She bent over to address Hannah. “I’m sorry, love. I have to run.” Then straightened. “Excuse me, Miss Jamison.”

Hurrying along with Tansy, Olivia scolded herself for foolishness. It did no good to complain her brothers still treated her like a child if she continued to act like one.

*

As per tradition, the entire household lined up in the drive to meet their new countess, even though several of them had already glimpsed her in the days before the wedding when she was merely Mrs. Wardrip. And several more had waited upon her at the wedding breakfast. But now, she was undeniably the countess, and tradition must be maintained.