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“Are you certain, wife?”
“I am,” she answered firmly.
With a small nod, he departed. Livvie was even more resolved now. She would settle the matter without being a bother to her husband.
…
Fifteen minutes after he’d left his wife in the parlor, Tobias frowned as he spied her riding away astride on Arius. It seemed whatever had distressed her had not abated if she would go for a long ride so soon. Should he have stayed and prodded her to reveal whatever had brought her to tears?
Tears.
He had always despised the weapon women used with such ruthlessness. Tears had never inspired anything in him but disgust. When he had seen the glisten in Olivia’s eyes, his heart had jerked, then a cold resolve had filled him to destroy who ever had upset her. That had shocked him, the very idea that his countess had the power to torment him with tears, as his mother had done with his father. Their days since setting off to Scotland had been filled with their mutual sensual awareness. It had been delightful and he had been at peace. He had even come to appreciate
and enjoy her cutting tongue more.
Last night, when he had sat down to write, his wife had completely colored the lenses of how he saw his heroine, and he had started to craft the perfect lady for Wrotham. When he wrote, it was an escape, a need, a pleasure, another life he could immerse himself in. The world of secrets, lies, and passion, where everything was as he made it, and regret, pain, fear held no sway. Yet last night, as if he had been controlled by another, Tobias had written his hero falling in love with the mysterious Lady O, a suspected traitor to the crown, and he had infused such intensity of emotions in his characters it had shaken him deeply.
Did that mean he was falling in love with his wife? The way he watched for her smile to brighten his day, the insatiable desire he had to kiss and make love to her, the way he anticipated her doing something reckless, not in dread…but in fascination. Was that love? Tobias was unsure, he only knew he had never endured the emotions she was stirring in his heart.
Why had she been crying?
It unnerved him to realize she had not been swooning and descending into great hysteria, but had simply demanded his kisses to soothe whatever emotions had been rioting inside. He was caught off guard by the pleasure rushing through him at that realization.
As Olivia nudged her horse into a canter, he felt a vague sense of unease. Where was she really off to?
He pushed from the winged back chair and strolled to the open windows for a closer look. Acting on instinct, he grabbed the telescope from off his desk, lengthened it, and brought it to his eyes.
She had one of his foils belted at her waist. Good God. What was she about? The fact that she chose to travel on horse and not in a carriage suggested she was not going far. Olivia nudged her horse into a gallop and he lost sight of her. Lowering the telescopic lens, Tobias considered her actions deeply. She’d said she had an argument with her brother, whom she encountered visiting her parents. An argument so severe it had brought her to tears, and she now returned with a weapon, one with which she was most proficient. Knowledge bloomed like a late flower in springtime. Without a doubt, she was heading back to her father’s estate to settle whatever wrong her stepbrother had done to her.
Good God. The reckless hoyden!
Was she not aware of the magnitude of scandal that she could bring down on their family? They had barely escaped the past few days with Francie’s reputation intact, and even then, he was just waiting for the first wave of rumors to start before using the full force of his power to squash all tattle.
He would tan Olivia’s backside when he caught up with her.
“What is it?” Westfall finally asked, no doubt annoyed by his delay.
“I must leave. I will travel to Town tomorrow and conclude our business if need be. I understand you cannot stay any longer. But my wife needs me.”
The marquess gave him a cynical glance. “Is she well?”
“She…she had been crying,” he said gruffly. “And I should have known she was not the type of lady to be rattled by simple matters.”
Westfall’s lips curved, but he said nothing.
Tobias stormed from the room, his mind shifting through the possibilities. What would she really do with his foil? She was proficient, for they had sparred together to her delight in Scotland a few mornings. But surely she would not think to use a weapon on someone. Unable to walk sedately, he broke into a run for the stables, guilt and frustration worming its way through him.
His wife had needed him, and he had not probed deeply enough. He appreciated then, the control she had on her tempers. Because she had not been wailing and swooning as how females of his acquaintance had behaved before, he’d assumed whatever had upset her had been trifle.
Damnation.
Chapter Eighteen
Livvie returned to Riverhill Manor determined that today would be the last William would ever behave so disgustingly toward her. She was well pleased to learn her father was still abed resting, and her mother and sister had not yet returned from their jaunt in the village.
“Has my brother departed, Mrs. Billings?” Livvie enquired of the housekeeper.
“No, my lady. He is in the drawing room taking his evening tea. Dinner will be served at six. Shall I let the cook set a place for you?”
