A Lord for Olivia (24 page)

“No, boy, no,” he crooned to the excited animal. “The war's over, remember. No more battles for you.”

Everyone's attention turned from the snorting, plunging horse to the figure of Lord Corbright, slumped against the carriage wheel. He wasn't moving.

Bower stepped over to him, bent down to feel his neck, then knelt and listened for a heartbeat. He looked up at Heslington. “Go ask my wife for a mirror, will you? She'll have one in her reticule.”

A strange silence fell upon the group. Lavinia allowed herself to be drawn into Peter's arms. Jason held Olivia while Edmund tied Storm to the back of Peter's curricle. When Edmund joined them, she turned in to his chest, sobbing.

The sound of it tore at Edmund's very soul. Did she love Corbright, after all?

Jason knelt beside Corbright while Bower held the mirror to his nostrils. After minutes that seemed to stretch into hours, Bower nodded and stood. Jason stood, too, and turned to the others. “Dead.”

Lavinia looked up at Peter. “Oh, my dear, I'm—”

“Sorry I had such a rotter for a nephew. So am I, my love. I hope you can overlook it?”

She smiled and held him even tighter.

Olivia had frozen in Edmund's arms at Jason's pronouncement. At last she lifted her head and her eyes sought Edmund's. “Dead?” she whispered.

He nodded.

“May God forgive me, but I am glad. We never would have known a moment's peace while he lived.”

“Oh, Livvy, I was so terrified!”

Surprised at this admission, though he had every reason to be frightened of such a villainous man, Olivia hugged him. “I know. He looked like a fiend when he attacked you.”

“That was not my meaning. Just now, when you were crying so, I wondered—”

“Edmund Debham. How could you suppose I wept for him?” She tried to pull out of his arms, glaring at him indignantly. “You do not know me very well if you think that! It was only the horror of the whole situation, the sight of you being attacked.”

“Livvy, dear, I intend to know you very well indeed before our lives are over. We have a long, long time to become fully acquainted, do we not?”

The urge to fight left her at the warmth in those dear eyes. She melted against him, lifting her lips to be kissed. “We do, indeed.”

 

O
livia and Edmund pulled apart as the door to the blue salon opened. They moved apart just enough for propriety, though it would not have been the first time Buckman had found them snuggling since their marriage a week before. The butler carried a tray to Edmund, who read the card, then passed it to Olivia. “Show him in,” he said.

“What does he want? He can't hurt us now, except to cause more scandal, and what care we for that?”

“You may not care about it, Lady Edmund, but I do,” Lord Heslington said. He had entered on the heels of their butler.

He bowed, and Edmund stood slowly and returned the bow. “Olivia, perhaps this would be a good time for you to help Jason pack for his trip?” Edmund did not want his wife exposed to any more of his brother's rancor. Though Heslington had drawn back from Corbright at the wedding, Edmund did not flatter himself it was from any familial tenderness, but rather that he saw his friend losing the good opinion of the others in the wedding party, and did not wish to share in Corbright's well-deserved obloquy.

“I hope you will permit her to stay, Edmund. What I have to say is for her ears too, and I have reason to believe it will replace that angry glare with a smile.”

“Does this mean you have decided not to sue to have my husband declared illegitimate, my lord?” Livvy remained standing, chin up, and good manners in abeyance as she confronted Edmund's spiteful brother.

“Yes, it does mean that. I apologize for making that threat.”

“Yes,” Edmund said. “After the scandal about Corbright's scheme, and your friendship with him, it would be something of an embarrassment for you, wouldn't it, Carl?”

Heslington's face flushed, and he nodded. “You might say that. But more to the point, I am embarrassed that I have not valued you as I ought as a brother, as a person.”

Olivia gave an unladylike snort, but at Edmund's urging, sat down, indicating that her unwelcome guest should do the same.

Heslington leaned forward. “When I saw you put that gun in Corbright's ribs and threaten to kill him, saw that you were willing to hang for the woman you loved, I could but admire you.” He turned to Olivia. “I doubt you will credit it, but I truly believed Corbright would persuade you to marry him willingly. I could not imagine a woman preferring my brother to a rich, titled man like Corbright, who professed to adore her.”

Olivia again snorted in rude skepticism. Edmund, however, nodded his head. “I believe that. Your opinion of me made such a conclusion inescapable.”

“Well, that opinion has changed.”

“Is that what you came here to say, Lord Heslington? Olivia stood. “If so, I thank you. Edmund will see you out, for I have much to do.”

“It is not all of my business here. I do not blame either of you for despising me, but please give me a few more moments.”

Surprised at the tone in his brother's voice, the pleading in his eyes, Edmund pulled Olivia back down beside him.

“You see, I was always jealous of Edmund.”

“Jealous?”

“Oh, yes. You were my father's darling, and born to the woman he loved.”

“Wh-what?”

“Father loved Aunt Dorothea more than he ever loved my mother. And you, the child of that love, were his obvious favorite. I resented their happiness and envied you their love.
And the scandal of their irregular marriage embarrassed me horribly. When my father died, I had no wish to see you about me. I sent you away, knowing it would hurt your mother, and sincerely believing it was the right career for a boy of your intellect.”

“Cannon fodder.”

Heslington looked at his hands. “Just so. Oddly, it only increased my envy of you, for I always yearned to be a soldier. As the heir, I could not fulfill that dream. Your success, and your lack of gratitude to me for making it possible, infuriated me. I have not acted kindly to you, nor did I to your mother. I cannot make it up to her, but perhaps I can to you. Perhaps someday you can forgive me.”

Edmund regarded his brother silently for a long time. Olivia felt his grip on her hand tighten so much that she almost cried out, then slowly relax.

“I can forgive you for myself. For the pain you caused my mother, you must look to heaven for forgiveness.”

Years of Uncle Ormhill's preaching more than any desire to comfort Heslington made Olivia blurt out, “The Bible says if we truly seek it, we will find it.”

“Thank you, Lady Edmund.” Heslington looked at her, and to her amazement his eyes held a sheen of tears.

“And now, for the smiles I promised you. I will not sue to have your parents' marriage voided, but as you know, others might do so. Our brother James, unfortunately, drank deeply of the poison of my hatred for you. And then there are my sons. You will always be at the mercy of an ill-natured relative.”

“I don't care for that, Carl. The title means nothing to me now. And her lawyers say the terms of the will have been fulfilled, so Livvy can't lose her land.”

“Yes, but you see, when I saw her interpose herself between you and Corbright, and realized it was not for Franklin's sake, but yours, I knew such a gallant lady deserved a reward.”

“And I got it in Edmund.”

Heslington smiled. “I see I can offer you nothing, then. But I am of the same opinion as your father, Lady Edmund.
He thought you deserved to be called ‘my lady,' and so do I. So I have taken steps to be sure that you always will be.”

Both stared at him, totally perplexed.

“I have spoken to the Prince Regent, as well as government officials too numerous to mention. Even enlisted Wellington in the cause. I have succeeded in having an extinct title in our mothers' line revived, Edmund. It will be conferred on you soon. You are to be Baron Capsdale. And the Crown will make a grant of land with it, equivalent to the estate you should have inherited.”

A surge of feeling swept through Edmund, so strong it astounded him. The thought of a title and land of his own filled him with pride, with joy. But even sweeter than these was the knowledge that his brother had done this for him.

“I remember Mother speaking of her great grandfather. He died a very, very old man.”

“Yes,” Heslington said. “My mother spoke of him, too, and of his sorrow that the title would die with him. It is a family title, Edmund.”

“A family title,” Edmund repeated. As they looked across the room at one another, the brothers shared a moment such as they had never known before. Then Edmund looked down at Livvy, who held her breath, awaiting his reaction. Suddenly he remembered their first meeting. He threw back his head and began to laugh. “I can't wait to tell Jason,” he crowed, hugging Olivia to him. “When he brought me home to you, he really did find you a lord!”

She began to laugh, too, and Heslington smiled, though crookedly. He stood. “I will leave you now. Congratulations to you, brother, on an excellent wife, and Lady Edmund, on a courageous husband. I wish you all the happiness that life can bring.”

Husband and wife stood, too. “Olivia, my dear, I think you ought to invite my brother to dine with us.”

Olivia looked from Edmund to Heslington and back again. She saw how much reconciliation meant to them both, and surrendered her animosity. Her eyes dancing with mischief, she curtsied deferentially to her husband. “Yes, my lord,” she said.