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Chapter 31
Alexander sat down in the parlour in the leased London townhouse, opposite Lucy and Aunt Edwina. He still felt stunned by what had eventuated at the earl’s house. Suddenly, he was an engaged man. He was going to be married… and very soon, judging by what the Earl had said.
His mind was reeling. Too many celebratory brandies. The earl had been over the moon and had plied him with liquor. Olivia’s mother had been beaming the whole time, as well. But he could not forget Olivia’s pale, pinched face. She was not happy with it, and he could hardly blame her.
It had not been the proposal she had always dreamt of. And he clearly was not the man she wanted to become her husband. But what else could he do in the circumstances they had suddenly found themselves in?
He had missed dinner here entirely. Lucy looked put out. It was his first day back in London, after all, after his trip to Cornwall. But that was as nothing compared to what he must tell her and Aunt Edwina now. They were going to be shocked indeed.
He started to sweat. “I have some, rather, um, surprising news.” In his nervousness and shock, he found he was stammering.
Aunt Edwina stared at him curiously. “What is it, Alexander? You are pale. Nothing bad has happened, has it?”
He pulled at his cravat, trying to get some air to his hot neck. He took a deep breath. Both his sister and aunt were staring at him with wide eyes.
“No, no, not at all,” he said quickly. “In fact, I hope you shall think it very good news indeed.” He took another deep breath. “Lady Olivia and I are betrothed.”
There was a shocked silence. They both kept staring at him, as if they could not understand what he had just said.
“Betrothed?” Aunt Edwina’s voice was sharp. “To be married?”
He nodded. The sweat was trickling down his neck now. As far as they knew, Olivia was betrothed to Lord Bertram. That was what they had thought when he had headed to Olivia’s house, after all, not that they had known where he was going. That had been the reason he had headed there so suddenly. And now, he had returned an engaged man, to the lady who they thought was already taken.
Lord, what a mess it all was.
“Yes, of course, to be married,” he said, in a voice more irritable than he intended. “There is no other type of betrothal, is there?”
They stared at him for another full minute. Then Lucy let out an abrupt cry, rushing to him, hugging him fiercely. She almost knocked him off his chair in her fervour.
“Oh, that is wonderful!” she squeaked, her eyes shining fiercely. “It was what I secretly hoped would happen all along!” She pulled back, staring at him. “But how has this happened so quickly? I did not realise you were intending to propose to her. I thought you had decided that you did not like her in that way at all. You never pay her that much attention.”
“And what of Lord Bertram?” asked his aunt, frowning. “They have been courting openly and I was under the impressiontheywere betrothed. I do not understand at all.”
Alexander smiled weakly. He decided to address his aunt’s question first. “The rumour you heard about them being betrothed was wrong,” he said. “Her friend Miss Percy is recently betrothed. That might be where the confusion lies. And as for Lady Olivia’s relationship with Lord Bertram, they broke it off while I was in Cornwall.”
“I see,” said Aunt Edwina, digesting this. “And you had a change of heart regarding the lady while you were in Cornwall and decided to propose to her as soon as you got back?”
Alexander nodded. It was not true, but it seemed easiest to go along with his aunt’s view of what had occurred.
“But why did you not tell us you were planning it when you left the house?” asked Lucy. “You gave us no inkling at all! When you first got home, you said that you were planning to leave for the Caribbean soon. That you were itching to get back to the seafaring life.”
“I am,” he said, feeling a bit overwhelmed. “That is, I want to continue it eventually, but Olivia comes first.” He took a deep breath. “Hearing that she was betrothed to Lord Bertram solidified my feelings on the matter. I headed there to see if I could persuade her to consider me instead. And to my great joy, she has. The Earl is planning to announce our betrothal immediately.”
It was kind of the truth, except that he had not been planning to propose. Obviously, he was not going to tell his aunt and young sister that he and the lady had been caught in a compromising position by her mother and he felt he had no choice but to propose to her. They would think him more of a rake than they already thought he was.
“Oh, that is so romantic,” cried Lucy, tears shining in her eyes. “You did not realise your true feelings for her until you almost lost her! And now, she is to become your wife.” She took a deep breath. “I am so happy for you both, Alexander. To think, you shall have Lady Olivia for a wife! She is so superior to any other lady. You are a very lucky man indeed.”
“Very lucky,” agreed Aunt Edwina, looking amazed. “You are to become an Earl one day, and now you are marrying an Earl’s granddaughter. Fortune favours you, my boy. You must be ecstatic.”
Alexander smiled and agreed, but inside, his heart felt disquieted. He greatly desired Olivia, and he knew now he cared for her, but the speed of it was so confusing. He had not planned to marry anyone at all…after Rosalie. And now, he was getting a wife.
A wife who did not want to marry him, judging by the way she had reacted.
He felt another shiver of unease. Could they both reconcile to it and have a happy marriage? Because it was happening now, whether they liked it or not. Her devastated face was haunting him.
His heart twisted. He would try his utmost to do all he could to make the marriage work. He wanted her to be happy. Olivia had wanted the fairy tale and he had not given it to her. The proposal was shocking. He had not whispered sweet words of love to her. It had been unexpected, rushed and unsatisfactory in every way. And there was no way he could take any of it back now.
But hedidwant her to be happy. He did not dare hope for happiness within marriage himself, with his bruised and battered heart, that had never recovered from being broken. But that would probably never change.
