Page 79 of My Secret Duke
“You won’t let me forget that, will you?”
Charles shook his head. “But you came. Not many people know what it is like to grow up in an orphanage and have no blood relatives.”
“Hey, you had me!” Gabriel joked, but he was watching Charles with fond concern.
Charles laughed, but still looked very emotional. “I had you, and Freddie, but there is a sense of loneliness, of being alone, that never goes away. Until now.” He wrapped his arm around Justina, holding her as if he’d never let her go.
Ivo leaned in closer and said something Olivia could not hear, before stepping back with the words, “I’ll leave you to your celebrations.”
“You won’t stay for a glass to toast?” Charles asked. “Gabriel?”
Gabriel’s smile wasn’t quite as genuine as it had been. “Yes, please do, Northam.”
But Ivo shook his head and waved a hand at them as he turned to the front door, where Humber was stationed. “Congratulations again!” he called. And then he was gone. Without even looking at her again, or speaking to her, or recognizing that she stood there, holding her breath and waiting. She felt bereft.
“Oh, for goodness’ sake,” Roberta muttered beside her, “go after him.”
Stung into action, Olivia checked to make sure Gabriel and the others weren’t taking any notice of her before she hurried toward the door. Humber was still waiting there. He seemed about to ask her what she was doing, but when she met his eyes, he wisely changed his mind. Olivia slipped outside.
Ivo was heading down the carriage driveway. He hadevidently arrived on foot, and now that she thought about it, he did seem to do a lot of walking. He probably missed his salt marshes when he was in London.
Olivia paused at the bottom of the stairs. “Ivo? Why don’t you stay and drink a toast? Gabriel is calling for the best champagne despite the expense.”
He took another step, as if he wasn’t going to stop, and then slowly, reluctantly, turned toward her. “I can’t stay,” he said, and he sounded as flat as she had ever heard him.
She crunched her way over the raked gravel to face him. “I’m not sure why you came.” She sounded more hesitant than usual. Perhaps whatever he was feeling was catching. “Not that it wasn’t very nice to see you, and I’m sure Charles appreciated your support.”
Ivo stared down at her in the moonlight, as if he was considering his answer and whether he should speak it aloud. But he was taking a long time, and Olivia was tired of waiting. She reached for his hand, catching hold of it tightly in case he did something silly like pull away. Then, with a tug, she began to lead him across the driveway.
He resisted, dragging his feet, as they turned down the side of the house to a swath of green lawn surrounded by garden. When she didn’t let him go, he sighed.
“I suppose it won’t hurt to tell you. Soon, everyone will know.”
“Tell me what?” she asked as their steps slowed and stopped. A moth blundered past as it made its way toward the lit windows. Her eyes were on Ivo.
“Tell you that Charles Wickley is my half brother. My father was free with his favors, and there was a woman in Portside. You can guess the rest. The baby was handed over to St. Ninian’s to spare my mother. We onlydiscovered the truth recently, although I have suspected it for some time. There is a likeness… You may have noticed it.” His mouth twitched into an almost smile.
Olivia felt a jolt. Her grandmother had warned her that Ivo might be like his father and make her miserable, and although she did not think that was true, she now understood her meaning.
“Your half brother! That’s… Well, that’s wonderful. I wish you had both known sooner. Then Charles could have lived with you, and you could have been friends. Although he might not have been best friends with Gabriel then, and Justina might not have fallen in love with him.” She was rambling, and her cheeks warmed with embarrassment.
Ivo didn’t interrupt her, but his smile grew wider.
She finished on a positive note. “You have a brother, who is also your partner, and I think it is a very good thing.”
He seemed to reflect on that before answering. “Itisa good thing. Sometimes life can change in an instant. A chance meeting, a missed appointment, a glance across a ballroom…” He stopped. She saw him turn away before looking down at her again, his gaze cataloging her features as if he wanted to remember them forever. “And nothing is ever the same again.”
This was the perfect setting for a romantic declaration. The shadows creeping in, and the air scented with clematis, while the crickets sang in the grass beneath their feet. It was a magical moment, and she was certain it wastheirmoment. There would never be another one like it, and she must snatch it up with both hands and hold on tight. She searched for the right words, the perfect words, but Ivo spoke first.
“Olivia.” He breathed her name as if he was bewitched.
She could see the intense longing in his face, and surely he could see everything she was feeling for him in hers. “Ivo,” she whispered.
In an instant, he had crushed her to him, kissing her mouth as if he would die if he didn’t. It felt as if they were both drowning as they sought to get as close as possible. Her fingers tugged at the hair at his nape, twisting in the soft curls, while his tongue invaded her mouth and twined with hers. This felt desperate and heartfelt. The culmination of a long, hard-fought battle between them.
When at last the need to breathe forced them apart, Ivo cupped her face in his hands and gazed down at her. His thumb brushed back and forth over her swollen lips.
“I’ve wanted to kiss this mouth since the first time I saw you,” he said. “I made that stupid wager just so that I could, and I ruined everything.”
