Page 64 of A Lady’s Fairytale Come True
“Can you tell me about Mother? Can you tell me how the two of you met and what led you to be married?” she asked.
Her father seemed hesitant, but finally he conceded and nodded his head. “I suppose I can tell you. I can tell you that it was not the first desire that either of us had. But our parents arranged it, as most parents do. And as we grew together, we chose to become close. I would say that your mother was a dear friend,” he said.
“But there was no love?” she asked.
He sighed and looked at her with honesty in his eyes.
“There was a love of sorts. And for some of us, that is all we can ever hope for.”
Chapter 32
The morning light was unwanted, and Olivia had a headache from the emotion of the previous days. She wished that she could keep her eyes closed and block out all sense of waking. But her eyes opened nevertheless.
For a moment she stared at the ceiling. She wondered if the hurt had all been a dream and willed it to go away. She willed herself to return to her dreams where nothing made sense but at least there was no pain at all and she could be entertained by the musings of her unconscious mind.
Instead, she had to accept that she was awake and her life had taken a rather unfortunate detour. One that she could not undo or remake. No, the earl truly had wounded her. It was too late to deny that. She was stuck in this world. She was stuck in consciousness, whether she liked it or not.
Finally she rolled her head to look around her and saw through the curtains that the light was in full bloom. Day had certainly arrived and was already living and breathing. Most likely outside there was plenty going on.
Louise and Gemma were already gone from the room, leaving her to herself and a quiet that she found peaceful. Olivia needed this quiet. She craved it.
She had fallen asleep with a crushing weight of depression and sadness rolling over her. But that morning, as she woke, that sadness had transformed. Now, Olivia was angry.
Rising from her bed, she dressed herself. She knew exactly what she wanted to do, but was well aware of the ramifications of it. After all, who was she to confront anyone about such behaviour? A simple, poor young woman with no power or authority, Olivia decided to be stronger than society would give her credit for.
Moping and remaining a victim was not the sort of woman she had ever wished to be. No, if she wasn’t going to be the princess in her fairytale, she would be the hero. She would be strong and brave and fight for her own rights.
Olivia made her way to the kitchen where Louise was baking a meagre loaf of bread for the family. She had managed to purchase a few raisins and some cinnamon to flavour it sweetly. A treat for the family, it was a recipe that their mother had taught them long before she passed away.
“It smells heavenly,” Olivia said.
“It ought to taste just as well. I added a little extra vanilla. Please do not tell Father. He will think me too extravagant,” Louise giggled.
“I’ll not say a word. But haven’t we learnt that when I refrain from telling Father about things, they generally ruin us?” Olivia asked, dryly.
Louise stopped what she was doing and leaned against the table-top to face her sister. Olivia felt the concern in her eyes and knew that Louise probably considered her still downcast.
“Don’t worry, Liv, everything is going to work out. Don’t you know that you deserve happiness? It will come to you. There is no reason to be sad simply because of one fool and his mistakes. I should never like to think that you feel rejected as a result of one simpleton’s actions,” Louise noted angrily.
Olivia looked at her sister and tried to find the words to express that everything had changed for her. She no longer felt the sadness. She was better than that. She was not going to be defeated by a selfish liar who couldn’t handle the simplicity of her station.
“Louise, I am no longer wounded or hurt,” she began. Olivia gave a nod of her head as if to confirm her honesty. She really wasn’t depressed anymore. She would not allow herself to settle for such an emotion.
Her sister’s eyes lit up with relief. Louise suddenly seemed overcome by this fact and believed entirely that it meant that Olivia was well and that all would be fine with her now.
“Oh, I am so glad to hear that, Liv. I told you, you are stronger than this. You do not need to be sad,” she sighed with a smile.
“I am no longer wounded or hurt because I have found an emotion which fares a great deal better,” Olivia continued.
“And what is that?” Louise asked, a note of concern creeping into her voice.
“Anger. Rage. Fury. All of them. You see, you are right. I ought not to be wounded by him. He was a fool and I am deserving of something far better. I have no desire to bind myself to a liar and a coward. But I can have a semblance of happiness if I can but confront the one responsible for all of this,” she told her.
“You mean you are going to speak with the earl? You are going to confront him about it?” Louise enquired, a tinge of fear in her eyes. “Olivia, I know you are angry, but that is not proper. You have to contend with the fact that it is not deemed appropriate for a young woman to go to a man unbidden and confront him about an offense. Should you make such an effort, you will certainly be judged for it.”
Olivia nodded. “Yes, I shall be judged for it. But I cannot care about my judgment when I am more concerned about justice. Not only that, Louise, but it is not the earl to which I shall go.”
Louise gave her an eye of confusion, but Olivia didn’t volunteer anything further on the matter. “What do you mean? Where shall you go?” Louise pushed.
