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Jarvis swallowed. “All right. But I cannot promise you anything.”
“Thank you! I shall be grateful to you for a lifetime. Oh, and I did ask my lady-friends to help me where they could. They procured a fashionable wardrobe for me, which I spent the last several months getting used to. Can you believe how horribly stays itch? I pray never to wear them again. If you don’t help me, all this effort will go to waste. As it is, I am afraid a wardrobe is not enough. I need to be constantly around Bradshaw. But not as Graceless Livvie, but as Miss Olivia, a lady who is exactly the one he needs.” Olivia paused to draw a breath. “I need you to escort me to places where Bradshaw is likely to show up. I can’t as well go by myself,” she added reasonably, when he looked up, startled. “I need a gentleman on my arm to make me seem… unattainable.”
“You want to make him jealous?” Jarvis cocked his brow at her.
“Not jealous, per se, since he hasn’t even noticed me yet. Just”—she shrugged delicately—“in competition.”
“With me.” His voice turned oddly hoarse again. Was he coming down with a cold?
“Yes, my dear friend. It’s not like he knows you are like a brother to me.”
Jarvis seemed to choke on air. He took a cup of tea and sipped it. More like gulped it.
Olivia watched him with narrowed eyes. “Are you all right?”
Jarvis nodded and stood. “Perfectly. I think I better go then. It seems I have a lot of work to do.”
“Oh, thank you, Jarvis!” Olivia smiled sweetly at him. “Oh, there’s one more thing I wanted to ask you.”
Jarvis held his breath, and Olivia grimaced uncomfortably. Her fingers were locked in a tight grip. “Will you be in attendance at the Roth house party?” Jarvis rarely attended society events lately, so it was a gamble. But she needed him there, or all her plans would go to waste. “I am certain Bradshaw will be there. Everyone will be there. It is the first introduction of the new marquess, after all. And I shall definitely need your help in ensnaring Bradshaw. And what better place to do that than during two weeks when he can’t escape me?” she added with a nervous giggle.
“Of course.” Jarvis nodded. He took her hand, bent his head, and placed a dry, chaste kiss on her knuckles. “Farewell for now,” he said as he straightened and left the room.
