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“As am I,” he said, his face a little paler than before. “You gave me quite a fright, Olivia. But I am most grateful to you.” He lifted her hand to his lips and pressed his mouth to her skin, and Olivia felt a sense of relief begin to flood her, covering over almost every other emotion that filled her heart. Gathering herself she looked across the room to see Lady Watt hurrying towards her, with her aunt still sobbing in a heap on the floor, with Lord Dayton’s arm around her. A shudder ran through Olivia’s frame as she watched her uncle and aunt, thinking to herself that she had very little notion of whom they really were.
Louisa let out a long breath, lifting up the cloth that she had pressed to Olivia’s arm whilst looking at it with careful eyes.
“It is not a severe injury,” she said softly, catching Olivia’s attention. “I will have someone send for the doctor.”
Olivia blinked in surprise, a little astonished at how calm Lady Louisa seemed to be. “There is no urgency, Louisa,” she said carefully, watching her cousin’s eyes dart from one place to the next like a butterfly looking for a safe place to land. “Do you not wish to speak to your parents?”
Louisa swallowed hard, and as she lifted her eyes to Olivia’s face, Olivia saw that she was close to tears.
“My mother has just confessed that it was she who brought about Margaret’s illness,” she whispered. “My father has been working with a French spy!” Tears began to fall onto her cheeks, and she looked at Olivia in desperation. “I have no one to turn to. I have been so very cold towards you, Olivia, and now I find that I have no one else to draw near to but you.”
Olivia’s heart swelled in sympathy and—in that moment—all of the anger and disappointment, the coldness and the callousness that had been held against Louisa seemed to fade away. She looked across at Lady Dayton, a crumpled heap on the floor and no longer the proud and elegant lady she had once been. Then she looked at Lord Dayton, his arm about his wife and with such a wretched expression on his face that she could not help but feel sympathy for him, despite the foolishness of what he had done.
“You will have both myself and Lady Olivia by your side,” she heard someone say, looking up sharply to see Lord Monteforte looking directly at Lady Louisa, his expression warm but still slightly stern. “Lady Louisa, there is nothing that you need face alone. I know this situation is deeply distressing, but you can be assured that we will not leave you to face this alone.”
Louisa looked first at Olivia and then again to Lord Monteforte, her expression one of confusion, her pallor almost waxen.
“We are to be married,” Olivia said gently, her hand on top of Louisa’s. “Lord Monteforte has asked me to be his wife, and I have accepted him. But he is right.” Her fingers pressed lightly against Louisa’s cold ones, trying to encourage her. “You will not be alone. Our home will be open to both yourself and Margaret, of course.”
“And we will do all we can to keep this situation from the ears of the rumor mill,” Lord Monteforte finished, as Louisa began to cry again, although Olivia hoped it was from relief. “You need not fear that everyone in the ton will know of it.” He gestured to those in the room. “Those present will not spread a word of gossip.”
At that moment, Lady Dayton looked up, her eyes red rimmed and her face pale. One hand stretched out towards Olivia and Louisa, looking at them both with desperate, pleading eyes.
“Please, you must understand,” Lady Dayton wept, her voice shaking with all the emotion she felt. “I had no choice. I had to make sure Margaret said nothing to anyone for fear that Lord Cammish would kill your father! I could not even say a word to him!”
Olivia touched Louisa’s hand and, with a visible effort, she rose to go and speak to her mother. Lifting up the cloth carefully, Olivia winced as she looked at the long red gash that ran the length of her arm. It was not deep but still oozed blood, with her gown sleeve ripped and torn. She carefully put the cloth back on it, pressing it gently.
“I must go and see the other gentlemen of the League,” Lord Monteforte murmured, his arm about her shoulders as he looked with concern into her eyes. “Will you be all right sitting here for a few minutes?”
“Of course.” She smiled at him, aware of the pain in her arm
but feeling such a great relief that this dreadful circumstance was at an end that the pain seemed to fade away. Her smile suddenly faltered as she looked up into his eyes. “But what of my uncle? What will happen to him?”
Lord Monteforte hesitated, then shook his head. “I cannot say for certain,” he said slowly, “but I believe that he is speaking the truth when he states that he had no intention of killing the Prince. That was my assumption and mayhap I was wrong. If Lord Cammish was, in fact, doing what your aunt states, then it is clear that whilst what your uncle intended was very wrong, it was not something treasonous.”
Olivia let out her breath slowly. “Then he will not hang?”
“I would not think so,” Lord Monteforte answered gently. “I think he will have to be confined to his estate for a time and certainly would have to prove his loyalty to the Crown, as well as pay a good amount to the Treasury, but I do not think his life will be asked for.”
Relieved beyond measure, Olivia closed her eyes and fought a sudden swell of tears as Lord Monteforte pressed his lips to her cheek. It was all at an end. Her uncle had done wrong, yes, a great deal of wrong, but he had not attempted treason. That, at the very least, was a relief – although quite how Lady Louisa and Lady Margaret would think of their parents, she could not say. Lady Margaret had been grievously ill indeed—unconscious, in fact, and when she recovered, Olivia had very little idea as to whether she would understand why her mother had been forced to do such a thing.
“Lord Cammish, on the other hand.”
Her eyes flared wide as she looked up at him, seeing the dark expression on his face and the lowering of his brows. His tone had become suddenly serious, his voice holding a hint of steel.
“I will not detail what I think will happen, but his actions will merit the greatest of punishments,” he continued, as Olivia swallowed hard. “It is all come to an end, my dear Olivia.” His tone lightened just a little as he rose to his feet. “And soon, I will be free to make you my bride.”
It was not until a fortnight later that the very first banns were called, and after that, Olivia was forced to wait for another month until she was finally able to marry her dear Lord Monteforte. The church was quiet, with only a few guests for, given the situation, they had chosen to keep things very subdued. Olivia did not care, for her love for Lord Monteforte was all that mattered. She wanted for nothing, longed for nothing, desired nothing more than to make her promises and become his wife.
“I do hope you have forgiven me, Olivia.”
Olivia looked at her uncle as he followed her into the church, his wife on his arm.
“You need not worry, Uncle,” she said gently, seeing how the last few weeks had aged him. The lines on his face seemed to have deepened, the wrinkles around his eyes all the more pronounced. There was still a haggardness about him, a sadness and a regret in his eyes that Olivia feared would never quite leave him. “Lord Monteforte and I are to become husband and wife, and I know that he is quite contented that we continue as we are.” She smiled at him, but Lord Dayton did not smile back. “He is not about to take me away and never again allow me to visit.”
“He is a good man,” Lady Dayton said, her voice shaking but her eyes filled with what looked like pride. “You have found a gentleman of excellent character, Olivia, and I am truly glad for you.”
“Thank you, Aunt,” Olivia answered, aware of just how much things had changed between herself and her aunt over the last few weeks. Lady Dayton had seemed to shrink within herself, becoming almost a wraith that floated about the estate with no specific purpose. Her daughters had wavered between anger and compassion, and it was only this wedding that had seemed to bring them together finally. For that, at least, Olivia was glad. “I look forward to taking my vows. It is truly my heart’s greatest wish.”
