Page 66 of My Secret Duke
They would get caught, Olivia would end up facing another scandal, she would refuse to speak to him again, he would lose her forever. And so it went. Even though it had been she who wanted to do this, he still wasn’t sure he should have agreed. The new Ivo, the better man, whispered in his ear:You are behaving very badly.At the same time, the idea of being with her at last was too marvelous to resist.
Ivo took a deep breath. The decision was out of his hands now. If she did not come, then they could go back to being friends. That wouldn’t be so bad, would it? But he knew in his heart and soul that it wasn’t what he wanted.
He felt her before he saw her, a warm tingle down his back. Ivo turned around.
Olivia stood behind him, and even cloaked, the hood pulled low over her head and a mask covering her face, he would have known her anywhere. He lifted his own mask—it had the pointed snout of a fox—and moved closer, his gaze fixed on hers, the scent of her soap as familiar to him as his own. “Take my arm,” he murmured. “No one will question us. Everyone here is hiding something.”
She took his arm, but he could feel her shaking.
“Have you changed your mind?” he asked her. If she had, then he would deal with his disappointment and do the right thing.
“No, I haven’t changed my mind. There is a problem however…” She glanced behind her, and for the first time, Ivo took his gaze from hers and saw there was another woman standing nearby.
“Who…?” he began before he realized. “Roberta?” He scrambled for something to say.
She gave him a mocking curtsy. “At your service, Your Grace.”
“What on earth are you doing here?”
“It was either me come with her or she wouldn’t have been able to come at all,” Roberta informed him. “Gabriel was asking questions.” She looked up at the town house. “Are we going inside?”
“What about…?” he began uneasily, looking from one sister to the other.
“Oh, don’t worry about me,” Roberta said blithely. “I’ll be good.”
“It is all very well tosaythat,” Ivo replied. “But I’d feel responsible if anything happened.”
Olivia squeezed his arm. “I’ll make sure she behaves,” she whispered. “And I can always send her home.”
“And have Gabriel arrive and drag you out of wherever you are?” Roberta seemed to have ears like a bat. “I don’t think so.”
Defeated, Ivo turned and led the way up the steps into the house. He decided to just let matters unfold and hope for the best, although he wasn’t at all sure this was a good idea, not any longer. He imagined him and Olivia trying to have their passionate moment, while Roberta made comments, and he gave a shudder. But they were inside now, surrounded by music and being handed glasses of champagne, and there were guests dancing. There were also couples seated on sofas set around the room, and it wasobvious this was not the sort of ball Olivia was used to. He glanced at her sideways as she gave a little gasp. She had spied a couple kissing with a great deal of enthusiasm.
Was Olivia shocked? Roberta certainly wasn’t. She was looking about her as if she had discovered the Holy Grail. Olivia turned to her and said sternly, “Go and sit in the coach and wait for me. This isn’t the place for you. And not a peep from you, do you hear me?”
Roberta’s chin jutted rebelliously, and she began to protest, but Ivo had spotted someone in the crowd and suddenly had a brilliant idea. “Wait here,” he said, and headed across the room toward a plump, pretty woman wearing a great deal of rouge. A few words, and he was relieved to have the weight of Roberta lifted from his shoulders. He returned to the sisters.
“I have just spoken to Lady Longhurst,” he said to Roberta. “She understands our dilemma. She has a daughter about your age, and although the girl is not allowed to attend these sorts of events, she is upstairs in her bedchamber feeling hard done by. Lady Longhurst is absolutely delighted for you to keep her company.”
Roberta wriggled in delight. “I told you so!” she said to Olivia.
Olivia sighed and watched as her sister set off to accost the other woman. Ivo didn’t wait to see what transpired. He wasn’t at all sure how much time they had, and he wanted to make the most of every minute. He squeezed Olivia’s hand, and she gave him an uncertain look through the mask.
“As much as I want to kiss you,” he said, “I don’t want an audience.”
“No, that would be rather shocking,” she agreed, sounding breathless. “What do you suggest then?”
He smiled. “Come with me.”
Chapter Thirty-One
Aservant led the way along a corridor, and Olivia and Ivo followed. From the brief conversation he had had with the man, it seemed that this had all been arranged. Candles flickered in sconces as they passed closed doors, the murmur of sound behind them. Olivia felt a little shaky, but she wasn’t about to turn back. When Roberta had joined her, she had been prepared to call everything off. She would not allow her sister to be placed in peril. But now that problem seemed to have been resolved.
“Have you been here before?” she asked Ivo abruptly, the thought just occurring to her that he seemed to know his way around this place rather well.
“I have. Not recently,” he added, glancing down at her. “Don’t worry, you’ll be quite safe. Even if anyone recognized you, no one here would dare to gossip about the other guests. They all have their secrets.”
“The couple who were kissing…?”
