Page 30 of Ambition (The Chaplain’s Legacy #6)

But that was unworthy. If Livvy had set her heart on Lord Embleton, then she should have him, and they had been getting on so well in the dining room, too.

He had never before seen the marquess so rapt with a woman.

Normally, he had a certain set look to his face that denoted politeness but nothing more, but with Livvy his expression had softened so much, he almost looked like a different man. And if something should come of that…

Robert knew what he ought to do — he must leave.

In fact, he should have left days ago with Mama and his sisters, and put Olivia out of his mind altogether.

These Atherton girls — what power did they have that drove him to madness?

First Izzy and now Olivia. He really should know better at his age.

Yes, he would go back to Strathinver. Maybe in the spring when he returned to town he would see Olivia again and…

but that was premature. Let him but get through the winter first. The season was four months away, still.

So many long, dreary months without Olivia…

Voices, dim and distant, but growing closer.

“Here it is!” a female voice cried from somewhere beyond the tapestry. Was it…? Surely it could not be…?

It was. The door opened, and Olivia half ran into the room, then stopped. “Oh! There is no one here.”

If she had turned her head a little more, she would have seen Robert in his hiding place behind the fire, but she did not. He was just about to spring forward and reveal himself when a second voice spoke.

“Of course not.”

Embleton! How did he come to be with Livvy? But he sounded angry.

“But I was so sure,” Olivia said in a small voice. “She told me… and this is such an obvious place for an assignation.”

“Indeed it is,” Embleton said contemptuously.

Lord he was in a rage! And not the slightest hint of a stutter.

“It is despicable what some women will do to trap a man. I hope you will reflect upon this behaviour and act in a more becoming manner in future, for such stratagems will give any honourable man a disgust of you.”

“Well!” Olivia cried. “You have a nasty, suspicious mind, my lord, that is all I have to say about it. My only thought was to rescue your sister, but even if I had been trying to see you more privately, you need not be so unpleasant about it. A woman may wish to be alone with a man without any thought of trapping him into marriage. Sometimes it is just about becoming better acquainted, because that is impossible when completely surrounded by people who watch one for every minute of the day. One can talk more freely without others constantly listening in, and how else may one begin to understand a man’s character?

And sometimes, one wishes only to show a man that one is interested in him and would welcome the opportunity for a closer friendship, for there is no easy way to do that.

Not all of us are adept at flirting, my lord, or would wish to be.

For myself, I only ever wanted to get to know you better, for you are a very private person and I am unused to that.

I found it intriguing. But I am sorry now that I ever followed that thought, for I see that you are a nasty, small-minded and suspicious person, who delights in thinking the worst of everyone, and I wish I might never see you again! ”

“I beg your pardon,” he said stiffly. “I will withdraw at once.”

Robert heard the door close rather forcefully. He was still angry, then. Probably no one had ever addressed him in such terms before in his whole life.

Olivia burst into noisy sobs, and walked forward to the window, resting her forehead against the panes as she wept.

At once Robert set down his wine glass and crossed the room in a few strides. “Hush, little one, hush now,” he murmured, enfolding her in his arms. “He is not worth so much grief.”

She snuggled into his arms as if she belonged there, clutching at his lapels and sobbing piteously into his cravat.

He closed his eyes, savouring the warmth of her trembling body, the soft tickle of her hair on his chin, the slight hint of perfume about her.

Lavender? Or roses? He could not tell, but he knew that whenever he caught that scent in future, it would remind him of the glory of this moment, when she was unquestionably his.

For a long time, she wept, but eventually the sobs subsided to an occasional gulp.

“Better now?” he whispered into her hair.

For answer, she lifted her tear-stained face to him with a tremulous smile, and he was almost undone. So close! So needy, so sad, so desperately vulnerable — it took every ounce of his gentlemanly training to resist the urge to kiss her.

“Will you try a little wine?” he said, trying not very successfully to keep his voice steady.

“Oh no, I could not!”

“I am persuaded it would do you some good. There are cakes, too.”

“Cakes…”

He laughed, settling her on a chair, and fetching wine and a selection of edibles. By the third cake, she was definitely looking happier.

“I am so sorry about your cravat,” she said, waving a hand at it. “Your valet will be very upset.”

“It is not of the least consequence,” he said, smiling. “A small price to pay, if it brings you some comfort.”

“You are very good, Osborn, and just the person I needed to cheer me up, although I am not at all sure how you came to be here. How did you find this place? I had to ask four footmen — four! — before one of them would tell me the way. Were you following me… or Lord Embleton?”

“I was looking for you. I gained the impression that you were in here with Lord Grayling, so I came here to rescue you from his importuning. Miss Grayling showed me where this room was hidden. I was sitting in the corner behind the fire when you came in.”

“And I thought he was in here with Effie… Lady Euphemia, that is, but we were both wrong.”

“No, you were right. He was in here with Lady Euphemia, but they left just as I arrived.”

She laughed. “So I was right about them all along! That is one in the eye for Lord Disbelieving Embleton.”

“Why was he so cross with you? It almost sounded as if… well, that he distrusted your motives for some reason.”

“Oh…” She looked sheepish. “I made a mistake. When he came to dinner at Corland, I… I tried to get him alone, I confess, but not to trap him into marriage! Never that! Such a despicable thing to do, and who would want a reluctant husband anyway? Not I! No, I thought if I could kiss him, then he might fall in love with me and that would make everything easy, but he did not give me the opportunity. He refused to enter the library with me, and got very huffy about it, so I have never repeated the exercise. But today, when I truly thought Effie was in some danger from Lord Grayling, Lord Embleton would not believe me! And I was right! Oh, he is the most provoking man!”

Robert chuckled. “I have never seen him angry before. He did not stutter once, did you notice?”

“Oh, yes! It was the same at Corland. He was cross with me there, too, and the stammering quite went away. How strange that is! But what do I care, for he is nothing to me now. I wish I had never, ever thought of him.”

“Yet you seemed to be getting on so well in the dining room. He looked engrossed in what you were saying.”

“So he was, and yet I cannot tell you what we were talking about. Oh, I remember — Yorkshire, and how beautiful it is. And I was telling him about Corland, the old castle that was knocked down, or fell down, more likely, for it was very dilapidated, and the new, modern one. And I talked a little bit about Howland Manor, for I have looked it up in all the guide books, and it sounds very much like the old Corland Castle… or like this place, all odd rooms and twisty stairs and draughty windows.”

“And smoking chimneys,” Robert said, as a gust of wind filled the room with choking smoke. “Shall we find somewhere more salubrious to sit? We can take the cakes with us, if you wish.”

She giggled. “No, I think I shall last until dinner, now. By all means let us leave, for here we are, quite alone in a room which is hidden away, and that is exactly the situation from which I was trying to rescue Effie. But of course, I am in no danger from you , am I? You may be a flirt, but you are not an untrustworthy rake like Lord Grayling.”

“I thank you for the compliment,” he said lightly. “You are indeed quite safe with me.”

But oh, if she only knew the effort it took to maintain the proprieties, when every bone in his body wanted to sweep her into his arms and kiss her thoroughly. He ached to hold her again, to whisper sweet words of love into her ear, to never let her go.

Instead, he smiled, held open the door, lifted the tapestry to allow her to pass and then offered her his arm, every inch the chivalrous gentleman.