Page 44 of My Secret Duke
Olivia twisted her fingers in the cord of her reticule. “It was nothing. I shouldn’t have mentioned it.” Time for a change of subject. “Did you complete your business at Whitmont? You and Mr. Wickley left in such a hurry.”
Ivo’s practiced smile faded, replaced by anexpression she did not see often on his handsome face. Serious. Grave. It was the same expression he had worn at the ball, when their dance finished, and she had rejected him. Again.
This time, it was Ivo who changed the subject. “Charles Wickley and I are going into partnership. We are purchasing your brother’s gambling club.”
Olivia’s eyes widened. It was the first time she had heard of such a thing. “I did not know,” she said. “My brother does not talk to us about his club. Although once, when we were having dancing lessons, he mentioned he had been in a fistfight with one of the more unruly patrons. My sisters were very impressed.”
No need to mention she was too.
Ivo laughed, and out of the blue, it occurred to her that Prince Nikolai would never have laughed at such a disclosure. He would have looked at her as if he’d smelled something bad. “I cannot say I have been in a fistfight at a club,” Ivo said, “but I do enjoy boxing at Gentleman Jackson’s club.”
“Perhaps that will come in handy when you are the owner of Cadieux’s.”
“Part owner,” he corrected her. “And I think I will let Charles look after that side of things. In fact, I am going to be a silent partner, which means I will supply the funds and he will do the work.”
He had meant her to be amused, so she smiled, but now it occurred to Olivia to wonder what Ivo actuallydid. Apart from being a duke and indulging in ridiculous wagers. He must spend a great deal of time at his tailor’s—he was always fashionably dressed, but not outrageously so. And she supposed looking after Whitmont took up his time, unless he had someone he paid to dothat. Probably he was like other titled gentlemen who did very much as they pleased. That was the impression she’d had of her father, although by the end of his life, his funds had all but dried up. Which reminded her of Gabriel working so hard to make Grantham pay, so perhaps not all titled gentlemen were idle.
“You have never been to Whitmont,” Ivo said, breaking her silence.
Her attention, which had strayed, returned to his face. His eyes were very green, the sort of green that reminded her of the mossy pool at Grantham. The one in which she had swum naked. And now she was back to remembering Ivo’s lips on hers.
Her answer was slightly breathless. “No, I have never been to Whitmont.”
Ivo’s expression softened, as if he was visualizing his home and what he saw pleased him very much. “It is not as grand as Grantham. The house was built in the days of Elizabeth I, with my ancestor given the task of keeping the Kentish coast secure from foreign invaders.”
“And have you?” she asked curiously. “Kept the coast safe?”
“Indeed we have.” A note of arrogance entered his voice. “From the Spanish to the French, we have kept England safe. Not that many strangers would venture into the salt marshes that lay at our doorstep. They are treacherous, and you need to watch the tides, but we Fitzsimmonses are taught from childhood how to cross them safely.”
“Do you often walk in the marshes? It sounds like somewhere you should stay away from.”
“It is home,” he said simply. “I suppose some might call the landscape uninviting. When the weather is foul,it can be gray and sullen, and dangerous if you are a stranger. When I was young, my father told me that our surroundings have shaped our character. We Fitzsimmonses are strong, no-nonsense people, who refuse to be broken by life’s ups and downs. The world outside Whitmont may mock us, or gossip about us, but we don’t care because we are secure in the knowledge that there is no other family quite like ours.”
He stopped, as if realizing he had disclosed more than he had intended. His smile was wry. “I suspect I am boring you.”
His description had been unexpected, and rather moving. It explained so much of his character—confident and secure in his place in the world, and arrogant enough not to care what others thought. But as well as that, he had created an image of Whitmont in her head, and suddenly, she longed to see it and the dangerous salt marshes and the bleak, gray sea. That he genuinely loved the place she did not doubt, and his affection for his home added yet another facet to his personality. Which she was beginning to realize was far more complex than she had imagined.
“Olivia?” Justina was watching her curiously. “We should return to the house. Grandmama will be waiting for us.”
Olivia shook herself out of her introspection, and when she smiled at Ivo, she felt almost like the shy, naïve girl she had been when he first asked her to dance. “No, you were not boring me. Whitmont sounds perfect. Perhaps one day you will invite us all to visit so we can see it for ourselves.”
Adelina clapped her hands excitedly. “Oh yes, Ivo, let’s!”
He didn’t respond beyond one of his polite smiles, and the intimate moment was gone. She had meant it when she’d said she wanted to see Whitmont, but it was painfully obvious that he did not want her there. She supposed she could not blame him.
“Olivia!” Justina called from the coach.
Ivo leaned closer so that his words were heard by her alone, but he spoke in a kind way. “I’m sure you would find Holtswig far more to your taste. Goodbye, Olivia.”
She stared after him as he walked away. Did he still think she had her sights set on the prince? Well, of course he did! She had not told him otherwise, and the last he knew was when they had danced at the ball and she had told him how much she was looking forward to being Nikolai’s wife.
The kindness in his voice… and that goodbye. She realized he was letting her go, removing himself from any emotional ties that may have been between them. It was what she had told herself she wanted, so why did it hurt so much?
Chapter Twenty
It did not take long for Ivo to hear about the romance novel Vivienne and Annette had written. His sister was hardly through the door before his question was answered and Adelina gave him all the latest gossip on the Ashton family. He suggested they keep this tidbit to themselves, and that the Ashtons had enough to deal with, and he was pleased when she agreed.
The suggestion had been for Olivia’s sake. Earlier, at the park, when he’d called out to her and she’d turned to him, she had a look on her face… As if she expected the worst possible news. He shouldn’t have called out, but when he’d seen her, he’d felt so… well, so happy. In that moment, he had forgotten he could no longer be friends with her. He’d just wanted to look into her eyes and see her smile up at him. All of those memories of other times had rushed back to him: when the first person he had looked for at a ball was Olivia, and all he had thought about was how to have some time alone with her.
