Page 12 of Waiting for Love

Olivia gave a small, humorless laugh. “I suppose there is always Jeremy or Jeffrey.”

That was in no way amusing. The Willowsett twins were mooncalves.

It didn’t have to be the London Marriage Mart. Jasper could always hold a house party. Invite his eligible friends. But somehow that sounded even worse. Displaying her for the taking without even the comfort of…of a herd of other marriageable ladies contending for the attention of wife-seeking males. Good Lord. How awful.

He managed to say, “I’m sure, once you are in the midst of a Season, you will enjoy it.” In fact, he wasn’t at all sure of that.

Her eyes flashed at him. “Yes, of course. Everyone says so.”

She turned from him and walked away, leaving him to kick the rotting boards one more time before following her back up the hill. Fortunately, Reg appeared at the edge of the coppice just as they reached their grazing horses.

“Hullo!” Reg called. “Who won?”

“Who do you think?” Olivia called back.

Reg laughed. “Sorry, Mr. Carroll. But don’t feel bad. Crispin is the only one who can beat Olivia anymore.”

“Only on Mercury!” Any trace of bitterness was gone from her voice. Was she play-acting, or had she not been as upset as he’d thought?

Reg dismounted and brought his horse to theirs. After watching the animals nibbling the grasses for a few moments, Reg lifted his head, glanced out at the lake, then said, “I take it Olivia showed you the boathouse.”

Benjamin nodded.

“What do you think?” Reg asked.

“A few boards gone bad at the waterline. But I think it better to be cautious. There could be more structural damage than is readily evident.”

Olivia put in, “He’s going to ask Willy about tearing it down and building a new one.”

“That seems the wisest course,” Reg said, eyeing Benjamin with something that seemed not quite skepticism, more a reservation of judgment.

“And I’m going to have Mrs. Byrd create my new wardrobe,” Olivia said.

Reg’s head swung around. “Pardon?”

“To support the village.”

Reg cast a glance from one to the other. “And whose idea was this?”

“Mine.” Olivia said. Now her lip did jut out in a pout. “You can’t deny it’s a good one.”

“Except I know that you are settling for a substandard dressmaker instead of a fashionable modiste, just so that Mother can spend a few extra weeks with her grandchild. Olivia, you needn’t sacrifice your debut. You want your coming-out to be special.”

Olivia’s face fell. She must have been counting on Reg’s support. With Crispin gone, he would be her most likely bulwark.

Before he even knew what he was doing, Benjamin said, “Ask her what she wants.”

Startled, Reg said, “Ask what?”

“Don’t tell Lady Olivia what she wants. Ask her.”

“All right.” His tone quieted. “What is it then, Olivia? What do you want?”

“I want to spend the winter here. At Chaumbers. It could be…” Her voice shook. “Oh, bosh! It probably will be my last winter here. The last winter when I’ll belong here.”

“You’ll always belong—”

“That isn’t true. You know it’s not. I’ll be mistress of some other estate. Wherever my husband drags me off to.”