Page 59 of Secrets of the Wicked Viscount (The Shadows 2)

Olivia’s eyes immediately traveled to her father’s head. She could still see dried blood on his bald head.

“Do not look so worried, little one. I shall be all right. And your mother just needs some sleep. You need your rest, too.”

Olivia nodded.

“Are you certain you weren’t hurt?”

“No, Papa. That man appeared just in time—”

“What man?” Her father furrowed his brows and attempted to sit up.

“No, do not move.” Olivia gently placed a hand on her father’s chest. She could feel his rapid heartbeat. He was still agitated, and she didn’t want to upset him more.

“What are you talking about? What man?”

“The man wearing a black mask. He saved us.”

“What did he want?”

Olivia blinked up at her father. “Nothing. He saved us and then disappeared.”

The door opened then, and the butler walked in. “Doctor Grisham has arrived,” he intoned.

“Please, let him in,” Olivia said and stood. “I shall wait in Mother’s room.” She placed a kiss on her father’s wrinkled forehead and went to sit beside her mother’s bed.

After the doctor concluded his examinations and her parents slumbered peacefully with the help of laudanum, Olivia went back to her room.

Her window was open, and the room was chilly. She went toward the window, and chills ran up her arms. It could have been from the draft, but there was that feeling of being watched again. Could it be that the masked man was somewhere watching her? She peeked out from the window but didn’t see anything.

Olivia stood by the window for a moment before pulling the curtains closed and going to sit on her bed. She chafed her arms but refused to close the window. She felt like she’d suffocate without air otherwise.

“You shouldn’t leave the window open,” came a gravelly whisper from just inside the window.

Olivia jumped in reaction. The moonlight outlined a silhouette of a man. Her mysterious rescuer.

“I did it on purpose,” she said. “I knew you were watching me.”

“How?”

“Call it a sixth sense. I’ve had this feeling once in a while, and I’d think I was mad… but I think this isn’t the first time you’ve been watching me.”

“Perhaps.”

“Why?” She squinted, trying to make out his face.

“Perhaps I worry for you.” A pause. “Or I could’ve meant you harm.”

She walked toward him as he stood there still, by the window. She came even closer until they were a foot apart. “But you didn’t.”

“And you shouldn’t walk up to a stranger without a weapon in hand.” He sounded angry.

“A weapon?” Olivia smiled.

Was he angry because she’d approached him without a weapon? That was a ridiculous thought.

She wasn’t afraid of this man. Perhaps shewasa fool, but she had a feeling he was there to keep her safe.

But was it Jarvis? She was certain he was. But she still wanted to look into his eyes because even if his scent could deceive her, his eyes never would. She’d recognize Jarvis’s eyes out of a million. But it was dark, too dark to make out anything.

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