AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She fisted her hands, then relaxed and forced her eyes back to the page before her.
A soft rap sounded at the door, and Olivia almost jumped out of her skin. Her gaze flew to the window, but the window opening remained empty.
Another rap.
Olivia swallowed. “Please, come in.”
The door opened, and her mother padded inside the room, holding a cup of warm milk in her hands.
“I thought you wouldn’t be sleeping,” she said as she put a cup of milk on the bedside table and perched on the bed.
“Dear,” the viscountess said after a silent moment. “I know you and Jarvis have been great friends. I’ve seen the way you look at him, and I always wanted you two to get married eventually—both your father and I did, actually. You know how much we love Jarvis, and there’s no one else we would rather trust your safekeeping to.”
Olivia put away her book and took the cup of milk. She took a sip and looked at her mother.
The viscountess wrinkled her brow. “Having said that… he hasn’t proposed to you in all those years you were on the marriage mart. What makes you think he would propose to you now?”
“He told me.”
There was a short pause. “What did he say exactly?”
“He said… he said that he’d come first thing in the morn and ask Father for my hand.”
Her mother frowned. “Did he say that during the ball?”
“N—” Olivia choked on the word. “Yes,” she lied.
“Dear… did something happen between you and Jarvis? Did he do anything?”
Olivia’s bottom lip started trembling, so she bit on it. Something in her mother’s soft, pitying tone triggered the little girl within her.
What did she mean by that question? Because yes, he had done something. They’d done something together. And then he’d promised to marry her and left.
“Oh, my dear girl.” Her mother enveloped Olivia in a warm embrace, and Olivia gave in to her tears. She didn’t know why she was crying. The nerves of the day and her mother’s compassion made her weep.
“He said he’d come the first thing in the morning and ask for my hand,” Olivia said into her mother’s chest. Her words were muffled against her mother’s dressing gown.
The viscountess stroked her hair, and her comforting scent finally made Olivia feel better. She disengaged from her mother and wiped at her cheeks.
“You don’t have to worry, dearest,” her mother said and stroked her still-wet cheek. “Your father and I shall take care of everything.”
Olivia frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Nothing for you to worry over. You should get some sleep but know that everything will be better in the morning.”
“But—”
Her mother placed a kiss on Olivia’s forehead. “Drink up the milk. It shall help you sleep.”
She stood and walked toward the door. Olivia’s forehead was still creased with worry lines. She hated when her mother spoke in riddles. What could her parents do?
And where the devil was Jarvis?
