Page 129 of Lessons for Marquesses
She gulped back a surge of panic.
Edmund Clayton, the heir to the Eastwick marquessate. Nicholas’s older brother, maybe witty and fun-loving, certainly bad, and very dead.
An unmerciful heat climbed her neck. Her mouth watered until her stomach clenched, twisted, and she retched into a dustbin.
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
Charlotte sootheda cool flannel at Georgiana’s brow when she stirred on her pillow. “’Tis good to see you awake.”
Georgiana had been aware of her state of being alive for the better part of an hour with only a fleeting moment of relief before her situation was clear. She was still who she was.
Her recollection of the past days was dim. She had retched and retched. Charlotte had found her. Her aunt had tutted on broken hearts, men’s lies, and on her distrust of Mr. Wolf, now proven. Her aunt was completely unaware of the truth, the real reason Georgiana had been stricken, why she had kept crying outwhy?
A utensil tinged and scraped. Georgiana twisted from the spoonful of broth.
“Eat, Georgiana. It has been three days,” Charlotte implored.
“Where is he?”
“Who?”
Her aunt knew who by the bite in her tone, but she compelled her to say it. “Lord Eastwick.”
Charlotte attempted to force the bowl of broth in Georgiana’s hands. She refused, and lightheaded, climbed from the bed and went to her bureau for her clothes.
“Gone,” Charlotte finally said.
“I need to see Oliver.”
“After you have nourishment.”
“I am not hungry.” Three days she had lain in bed. The impulse was strong to dive back under the covers and spend another three months there.
Her aunt’s tone was one of resignation. “The marquess left you a letter. I placed it on your writing desk.”
The marquess. Charlotte did not want her to forget what he had done.
Georgiana regarded the script. Written by a man whose hand moved fitfully. Hands that had held her so tenderly before he had confessed his identity. Hands that had been sent to kill for his life.
She read in astonishment. Nicholas had forgiven every penny of her debt. He had released the lien. He pledged to have the Fordyce Stakes’s rules amended to include gentlewomenassubscribers and owners.
I will wait for you in my cottage at Newmarket overlooking the town and thinking of you and Minny in a cockpit. Even if you never forgive me, I shall never let you go in my heart.
Georgiana gulped a cup of cold tea and dressed. Charlotte trailed after her to the study. At the rumpled sight of her, Oliver gave his full attention after sheathing his quill in the inkstand.
“I assume,” she started, “you knew who Mr. Wolf really was. When I look back upon events, the silly partnership ceremony in Newmarket, I believe your hope was to have us fall in love.”
“It was an honorable intention.”
A noise formed in her throat born of despair.
Oliver swept aside his papers and snuffed out his cigar. “Think this over, girl. What is in a name?”
“A lot, actually.”
“You love him. He loves you.”
But Nicholas wouldn’t love her anymore, would he, after this? “They still believe he murdered his brother.”
