Page 50 of The Duke's Stubborn Wallflower
“Then you… you do not return my affection?” Lord Briston murmured softly.
Olivia shook her head, her chest constricting. “I am sorry. Truly I am. I… I truly wish you every happiness, and I have no doubt that you will find yourself a most excellent wife. It just… it will not be me. I am sorry. I… I must beg your leave.”
She fled, not caring if she was being rude or impudent. All she wanted was to be as far away from the man as possible. She was dimly aware of someone calling after her, but she ignored it.
She was barely aware of where she was going until she found herself knocking on the door of Nigel’s London house. It opened, and she found herself looking into the eyes of his steward.
“I wish to speak to Duke Glassley. Is he at home?” Olivia asked.
“He is in his study but—” the man began, but Olivia pushed past him.
She had been to Nigel’s London house on a few occasions, all with her brother, of course. She rushed up the stairs and flung open the door to what she hoped was Nigel’s study.
Nigel stood before her, still in the same clothes as the previous night. Beside him was a corgi, who barked as Olivia stepped into the room. Nigel whirled round, and Olivia saw the anger on his face.
“What are you doing here?” Nigel demanded, looking around. “Where is your chaperone?”
“I came here alone.” Olivia’s heart hammered in her chest.
“You what?!” Nigel shook his head. “You need to leave. You cannot be here. Damn it, think of the scandal this will cause.”
“I do not care.”
“You should.”
“How dare you tell me what I should or should not do. You who dared intimate to his cousin that I had feelings for him. How dare you!”
Nigel paled. “I didn’t say that. All I said was?—”
“You had no business to say anything. Not to your cousin. Nor to anyone else.” Olivia strode towards Nigel, aware that the corgi was gently sniffing her feet.Do not be distracted.“I am through with men deciding my fate.”
“I—”
“No. Youwilllisten to me Nigel Glassley, and you will not interrupt me.” Olivia let the anger and frustration and embarrassment pour out of her. “I am not some scared little girl who is too much of a fool to know her own mind. I am not the same woman I was weeks ago, who was too proud and angry to see the truth in front of me.”
Olivia took a breath. “Last night, you said you wanted to marry me, but that you could not. That it would not be fair to me. That you would not force me into such a life of disappointment.
“But who are you to decide what would be fair to me? How dare you take that decision from me.” Olivia prodded Nigel in the chest. “You do not get to decide what is best for me.”
“But—” Nigel opened his mouth to protest.
“No. There is no but. I may not be as worldly as you are, but I think thatIam the best person to decide what is good for me.”
“But you do not know everything. You do not understand.” Nigel began to turn from her.
“Then tell me. Tell me why I should not love you!” Olivia yelled at Nigel, only registering what she had said at the look of shock on his face.Oh. Oh God.
“You love me?” Nigel’s voice was quiet, disbelieving.
Olivia hesitated, the frustration and anger roiling through her. She looked at his face, his faintly dishevelled appearance, and her frustration vanished.
She nodded. “I do.”
“I love you,” she said again, feeling the words flow through her as if they were igniting a fire within her blood. She laughed. “Fool that I am, I love you. You frustrating, irksome, arrogant man.”
“I cannot tell if this is a confession of love or a dressing down.” Nigel’s lips quirked into a small smile.
“It is both.” Olivia shook her head at him. “Try as I might, my fool heart has chosen you, and it will have no other.”
