Page 21 of A Lady’s Fairytale Come True
“I don’t care for thorns,” she replied. “When you see something beautiful at a glance, it is not the same as holding it up close and being bled like a worthless pig.”
Nathaniel knew that her words were chosen very specifically. She was referencing how kind he had been to her at the market versus how cruelly he was treating her now. Indeed, he was too harsh.
Not only that, but he had caused her to be ruthless in reply and he sensed that it wounded her to speak to him so. Her pride caused her to respond this way, but he had already seen enough of her to know that it wasn’t her. Not truly.
This was a kind young woman, a compassionate one. She was polite and refined and gentle. Surely she was able to have a sharp tongue when the situation warranted it. But even now, in the midst of their verbal sparring, he could read her.
Through the faint winces, the slight tremble of her lips, the nervous way she wrung her hands, he could see it. She hated speaking to him this way. She hated that she was able to speak so viciously in reply.
And Nathaniel was intrigued despite himself. He wondered how someone so opposed to behaving this way could so easily turn to it. It was evident that she did not get much practise in speaking to others so freely, so how was she such an expert with her words?
Guilt filled Nathaniel’s heart and he was ashamed for having been so rude. But it was necessary. He couldn’t marry Miss Digby.
Not because she was of another station, not because he had any real problem with her, and certainly not for any of the reasons he had given her in their afternoon together.
He could not marry her because he would not marry until he found love. He would not marry until it was of his choosing. And this young woman was not of his choosing.
That day in the market he might have noticed her. But not for marriage. He wanted more than a beautiful face and a sweet personality. And he wanted more than a forked tongue and a woman who could argue on his level.
He wanted love, truly. And until he found that, his grandmother could arrange a marriage with every woman in the world. All would receive the same treatment as Miss Digby. But Nathaniel would never offer up his heart so freely.
Chapter 12
Proud of her words and the fact that she had left the Earl of Glauston without his own, Olivia sat patiently. Her outrage was undeniable, but she felt no need to show him that he had bothered her.
Olivia had other plans, other resorts for her intentions. She would not give this man the satisfaction of knowing that he had wounded her so. She would not allow him to rejoice in her suffering.
But there were ways in which she could enact vengeance. Not merely out of spite or insult, but out of a need for him to face the consequences of what he had done.
Indeed, the Earl of Glauston needed to see what happened to those who so callously treated her. It was what he deserved, and it was what she would ensure took place.
“I suppose this has not gone how you might have planned,” he remarked.
“Indeed, it has not. But there is nothing to it. I have no more to say on the matter, my lord,” Olivia replied.
“Well, then, we ought to return to my grandmother,” the earl said, rather decidedly.
“That is a wise decision,” she said flatly, uninterested in making further conversation with this man who was leaving her entirely disgusted and perplexed.
It still behoved her that he was so flippant and cruel. The man she had stumbled into the previous week was a man of kindness, surprisingly so. For him to turn on a whim in such a way, to respond with such harsh words and with so little dignity to show her was appalling.
But Olivia understood that she had simply misjudged him before. It was not difficult to do with a man who had such a face as his. After all, perhaps she was as simple as other young women who sought to spend their days gazing away at loveliness even when it hid such an atrocious interior.
She had never been that sort of woman. Was she fooling herself all along in thinking so highly of my her character? Was she as witless as the rest of them?
It seemed that the answer, which she would not allow herself to acknowledge yet, was yes. She truly was that simple and her father had been right to be wary of her decision to pursue this friendship with Lady Kirby.
Olivia would have to confess to him how right he was. Or perhaps she would keep this humiliation a secret for all her days. After all, her family was not aware of her coming, why should they learn anything further?
Knowing that her father was suspicious of her, Olivia would have to work hard to keep it a secret, but in time passing, he would forget all about it so long as she ceased this idea and gave him no further reason to question her.
As Olivia and the Earl of Glauston continued towards the estate, she made every effort to look only upon the flowers and not glance at her companion. If he should catch her eyes upon him, he might recognise how he had wounded her. Worse yet, he might believe her to remain intrigued by him.
And as she looked at the flowers from underneath her thick lashes, Olivia maintained a stern expression. She could not allow the beauty of the gardens to soften her face.
Before long they reached the house, the earl opening the door for her and instructing the butler to take her to his grandmother.
“I suppose this is where we leave off,” he told her, wringing his hands uncomfortably.
