Page 13 of Her Heartless Duke
“When I see him, I am going to give him a piece of my mind!” she vowed through gritted teeth.
It had been more than half an hour and she feared there could only be two explanations as to his absence—either he was standing her up or he had forgotten. As to which one was worse, she could not decide.
In any case, there was only one option left for her and that did not involve going back to Bennet House in defeat.
She balled her hands into fists and walked right into White’s instead.
Now, a gentleman’s club was called precisely that for a reason, being that ladies were not welcome in its interiors, and White’s was particularly exclusive in who it allowed in its hallowed halls. Almost immediately, she heard indignant whispers exploding across the room as she stalked past the shocked gentlemen, who could only stare at her as she craned her neck, looking for her erstwhile dance tutor.
Where could he be?He could not have gone home, could he?
She found him soon enough, seated on an ornately upholstered sofa with Miles. Both men appeared to be enjoying themselves, laughing and chatting as men were wont to do. Her gaze slid over to the table before them, which held an opened bottle of wine and both men were holding half-filled wine glasses.
She pushed past more bewildered gentlemen until she stood before them in all her fury. “Your Grace!”
At the sound of her incensed voice, she saw Isaac stiffen. Miles had the temerity to actually look horrified at the sight of her standing there in the middle of a gentleman’s club in a dress fit for a ball.
“Olivia!” he exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”
“I should be asking your companion the same thing!” she retorted scathingly, her eyes livid enough to burn holes through the sofa. “Do you know how long I have been waiting for you outside, Your Grace?”
She saw Isaac’s eyes widen in sudden realization.
Miles only looked all the more confused. “Why would you be waiting—”
Isaac stood up immediately and grasped Olivia’s wrist before his friend could finish his question. “Outside,” he told her curtly. “Now.”
Olivia merely rolled her eyes.
By then, they had attracted a small crowd of curious onlookers and she felt him tug her past them and outside the club’s doors. Once outside, he pulled the hood of her cloak over her head as he impatiently flagged down a hackney-coach that just happened to pass by.
“Get inside,” he ordered.
“Do not manhandle me,” Olivia snapped back. “Do you know how long I have been waiting for you?”
His features softened visibly at her irate reply. “I know and I apologize. I only now realized that I had forgotten our previous arrangement.” His voice, too, had lost the angry edge from earlier. “Please get inside the coach, Lady Olivia.”
Olivia had the distinct impression that “please” was not a word he used quite often.
He truly must be feeling rather sorry for making me wait, she realized.
“Fine,” she huffed. “Since you actually managed to say it nicely.”
As she ducked into the carriage, she thought she caught a glimpse of a smile from him. Isaac’s smiles, she soon noticed, had the distinct effect of making her abdomen feel all sorts of fluttery. Like a whole horde of butterflies were beating their wings from within her.
Or maybe, it could just be her sickness.
But then again, she truly doubted if being sick actually felt this…delightful.
In any case, she was merely thankful it was nothing as bad as the headaches she had been getting more frequently.
CHAPTERSEVEN
Lady Olivia Bennet was going to be the death of him, he was sure of it.
Unlike Lady Vivian, who was the perfect picture of a young lady of theton, with her exquisite manners and gentle temperament, Daniel’s younger sister appeared to have no such qualms in flouting both the spoken and unspoken rules of Society.
For example, she was not supposed to be out at this hour and without a chaperone at that! She was also not supposed to walk into a gentleman’s club dressed as she was presently.