Page 18 of A Lady’s Fairytale Come True
“Hm? What is it?” Louise asked, dreamily.
“It is about where I went last week. And the day that you suspected something. And the strain between myself and Father.”
“Are you finally going to tell me?” Louise asked.
“Yes. I have no choice.”
“Then what is it?”
“You know the Dowager Kirby?”
“Of course. One of the wealthiest women in London. How could I not know of her?” Louise replied.
“I received a letter from her, quite out of the blue. She has yet to tell me how she even knows of me,” Olivia said. “But it matters not. The fact is, she has asked me to marry her grandson, the Earl of Glauston.”
A spurt of laughter came quietly from Louise’s mouth. “Oh, come now, Olivia. It is time for bed. You know I love your stories, but can you please write it and leave it for the morning?” she asked, closing her eyes again.
“Louise!” she demanded in a hushed tone, trying not to wake Gemma. “I am quite serious. I know it is madness, it sounds ridiculous and impossible. But it is the truth. Lady Kirby wishes for me to marry her grandson and she has instructed me to send her a reply once I have made up my mind.”
Louise was quiet for a moment before sitting up in the bed. “Are you being perfectly serious?” she asked.
“Unfortunately,” Olivia replied.
“I can’t believe this. What are you going to do?”
“I wish I knew. I can’t say yes to something like this, can I?”
“Honestly, Olivia, it is quite an offer. You cannot decline him until you have got to know him a little. After all, the worst you can do is enter into an acquaintance. You might find that you like him after all.”
Olivia had nothing to refute that. She really ought to give him a chance. She knew nothing about him.
In the morning, she woke and immediately wrote down her response to the dowager and rushed to have it sent as quickly as possible.
When she returned home, her father was waiting. A stern look was on his face and Olivia wondered what might have caused him to be so angry, but she knew it was meant for her.
“Father?” she asked, nervously.
“I have spoken with Gemma,” he said slowly.
“Gemma? About what?” she asked.
“It would seem that you and Louise were discussing a very important matter in the night. She overheard and was wise enough to tell me about it. Just as you should have been,” he said with look of hurt.
“I am sorry, Father. I was nervous,” she offered pitifully.
“I am still suspicious of these motives and this is something I had not even imagined at the start. Marriage? I ask you not to go, Olivia. I don’t trust them and I cannot approve of this,” he said.
“Father…”
“Nothing in life comes so easily without something to be expected in return. Listen to me, Olivia. This is not as simple as you wish it to be, as simple as you are trying to make it. This is your life and you cannot sign it over so willingly,” he urged.
“What makes you think I have signed my life away?” she challenged, realising that she was not speaking with the respect her father deserved.
“I simply mean that you cannot expect all of this to end well, should you choose to pursue it. The nobles, the wealthy men and women of the kingdom, they see life differently than we do. And they may expect of you things that you would not be prepared for them to expect,” he warned her.
Olivia nodded, as if she understood. But Louise had been right. She had to give the earl a chance. And although her father didn’t understand that, she would do it anyway.
Olivia had made her choice. She would give him a chance. She would keep everything in secret, but she would continue to communicate with Lady Kirby and try to arrange for more information and a chance to meet this man she was being asked to marry.
