Laughing, Olivia gestured towards the doorway with an elegant sweep of her arm. “Come along, Dosia. Let us leave my brother to his grumpiness and brandy-soaked solitude.”
Once they had departed, Richard reached for the newssheets and started reading. He had barely read a paragraph when his mother’s voice drifted across the table.
“You ought to be kinder to Miss Theodosia.”
He didn’t look up. “I won’t throw rocks at her, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“That is a relief,” his mother replied. “But there’s a wide gulf between refraining from assault and exercising basic courtesy. Kindness often goes much further than you think.”
He lowered the newssheets and met her gaze. “You forget that Miss Theodosia is not some innocent young miss in need of my civility. She is a liar. A clever, calculating one. She knows far more than she admits about Olivia’s husband.”
“Be that as it may…” his mother began.
“I’ve no time for a lecture,” he interrupted, rising from his seat.
His mother’s expression remained composed, though her eyes held a familiar glint of disapproval. “I raised you to be a gentleman. You’d do well to remember it.”
“I am a gentleman,” he replied. “I manage the estate, protect our name, and keep this family from collapsing under scandal. I know my duty.”
“There is more to life than ledgers and accounts,” she said. “One day, perhaps sooner than you think, you will want to start a family.”
“But that day is not today,” he stated before he departed from the room, having no desire to talk about such things.
Theodosia sat across from Olivia in the swaying coach, her gaze fixed on the passing scenery beyond the window. It was all so strange and thrilling—the crush of people bustling along the pavement, the elegant carriages weaving through narrow lanes, and the towering buildings rising side by side like sentinels of a world she had never known. She couldn’t decide what fascinated her more: the ever-changing press of fashionable pedestrians or the architectural splendor that surrounded them. Both seemed to demand her attention at once.
Her thoughts were interrupted by Olivia’s voice. “You must think I’m intolerably stupid for marrying a man I scarcely knew.”
Theodosia turned her head and met Olivia’s gaze. “I’ve thought no such thing.”
A rueful smile played at Olivia’s lips. “Well, that’s precisely how I feel. Foolish.” She shifted slightly in her seat, pulling her pelisse tighter around her. “I didn’t even kiss Luke—not once, not even after the wedding. We barely even touched. It was as though he couldn’t bear to be near me.”
Theodosia felt a dozen questions spring to mind, but she hesitated, wary of prying too deeply into wounds that were clearly still raw. Yet Olivia didn’t seem to need prompting.
“Luke promised me everything—security, affection, even adventure. He said he wanted to build a life with me. But none of it was true.” Her voice grew tight, her hands clenched in her lap. “Why didn’t I see it? Why didn’t I know he was lying?”
“Because he deceived you,” Theodosia said gently. “You placed your trust in him, and he exploited it. That’s not your fault.”
Olivia exhaled sharply through her nose. “I ran off to Gretna Green like some besotted fool. I destroyed my reputation,gave up any semblance of a respectable future—and for what? The moment he collected the dowry from the solicitor, he vanished.”
“The man has no shame,” Theodosia remarked.
There was a pause, and then Olivia studied her more intently. “You wouldn’t do that, would you?”
“Do what?”
“Lie to me. Pretend to be someone you’re not.”
Theodosia furrowed her brow. “No. I’ve no reason to deceive you.”
“None at all?” Olivia pressed, her tone sharp with suspicion.
“What would I even lie about?”
Olivia gave a weary sigh and looked away. “I suppose I have no choice but to trust you.”
Before Theodosia could respond, the coach jerked to a halt in front of a whitewashed brick building nestled between taller establishments. A wrought iron sign swung overhead, proclaiming in elegant script:Minerva Press Circulating Library.
A footman appeared, swiftly opening the coach door and offering a gloved hand. Theodosia waited for Olivia to descend first before accepting the assistance herself, withdrawing her hand as soon as her boots touched the cobbled pavement.
