Page 61 of This Marquess of Mine

Shame washed over her as she realized how focused she’d been on her own future, giving no thought whatsoever to her aunt’s, or what her plans entailed.

“What will you do, Aunt? After I’ve married?”

She turned to look at her and watched as her aunt drew in a deep breath of air. “I haven’t decided yet,” she said. “I might reside in London, or I might go and stay with my cousin Mary in Bath.” She smiled. “I suppose I’ll go where the wind takes me.”

“I shall miss you,” Olivia said. “It will be strange not seeing you every day.”

“I know, dearest. I know. But I will write to you every week, and I will visit you often. So often, in fact, that you will hardly have a chance to miss me.”

Olivia gave her a small smile, though it was sad. She was sad. How would she get by without her aunt there with her, as she’d always been?

“And pretty soon,” Aunt Augusta went on cheerfully, “you will start a family of your own, and you will be far too busy with your brood of children to even notice I’m not there.”

Olivia nodded, unconvinced but heartened a bit by the mention of children. “I am looking forward to having a baby. I hope I will be a good mother.”

“You will be,” Aunt Augusta said, patting her hand again. “After all, you come from a long line of excellent mothers. You never met your mother’s mother—your grandmother—but she was a wonderful woman, and she adored your mother. Just as your mother adored you.”

Olivia smiled, hugging her aunt’s arm as they followed the path, the colored lamps lighting their way.

What would she have done without this woman? What sort of person would she be now if not for the love and guidance she’d received from her all these years? Aunt Augusta had played such an important part in her life, had always been there for her, when she didn’t have to be.

She was her great-aunt, her grandmother’s sister, a grandmother Olivia never knew. Aunt Augusta had never owed her a thing, and yet, she’d taken her under her wing and provided the love and attention she’d so desperately craved.

Olivia would be forever grateful for that.

An hour or solater, at Aunt Augusta’s announcement that she was beyond famished, Olivia and her aunt made the short trek to the pavilion where they rented a supper box.

As they passed the colonnade of boxes on their way to their own, Olivia’s name was called out.

“Lady Olivia!”

She turned and spotted the Duke of Paxton in one of the supper boxes, his face wreathed in smiles. His mother sat beside him, as rigid and unapproachable as ever in a high-necked gown of olive-green wool.

“Good evening, Your Graces,” Olivia said as she approached, Aunt Augusta beside her. “What a delightful surprise to see you here.”

She bobbed a curtsy in greeting to the duchess and received a regal nod in return.

“Are you enjoying your evening?” Paxton asked, setting his glass on the table and cupping both hands around it.

“Oh, yes. We are having a lovely time,” Olivia said with a bright smile. “We have just rented a supper box. Aunt Augusta is hungry.”

“Famished, in fact,” her aunt said, the hint not subtle in the slightest.

“I suggest you avoid the ham, Lady Augusta,” the duchess said, wrinkling her nose. “The fare tonight was less than satisfying, and the portions less than generous.”

“But the arrack punch more than makes up for it,” Paxton said, raising his glass. “I tried to convince Mother to order a glass of her own, but she wouldn’t hear of it.”

His easy smile suggested he might have had his fair share of said punch this evening.

“Rum punch is not a suitable drink for ladies,” the duchess intoned. “Indeed, it is barely suitable for gentlemen.” She peered down her nose at his glass and gave a disapproving sniff.

Olivia dipped her head to mask her amusement.

“Thank you for warning me on the ham, Your Grace,” Aunt Augusta said to the duchess, clearly battling a smile of her own. “Olivia and I will leave you to your meal now. I do hope you enjoy the fireworks later.”

Olivia bobbed a curtsy and turned to follow after her aunt, but the duchess’s voice stopped her.

“Lady Olivia?”