Page 246 of Historical Hotties
“There,” Nicola said, smiling. “Now you look like the Countess of Tamworth and Stafford. Let me ask my brother to see if he thinks you look like a bride.”
With that, she sent one of her servants to the door to summon Thor, who was still standing right outside in the corridor. He immediately entered, taking about five steps into the chamber before his gaze fell on Caledonia. She looked at him, he looked at her, and the man came to a dead stop.
He simply stared at her.
“Well?” Nicola said. “What do you think? Does she look like a bride?”
Thor couldn’t answer her right away. His gaze was riveted to a woman in silver that, he was positive, was a figment of his imagination. He’d never seen anything so exquisite in his entire life. Lifting a hand, he pointed at her.
“Caledonia?” he said in disbelief. “It is truly her?”
Nicola laughed softly at his reaction. “What do you think?”
He shook his head in amazement, coming a little closer as his eyes drank in the sight. “I think she looks like an angel,” he said honestly. “She’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”
Caledonia had been holding her breath when he came into the chamber, fearful of his reaction, but his unbridled response had her blushing furiously. She was suspicious of it at first, but from the expression on his face, she could see that he meant it. Having never been praised in her life, not by her mother or father or dead husband, hearing someone compliment her beauty was a new experience entirely. Embarrassed, she lowered her head so he wouldn’t see her flaming cheeks.
“Lady Nicola is to be praised,” she said. “This is all her doing.”
Thor came forward, a smile playing on his lips. “She had quite a bit to work with,” he said. “How do you feel?”
Caledonia shrugged. “My head feels a little better.”
“I meant about your appearance. How do youfeel?”
Caledonia was going to shrug again until Nicola put a hand-held mirror in her grip. That forced Caledonia to look at herself, to see what Thor and Nicola were seeing, and she found a woman she hardly recognized staring back at her.
Thor was right.
Shewasbeautiful.
And it scared her to death.
“This… this isn’t me,” she finally said, tossing the mirror aside and backing away from Thor and Nicola. “People will laugh!”
The smiles faded from Thor and Nicola’s faces. “Why would they laugh?” he asked. “Caledonia, you are an exquisitely beautiful woman. You should dress like this every day. It would make me the proudest man in England.”
Caledonia was becoming increasingly distraught. “Why?” she said. “This is not what I look like.”
“It is exactly what you look like.”
“People will think I am pretending to be something I am not!”
She was starting to tear up, and Nicola wasn’t sure why, but Thor did. He’d had a glimpse into her world and suspected what the trouble was.
It was going to be difficult to convince her otherwise.
“I do not think so,” he said with quiet firmness. “Caledonia, listen to me. You are the Countess of Tamworth and Stafford, only no one has allowed you to shine before now. They’ve kept your light dimmed, your beauty hidden behind those peasant clothes you wear, but that is going to stop now. You deserve to wear the finest clothing. You deserve to be respected, and Iswear to you that I will do just that. You needn’t fear that people will ridicule you because that will not happen.”
“It will!”
“It will not because you are finally assuming the position you were born to assume. Thisisyou.”
The tears were falling from her dark eyes as she looked at him, trying to determine if he was really telling her the truth. She felt terribly uncomfortable, but she also felt as lovely as she’d ever felt in her life. Wiping at her eyes, she picked up the mirror again with a shaking hand, studying herself in it. But after a few moments, she closed her eyes and set the mirror down again.
“God’s Bones,” she whispered. “I am so uncomfortable.”
Thor took a few steps in her direction and ended up standing next to her. “Why?” he murmured.
