Page 14 of An Alliance with the Earl (Marrying for Love #5)

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

T he morning air was crisp and cool, laced with the scent of damp earth and the lingering perfume of last night’s blossoms. Edward strode purposefully down the gravel path that led toward the Moonflower Garden, his boots making a steady rhythm against the stone. The estate was still waking, the hush of dawn stretching across the sprawling grounds like a whispered secret.

He had told himself he had come for the garden.

To see the moonflowers in their final moments of bloom, when the morning light was still weak enough that the pale petals remained unfurled, basking in the remnants of night’s embrace. But deep down, he knew that was a lie.

He had come for her.

But Lady Olivia was not here.

A quiet sigh escaped his lips as he stepped onto the smooth paving stones that lined the secluded garden. It felt different in the morning—quieter, more intimate—without the clusters of guests murmuring over its beauty, without Lady Lansdowne’s delighted narration about how the moonflowers bloomed only at dusk and wilted with the sun.

Edward paused at the stone fountain in the center, watching as the water trickled over its carved edges, the droplets shimmering in the soft morning light. He rested a gloved hand against the cool stone and let his thoughts wander.

During the ball, he had tested the waters, and the result had been telling. He had nudged the conversation in a way that might have led to an acknowledgement of something more. He had hoped, perhaps foolishly, that Lady Olivia would show even a flicker of interest in something beyond their pretense of an alliance.

But she hadn’t.

And yet …

She had looked at him last night in a way that unsettled him—like she had seen something in him that she was not ready to acknowledge.

That was the cruelest irony of all.

She was not looking for a match, and yet she was the only person he wished to spend time with. He had orchestrated their alliance as a means to avoid the matchmaking schemes of their hostess, but instead, he had bound himself to a woman he was beginning to truly want.

Edward ran a hand through his hair in frustration.

What was he to do with this growing attachment?

Had his brother been here, he would have laughed outright at him. William, who had thrown him into this house party in the first place—who had abandoned him here while he was no doubt off somewhere amusing himself at Edward’s expense—was nowhere in the vicinity.

He couldn’t write to William, because blast it, he did not even know where he was.

But there was one person who might understand Edward’s cruel predicament.

Alexander .

His brother-in-law had spent years quietly holding affection for his sister while she prattled on about not wishing to marry. Alexander had endured it, had bided his time, and in the end, he had won her heart.

Edward was not so patient.

Still, he knew no one better to seek counsel from than a man who had lived in such torment for years.

He took himself inside and found his way to the library. Pushing aside the time he’d spent with Olivia in that room only a few days before, he made his way to the writing desk. He pulled out a fresh sheet of cream-colored parchment. He dipped the quill in the ink, and without so much as a preamble, his thoughts tumbled out onto the page before him.

“I write to you, dear Alexander, not because I believe you will have a swift solution to my current predicament but because I know you are the only man who might commiserate with my plight.

Tell me, how does one endure the company of a woman who insists upon resisting matrimony at every turn, all while unknowingly setting a man’s very thoughts into disarray?

If my brother were here, I would throttle him for landing me in this infernal house party. But as he is not, I find myself in a situation I never intended.

She is not interested in a match. That is what she says. That is what she has told me from the beginning. And yet—”

And yet.

“I cannot seem to be anywhere in this house without wanting to be near her.

The trouble is, I do not think I would mind it if we were not merely pretending. But I fear she would.

So, tell me, Alexander—how did you bear it? How did you endure knowing you had a heart set on a woman who swore she would never fall?

And when, precisely, did you know that she would?

By the time you receive this letter, the house party will likely be over, and I will have no need of your advice. But I find I must write it all the same, if only to have someone else know that I have been utterly undone by a woman who only means to be my friend.

Sincerely,

Edward”

He folded the letter carefully and sealed it. He would post it as soon as he found a servant about the house, though he doubted a reply would come before the party ended.

Still, it was something—a way to release his frustrations, and to acknowledge the madness of it all.

He turned his back on the desk, and stared out the window, focusing on the quiet garden below. He could not shake the sense that no letter—nor any amount of wisdom from another man—could tell him what he truly wanted to know.

How to win Olivia—for he had begun thinking of her by her given name and not by her title. It could be considered scandalous, and yet he didn’t regret the idea of it.

He had resolved to keep his distance.

To merely play his role in their arrangement.

But he knew now—with startling certainty—that he was going to try and win her during this insane alliance.

He left the library, and it didn’t take him long to locate a servant to post the letter. There was no going back on his decision now. Then he rejoined the company of the other guests.

But no matter where he stood, no matter who he conversed with, his thoughts drifted only to Olivia.