Page 23 of Her Heartless Duke

Those were the first thoughts that assailed her when she woke up to one of the most awful headaches she had ever had the privilege of knowing. It was nothing like her other headaches either, so she was fairly certain that it was all the fault of that nasty stuff she had imbibed at the behest of her dancing tutor.

The Duke of Langley might be a rogue and as such, was used to drinking and doing such roguish things, but a rogue she was not, and now, she was paying for her folly.

She groaned and turned over in her bed, throwing the covers over her head. It was as if the faintest light sent her spiraling into a dreadful realm of dizziness and nausea.

“For the love of everything that is holy, do close the curtains, Jane,” she moaned when she heard the door to her bedchamber open. “And do not make a sound or I feel like I shall be ill again.”

“I am not Jane,” a quiet voice replied. “But I can fetch you the chamber pot if you need it.”

It was Fiona.

Olivia pressed the heels of her hands into her closed eyes. She could feel the bed dip a little as her cousin sat beside her and started to stroke her back soothingly.

“Have you had breakfast already?”

“Uh-hmm…”If a bit of fruit counted as breakfast.

“Do you need me to fetch the physician?”

“No!” Olivia’s eyes flew open, and she turned towards her cousin. “It is nothing but a headache. I am probably just tired, that is all. I have already had Jane brew me some rosemary tea—you know how good it is for headaches.”

Fiona wrinkled her nose at her sudden outburst. She peered intently at her cousin, making Olivia extremely uncomfortable under her gaze.

“You do not look tired, you look a trifle… intoxicated,” she said finally. “Really, Olivia, what have you been up to this time? If Mama or your brother finds out about this—”

“Nothing is wrong. Truly!” Olivia reassured her cousin. “You know how I get tired so easily.”

“You might be able to fool Mama and Daniel most of the time, but you are not fooling me, Olivia.”

“What do you mean, Fi?”

Her heart pounded in her chest. Fiona might be under her Mama’s thumb most of the time, but she and Olivia had grown up together. There was nobody in all the world who knew Olivia more than Jane and her cousin.

“I meant that I know you have been sneaking out of the house!” Fiona threw her hands up in the air in frustration. “Why else would you come back this tired in the morning?”

“Me? Sneaking out of the house?” She put on her best imitation of an astonished expression. “What could possibly entice me to go out in the middle of the night?”

Fiona peered suspiciously at her. “You… you do not have a secret lover, do you?”

“A secretwhat?” Olivia burst out in nervous laughter. “Oh dear, that is the best one I have heard yet!”

To make it more convincing, she even pretended to wipe tears from the corner of her eyes, even as much as it made her entire world spin crazily with her theatrics.

I truly will stay away from ale now. There is no way I am touching that nasty brew again!

Fortunately, Fiona seemed to believe her as she soon left Olivia after making sure one last time that she truly was alright.

When her cousin finally closed the door behind her, Olivia let loose the large grin she had been holding in the whole time Fiona had been around. She laid back on her bed, her fingers tracing her lips as she relived the fiery kiss she shared with Isaac last night.

Already, she could not wait for the next time they would meet.

* * *

Anderleigh Hall was one of the largest residences in London, located along the Thames. It boasted splendid views of the river, as well as sprawling gardens of profuse blooms in the spring and summer seasons. But with autumn bearing down on the city, those renowned blooms were understandably nowhere in sight as her carriage rolled along the paved pathway up to the marble steps leading up to the front door.

I do not think anyone has been invited here in years, Olivia thought to herself as she peered out of the window, marveling at the sheer size of the estate before her. She turned to the gentleman seated opposite her, her eyes wide with excitement.

“I do not think anyone has had the privilege of seeing Anderleigh Hall in all its splendor in recent years,” she gushed her thoughts aloud. “Are you sure it is alright to practice here?”