Page 4 of My Secret Duke
The Viscountess Monteith and their grandmother have been enemies for years. The viscountess was also the mother of the woman Northam was supposedly engaged to, Lady Annette.
Roberta, sixteen going on seventeen years old and the third sister, had flung herself backward onto the bed with a groan, but now she sat up, brightening. “But that might be a good thing? Maybe Grandmama will decide she needs to be the one to welcome them home first. To steal a march on the viscountess.”
The girls mulled that over in silence. The truth was none of them knew when this situation might begin to right itself. If it ever did. Olivia had only just made her debut into society and had been garnering invitations left, right, and center. Despite her doubts about the whole debut thing, she had been a success, a genuine hit, and then she had accepted a foolish dare from Ivo, the Duke of Northam. The invitations had dried up, and people had begun whispering about her in a manner Olivia had found embarrassing and upsetting. Now that the dowager had forbidden visitors from entering the house, or Olivia from accepting any of her many invitations, she was beginningto wonder if she would ever get another chance.
“I’m going out in the carriage,” Roberta announced. “Who wants to come?”
There were several yeses. Their new governess would accompany them. She was far more amenable than their old governess, Pascoe, who Gabriel had sent off to Scotland indefinitely when he discovered just how cruelly she treated his sisters.
“Will Grandmama approve?” Justina asked with a worried frown. “I thought we were all supposed to remain indoors.”
“I don’t care if she approves or not,” Roberta responded valiantly. “I’m tired of being locked up. I want fresh air. I thought we could go up to Hampstead Heath. No one will see us there, and I have a new kite I want to try out.”
Roberta was the tomboy of the family, but flying a kite sounded harmless enough. Olivia exchanged a glance with Justina. Since their grandmother had taken over their lives, the rules had been far more rigid. Even before their father died, their mother had not cared much what they did with themselves, as long as they did not bother her. Running wild on the Grantham estate, playing at being highwaymen and pirates, or swimming naked in the pond at the bottom of the garden were just some of the fun things they had liked to do. Not any longer. They were young ladies now, sisters of the duke, and their behavior had to reflect that.
Despite her new resolve to make a success of her position in society—if she was ever given that chance again—Olivia missed being able to behave like a hoyden. Perhaps a run on the heath with the wind in their hair was just what they all needed. She looked up. Five pairs of eyes were focused on her, awaiting her verdict. “I think—” she began, just as there was a tap on the door.
One of the maids peeped in. Her eyes widened when she saw them all staring back at her. Hastily, she held out a card on a silver tray and stammered, “Th-there is a gentleman come to call on you, Lady Olivia.”
Olivia hopped down off the bed. Behind her, she heard Georgia say in that prissy voice, “Grandmama says we aren’t allowed visitors.”
As usual, they ignored her. Olivia read the name on the card and felt that familiar, unwelcome stutter in her chest, which only seemed to happen when she thought of Ivo. These days, she was trying very hard not to think of him at all.
“Olivia!”
The voice close to her ear made her jump. Justina was standing directly behind her and had read the card over her shoulder. Her sister looked flushed and cross, rare indeed for someone who was always so even-tempered. Justina was the peacemaker of the family, the one who soothed upsets and smoothed over arguments, and she was rarely out of sorts.
“I…” Olivia began, but Justina didn’t let her finish.
“What do you think Grandmama will do if she finds out Northam is here?” she whispered. “Aren’t we in enough trouble?”
Behind them on the bed, the other girls were loudly bickering about something and taking no notice of their two older sisters. All the same, Olivia leaned in closer. “I did not ask him to come, and I will send him away.”
“Tell Humber to send him away,” Justina said. She knew about Olivia and Ivo’s trysts—Justina was her confidante and the only one of her sisters that Olivia trusted completely.
“If I do that, Humber will tell Grandmama,” Olivia hissed. Their butler never did anything without informing their grandmother.
Before Justina could offer more advice, there was a shriek from the bed, and she hurried over to mediate on whatever this latest brawl was about. Olivia watched in silence, her mind miles away.
Ivo was someone she might have loved. There, she had admitted it! The night she had met him, at her coming-out ball, she had been instantly attracted to him. She had thought… well, she had thought that if she had to marry someone and spend her life with them, then why not him? However, further meetings between them had caused her to doubt he would ever be the sort of man she imagined herself marrying. Someone who would keep her from poverty—despite being a duke, Ivo was not wealthy. Someone who would protect her from scandal—Ivo was reckless by nature and addicted to extreme behavior. And someone who would allow her as much freedom as she wanted—perhaps that last point might work in Ivo’s favor, but then again, maybe not. He might be a tyrant in the home. Frustratingly, despite his shortcomings, she had continued to be drawn to him, until the night at the Elphinstones’.
And yet despite all her misgivings, they had become friends. He was someone she spoke to about the matters that troubled her most, and he listened and more often than not teased her out of her megrims. It was his special power. She could forgive him a great deal on account of his kindness.
But when she heard that Ivo was near enough to engaged to Lady Annette, Olivia could no longer make excuses for him. She was angry and disappointed. Because wasn’t lying and cheating the reason she and her sisters were in the position they were in now? Her father, Harry, had married his mistress but kept it from his wife, Olivia’s mother, and therefore Olivia couldn’tabide a man who lied and cheated. That character flaw was bad enough, especially when added to the others, but Ivo must have been aware what would happen when they were discovered together in the billiard room. He was not an innocent like her. He had been on the town for many years, and he must have known Olivia’s reputation would be damaged. Didn’t he care about her fall from grace?
Painfully, Olivia admitted she was as much to blame as he when it came to their assignation—as the gossips were calling it—at the billiard table. Yes, she had been dazzled by his attentions, but she should have known better. Shedidknow better. Justina was right, she should send Ivo away right now without seeing him. But sheneededto see him face-to-face. To look him in the eye, and ask him to explain himself. And after that, she wanted to tell him to never darken her door again. A little dramatic perhaps, but Olivia was feeling dramatic.
The sisterly brawl was getting noisier, and Olivia left them to it, making her way downstairs. She saw Ivo as soon as she opened the door. He was standing in a patch of sunlight, and everything about him seemed to glow. His hair, the buttons on his jacket, the shine on his boots. He was so handsome; if only his character aligned with his looks. The words she had meant to say dried up in her throat, and she was glad when Ivo spoke first.
“My apologies if I am interrupting you, Lady Olivia, but when you didn’t reply to my letter—”
Olivia had thrown it into the fireplace unread, in case she weakened. The reminder was all she needed to regain her composure.
“You shouldn’t be here,” she said in her coldest voice. “There has been enough gossip about us.” There was even one of those dreadful pamphlets with crudedrawings of two characters who were meant to be Olivia and Ivo, leering at each other over a billiard table. Olivia had been appalled.
Ivo’s gaze remained on her face. Olivia wondered what he saw. A pale young woman with shadows beneath her blue eyes who was under immense strain? Or just another foolish girl falling in love with him?
He took a step forward. “Olivia, I came here to apologize again for my blunder at the Elphinstones’. It was foolish. It was completely my fault.”
