The Seduction of Lady X (24 page)

“No, no,” Bernie asked excitedly. “It is Baron Peterman’s son, is it not, Miss Hastings?”

“No,” Alexa said, and grinned. “It is . . . Mr. Tolly.”

Lady Martha gasped. “Mr. Tolly!” she repeated, sounding shocked.

Miss Shields squealed with delight. “Mr. Tolly! Oh, I cannot begin to say how that gladdens my heart! I have long admired him, in truth. Such a handsome, thoughtful man! And generous to a fault. Do you know that he has been paying the rent for Mr. Gaston for the last two years?”

“What?” Olivia asked. She’d never heard of this.

“It’s quite true. I am certain he is far too modest to speak of it, but I heard of it from Mrs. White. Mr. Gaston badly damaged his arm thrashing wheat and now he is quite unable to do it. When he appealed to Mr. Tolly for a bit of time until he could find someone to take his croft, Mr. Tolly wouldn’t hear of it. ‘What will you do with your children, sir,’” Bernie said, acting as if she were Harrison. “‘Go and be a good father to your children and work as best you can, and I shall see to it that your rent is paid.”

“You don’t mean it,” Alexa said.

“I do! Everyone at the church knows it. He is universally adored, Miss Hastings. You have come into good fortune with this match.”

Alexa suddenly laughed. “Greater than you know.”

“And when are the nuptials to be held?” Bernie said. “When it is warmer, I should hope. A wedding breakfast is so dreary in the wet spring.”

“Oh,” Alexa said. She looked at Olivia, who merely shrugged. Let Alexa talk her way out of this. “Well,” she said carefully, “Mr. Tolly and I thought we might just . . . just dash off and wed.”

Bernie’s mouth gaped. Lady Martha looked as if she would be ill.

Olivia sighed. It was difficult to imagine how Alexa could make this any worse, but she’d just done it. “What Alexa means,” she said calmly, “is that we cannot be certain when my husband will return, and it doesn’t seem proper that they reside in such close proximity—”

“Of course, of course,” Bernie said. “I do see your point. This spring, sometime, then?”

“Miss Peugeot is marrying this spring,” Lady Martha said, her point lost on Olivia.

“We’ve not decided as yet,” Alexa said, and shifted a little in her seat.

Olivia very much wanted to kick her in both shins for saying anything. The girl never thought before she opened her silly mouth! “But naturally you shall both be among the first to hear of it,” Olivia said. “Shall we play another round before I ring for tea?”

“Please,” Alexa said, and picked up the cards to shuffle them.

“April is a lovely time of year,” Bernie remarked. “When I marry, I should like a wedding in April. Your wedding was lovely, Olivia, but it was February, and the day was dreadfully cold and gray.” She shivered.

“Yes, wasn’t it,” Olivia replied. “Cold as ice.”

“Madam.” Brock had entered the salon and bent his head to whisper, “Pardon, but his lordship has arrived.”

That announcement stunned her—Olivia wasn’t expecting Edward for at least another week. “Here? Now?” she whispered.

“Yes, mu’um. He and his brother and some other gentlemen have just ridden into the drive.”

“What is it, Livi?” Alexa asked.

“Ah . . .” She forced a smile. “It would seem my husband has returned a little earlier than I thought.”

“Because he cannot bear to be away from you,” Bernie said blithely.

Olivia stood up.
So soon!
Alexa looked just as stunned; she stood, too. “I suppose we ought to . . . ?”

“We should,” Olivia agreed.

“But this is splendid news, Miss Hastings!” Bernie crowed. “Now that he has come back, there is no need to rush! You may wait until the weather has warmed and treat your family to a lovely spring wedding.”

Olivia’s knees quaked a little at the thought of Bernie saying something like that to Edward. He would explode with rage. But at the moment, her most pressing issue was greeting him and his guests, for if she were not on hand to do so, she would pay for it later.

“Please excuse me,” she said as lightly as she could and swept out of the room, unthinkingly rubbing her palms on her skirts.

O
livia stepped outside just in time to see Edward slide off his saddle and land on one knee beside his horse. He laughed as a footman rushed to help him up, then pushed the young man away before staggering up to his feet.

“Have a care you do not break your bloody leg,” his younger brother, David, Lord Westhorpe, said. The two gentlemen in their company laughed. Olivia had met them before: Lords Fennick and Keddington.

A laughing Keddington took Edward’s arm and draped it around his shoulders, then helped him to walk up the steps.

“There she is, my beautiful wife,” Edward slurred as they had tromped past. “To look at her, one would believe I am a fortunate man.”

“You
are
a fortunate man,” Keddington said.

“Olivia, darling,” David said, walking up the steps, his arms open. Olivia smiled at him; he wrapped his arms around her in a warm embrace and kissed her cheek. “Beautiful as ever, love. How it gladdens my heart to see you.” He kissed her cheek again, then linked his arm through hers. “What news have you? I’ve heard your sister has come back from Spain,” he said as he led her into the foyer. Edward and his friends had left mud across the clean tiled floors of the entry.

“She has, indeed,” Olivia said.

“Tell me,” David began, but a commotion in the corridor caught his attention. The gentlemen had apparently encountered the ladies. Olivia could hear them begging the ladies to stay and entertain the weary travelers.

As Olivia and David entered the corridor, she saw Alexa extracting Bernie’s hand from Fennick’s grip. “Please do allow Miss Shields and Lady Martha to take their leave,” she said with a sweet smile. “Their families cannot spare them another moment.” She fairly pushed Bernie along down the hallway, who was enjoying the attentions of the gentlemen, in spite of their drunken revelry.

The one person who did not seem to find her charming was Edward, who glowered like a sullen child, leaning up against the wall as he waited for his friends to return their attention to him.

“Miss Hastings, how good to see you again,” David said, stepping away from Olivia to greet Alexa. Olivia took the opportunity to escort Bernie and Lady Martha to the foyer.

“You will have your hands full, will you not?” Bernie asked gaily as she accepted her cloak from a footman.

“I always do,” Olivia said.

The footman opened the door and Olivia was dismayed to see the rain had begun again.

“You really must convince your sister to wait to marry until the weather improves,” Bernie said. “It’s a bad omen for it to rain on a wedding day.”

Olivia’s heart began to beat in her chest. “I will do my best. Thank you for coming!” she said cheerily, hoping to hasten her friends’ exit before they said something to Edward.

When she had seen them into the carriage, she released a sigh of relief, and hurried back to the hallway. David and Alexa were standing there, Alexa with her back to the wall, David leaning in as if imparting a great secret.

“David!” Edward bellowed from within the salon. “Where are you?”

“Coming!” David said something to Alexa that caused her to laugh.

Edward suddenly appeared at the door of the salon, his gaze hardening as he saw what kept David.

“Miss Hastings, will you join us in the salon?” David asked as he started after Edward.

“Perhaps another time,” Alexa said. “I’ve a beastly headache and must retire for now.”

“A pity,” David said, his smile charming. “I shall console myself with your lovely sister.” He held out his hand to Olivia, who quickly gave him hers, lest Alexa change her mind.

Aware that Edward was glowering at them both, Olivia said softly, “Go to the dowager house and stay there. I will come later.”

Alexa glanced at Edward, then walked quickly down the hallway.

Olivia did not look at her husband, but allowed David to drag her into the salon, where Lords Fennick and Keddington had managed to find the whiskey.

Edward followed them, accepting a glass of whiskey from Fennick. He looked at Olivia, his gaze hard. “Perhaps you might be more comfortable in your sitting room,” he said.

“Her sitting room!” David laughed. “You will deprive me of the pleasure of her company? You know my high regard for your wife, Edward.”

“You may reacquaint yourself with her over supper.”

“Yes, of course,” Olivia said. “Welcome home, my lord,” she said, and left the room.

The day didn’t improve as the rain turned into a deluge. Olivia could hear the men’s boisterous laughter echoing through the house, Edward’s voice louder than them all.

When Olivia joined the gentlemen for supper, her mood was grim. The evening was exactly as she might have imagined: her, alone, in the company of four gentlemen who had managed to while away an entire afternoon with billiards and whiskey. In the course of it, they’d drowned their table manners. They delighted in uproarious laughter over the most trivial matters.

Edward was the worst. When he entered the dining room, he’d cast his arms wide. “Ah, my darling wife.” He’d put his arms around her and kissed her mouth hard, much to the delight of the others. When he lifted his head, it was a miracle that Olivia managed to keep from dragging her hand across her mouth to wipe the kiss from her lips.

“Did I tell you that David has missed you?” Edward asked loudly as he walked a bit unevenly to his seat. He waved away the footman who was there to pull out his chair. “He insisted on coming to Everdon Court just to see you.”

“As I recall,
you
insisted that I come,” David said as he helped Olivia into her seat. “You specifically threatened my stipend,” he added, and fell into a chair next to Olivia. “He tortures me, Olivia. If it were not for you, I’d not abide him.”

Olivia smiled.

David put his hand on his chin and smiled up at her. “How lovely you are, my dear. I’ve always thought you the handsomest of women. And with such a sunny disposition, as well. How fortunate that I may enjoy the favor of your smile and your conversation during my meal.”

“You are always so very flattering, my lord,” Olivia said. “One cannot help but wonder if you come by that talent naturally, or if you practice it in various dining rooms and salons in London.”

“So fair, and yet so skeptical.”

“I have known you several years,” she said with a slight wink.

David laughed and brought her hand to his lips, kissing her knuckles. “I do adore you, Olivia.”

“Where is your sister?” Edward demanded as he lifted his wineglass to be filled.

“Yes, where is that comely sister of yours?” David asked, looking around the room.

“She has taken to her bed with a headache,” Olivia said, and Edward snorted.

“And Tolly?” David asked. “Where has our man Tolly gotten off to?”

“What are you waiting for?” Edward barked at one of the footmen, who stood patiently at his side, waiting for him to approve the wine. “Fill the glasses, man!”

The footman hurried to do so.

“I am in deep despair, Olivia,” David said with big, doleful eyes. “My brother tells me I have entered dun territory and threatens my stipend. But I have every confidence Mr. Tolly will set it all to rights.”

“You should learn to keep your coin in your pockets instead of spreading it among the light-skirts of London,” Edward scoffed.

“Do you blame me?” David asked cheerfully. “I haven’t the luxury of having a comely wife to occupy my bed.”

Olivia flushed.

David chuckled and winked at her.

“Fennick, what of Basingham? What’s this I hear of his debts?” Edward asked, and lifted his wineglass to his lips, drinking as if it were water.

Olivia glanced to the window as the men talked. She could hear the rain falling in great swaths, soaking Everdon Court and everything around it. She pictured the house floating down the valley toward the sea, pictured herself on the roof, jumping onto a rock just as the house was flushed out into the sea. And she imagined watching the whole thing sink, whiskey bottles popping up to the surface when the house had gone down.