For All Time (Nantucket Brides 2)

Now, in the bedroom, Toby sat down on an ottoman as Jilly began working on her hair. She piled the thick blonde curls up, and held them in place with what seemed to be a thousand pins. Tendrils fell down prettily at the sides of Toby’s face. Afterward, Jilly applied light cosmetics, letting Toby’s pure skin show through.

After the hair and makeup were done, they tackled the corset. It encircled Toby’s ribs and supported the lower half of her breasts, but it left the top half nearly fully exposed.

“I think they sent the wrong undergarments,” Toby said as she tried to pull the top up so it would cover more, but it wouldn’t move.

“This shows that every generation has liked sex,” Jilly said. Nothing had been sent to wear under the slip, no underdrawers of any kind. Toby thought they’d made a mistake, but a quick computer search showed that there was no error.

“There’s historical accuracy and there’s common sense,” Toby said as she pulled on a pair of modern cotton underpants.

Jilly held out the nearly transparent slip for Toby to put on, then handed over the white silk stockings with their garters. At last, she helped Toby slide the dress over her head. It was a perfect fit, with the high waist just under her breasts and the pretty, puffy sleeves showing off Toby’s slender arms. The skirt barely grazed the floor, with the embroidery weighing it down enough that it clung to Toby’s body when she moved.

When Toby looked in her antique full-length mirror, she thought she’d been transformed into a different person. The truth was that she thought she looked even more like Tabby from her dream. But this dress had once been worn by royalty and was richer and more beautiful than anything she’d seen before. She made a couple of tugs at the top of the dress to try for more coverage, but then let it drop. She turned to Jilly.

“You look beautiful,” Jilly said. “Really, Toby, you are something out of a fairy tale.” There was a knock on the door.

“Is it safe to come in?” Ken asked.

Opening the door, Jilly swept her hand back. “Behold what we have done.”

“Toby!” Ken said. “You look fabulous.”

“Thank you,” she said. “Let’s just hope that Victoria agrees.”

“Based on what I know,” Ken said of his ex-wife, “Victoria will love wearing a dress that shows so much of her—” He made a vague gesture around his chest area. “The sight of you nearly made me forget. Graydon sent this to you. It’s from his grandmother.”

Toby took the package he held out to her. It was wrapped in a pretty pink silk fabric and tied with a cream-colored ribbon. When she opened it, she gasped, for inside were a pair of pearl earrings and a bracelet of tiny pearls and twisted gold wire. In the bottom were a dozen little pearl and gold pins.

“They’re for your hair,” Jilly said as she began to put them into the upsweep she’d created.

Ken took a small camera out of his pocket and began snapping. “Two beautiful girls,” he said.

The sound of voices downstairs made them look at one another. Victoria and Dr. Huntley had arrived.

“Ken and I will go down first,” Jilly said to Toby. “Gray asked if he could escort you down. He said he has something he wants to show you. We’ll fix drinks and turn on the music, so come down when you’re ready.”

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nbsp; The two of them left the room and went downstairs.

It was just before their guests were to arrive, and Graydon was dressed in what Toby called “Mr. Darcy’s clothes.” When he sat down on the couch to put on the ridiculous little slippers that came with the getup, he found a note and a small package from his grandmother Aria.

My darling Gray,

The clothes I sent were worn by my grandmother’s wayward sister and her Groom of the Horse—who everyone knew was her favorite lover. But then, her foreign princely husband was such a dud! These are the jewels she wore with the dress.

My dear grandson, I know what you are facing in the future and how desperately you need this time to think and plan. Please be assured that whatever you do, whatever decisions you make, your grandfather and I will support you and love you.

With greatest love, Aria

The tone of the note made him miss his grandparents very much. Before he thought about what he was doing, he called his brother.

A sleepy, grumpy Rory answered. “Do you know what time it is here?” he asked in Lanconian.

“About one-thirty in the morning,” Graydon said. “Since when do you go to bed before dawn?”

“Since I took over your life. Did you know they even schedule when I can use the restroom?”

“Discipline in all things,” Graydon said.