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Chapter 15
Oliviasatattheback of the carriage, looking out the window. She had a peculiar feeling that someone was following her. That feeling one gets at the back of one’s head as if an invisible eye is looking at them from the shadows.
Perhaps it was just her fancy. She’d been distraught and on edge the entire day. But something cold had lodged in the middle of her chest from the moment Bradshaw had kissed her. Surely this was the reaction of getting kissed for the first time in her long, spinster life.
The carriage lurched and halted. Olivia blinked. It was dark outside, not even a moon to light up the street, so she had no idea where they’d stopped.
“Have we arrived so soon?” her mother asked.
“I do not think so, dear,” the viscount answered. “Might be a broken axle, Lord forbid. I should go and see.”
The moment the viscount opened the door, a huge hand took him by the cravat and dragged him out.
Olivia and her mother erupted in screams. The viscountess jumped to the seat next to her daughter and covered her body with hers. But the comfort of her mother’s arms didn’t last long. Another bandit entered the carriage and dragged both of them out.
As Olivia forcibly exited the carriage, the first thing she saw was her father lying on the ground. His wig was dislodged, a spot of blood covering one side of his head.
Her mother screamed, and the foul-smelling, wide-shouldered bandit who was holding her covered her mouth with his huge palm. The viscountess whimpered, her eyes darting from the unmoving body of her husband to her daughter.
Another immense man stepped before Olivia. He looked her up and down with his gaze before turning to his men. “Take her, kill the rest.”
“No!” A scream left Olivia’s throat at the same moment as something—or rather someone—landed in front of her.
The person straightened, clad in dark, almost black clothing. The bottom of his face was covered with a dark cloth, while he wore a domino mask over his eyes.
The person was slim, and about the same height as Olivia, but as soon as he moved, she realized he was quite agile.
He was so quick that the bandits didn’t have time to pull out their pistols, much less fire them. First, he slashed the arm of the man holding Olivia’s mother, forcing him to release her. The viscountess dropped to her knees and crawled toward her husband while the mysterious man threw a dagger at the leg of the bandit holding Olivia. A few more swift motions and agonizing cries from their captors, and all three bandits were on the ground.
Olivia hadn’t even realized there were three of them. She stood, frozen in place and looking at her surroundings in shock. Only then did she see the footman and the coachman crawling toward their masters, from where the third bandit must have held them at gunpoint.
The next thing she knew, the mysterious man took Olivia into his arms and carried her to her carriage. She wanted to struggle at first. The impression of the fight hadn’t left her, and her first instinct was to get away. But as she turned her head, she breathed in a whiff of the man’s scent. It had hints of her favorite Scots pine and notes of rose and lavender. And underneath it all, a familiar scent, a dear scent.
Jarvis?
She didn’t have time to say his name out loud. The man dispatched her onto the seat and disappeared out of the carriage. Olivia’s muscles felt wooden as she tried to move, but her legs were too weak to carry her. A moment later, her mother entered the carriage. Then the man deposited Viscount Landen on the opposite seat.
“Father!” Olivia fell to her knees in front of her father’s seat. All her attention was on her bleeding parent.
Her father moved and groaned, and Olivia let out a prayer. He was alive.
“Here, take this.” Olivia’s mother ripped a piece of cloth from her petticoat and handed it to her. “Wrap his head with it.”
Olivia swallowed and looked at her mother imploringly. But the viscountess was extremely pale, her lips almost blue as she reclined against her seat.
The vehicle lurched into movement, and Olivia started working on wrapping her father’s wound, not knowing what she was supposed to do but unwilling to let down her mother and father.
As the carriage stopped, Olivia got to her feet and helped her mother off her seat. The door opened, and a footman helped Olivia and her mother exit the carriage. He then ran into the house and, with the help of a few more servants, carried the viscount inside. His valet took it from there and prepared to wash and care for his master.
Olivia’s mother was helped by her maids up to her rooms while Olivia stood in the hall watching the proceedings in disbelief. Her mind refused to process the goings-on before her. What had just happened?
What am I supposed to do?
Her parents were hurt. There was no one to instruct her on what to do next. They needed a doctor and…A doctor!Olivia composed herself and turned to the butler.
“Please, send for the doctor! Father is hurt, and I am afraid Mother is in shock.”
The butler bowed and left just as Olivia’s lady’s maid came rushing down the stairs.
