Page 89 of My Secret Duke
“Poor child!” his mother declared. “What sort of creature would do such a thing?”
“Rendall,” Gabriel murmured. Then, his dark eyes fixed on Ivo. “Was it him?”
That was when Olivia finally spoke, lifting her head as she told them haltingly what she knew. About the man who turned his back on a happier life, on his wife and child, to return for revenge. She had barely finished when Carlyon’s voice reached them from the door, saying that Bourne had arrived with two of his men, and they hadnews. Not wanting Olivia to have to be subjected to their stares in her sodden state, Ivo ordered for them to be told to wait in his study. Charles went out to them, followed by Gabriel and Freddie.
Ivo pressed his lips to Olivia’s matted hair. “I need to speak to Bourne,” he whispered. “Let your sisters take you upstairs.”
Reluctantly, she released her hold on him. Vivienne slipped an arm about her, ignoring her filthy gown, and with Justina and Roberta, she moved toward the door. Once there, Olivia paused, and turned back to look at him, seeming to steady herself.
“None of this was your fault,” she said, as if she knew he was already blaming himself. “He could have stayed and had a good life in France, but he came back instead. His revenge was more important to him than his own happiness.”
When she had gone, Ivo put his head in his hands. No, it wasn’t his fault, and yet his thoughtless actions had contributed to it. With a deep breath, he stood up, his body aching from the rigors he had put it through on the marsh.Worth it, he thought. He had saved the woman he loved. Another moment, and it might have been a different story.
In the study, Bourne stood waiting. “Your Grace,” he said. “Rendall is dead. We saw him at a distance, and he saw us. He jumped into one of the deep channels and was taken under. We did not see him again.”
“He drowned himself?”
“He was raving. Foolish words I will not repeat.”
Ivo tried to imagine a man so twisted with hate he would do such things.
“He was never your father’s son,” Bourne added intothe silence. “I knew his parents. His father died when he was a child, but Jacob was his image. It was all a fiction he clung to.”
“And yet,” Ivo said quietly, “I could have been kinder.”
“If you had, he might have thought that was an invitation to latch onto you and your family.” Bourne shrugged. “Best to let things go, sir. You have your woman back, and you are free of his threats.”
“He is dead, you are sure of it?” Gabriel demanded. When he was assured of Rendall’s demise, he seemed to relax. “It is over.” His dark gaze found Ivo. “You have my gratitude, Northam. My sister would not be safe upstairs without you.”
Ivo wasn’t sure what to say. He opened his mouth to take the blame, but Freddie cut him off.
“Men like Rendall can’t be controlled or their behavior predicted,” he said firmly.
Charles clapped Ivo on the back. “She’s safe,” he said quietly. “I, for one, would like a drink to celebrate. And just so you know, don’t ever expect me to set foot on that bloody marsh again.”
Ivo snorted a laugh, and then they were all gathering around him, patting his back, encircling him in congratulations. When a glass was put in his hand, he raised it high.
“To my future wife!” he said.
Gabriel met his eyes and there was a pause, and then he raised his own glass in the toast. “To Northam and Olivia.”
It was all the encouragement Ivo needed. His heart overflowed.
Olivia woke with a start. It was dark, apart from a candle left on a table by the door. She had insisted on it, not being able to face the night. The room was quiet, Edwina curled up on one side of her and Georgia on the other. They had not wanted to leave her once she had bathed and changed into her nightdress.
Olivia smiled to herself. She had been well looked after by her family and Ivo’s, and she was grateful. But right now, all she wanted was him.
Cautiously, she rose, leaving the sleeping girls, and made her way to the door. The passage was empty, the doors to the bedchambers closed. She realized she should have discovered which room was his before she ventured out here. Silently, she made her way along the carpeted passage, holding her candle high, and it was only when she saw another slightly ajar door that she stopped. Could that be Ivo’s room? She suspected he had left his door open on purpose, in case he was needed.
She peered inside—quietly, she thought—but she must have made some sound because whoever was in the bed sat up.
“Olivia?”
Ivo.“Yes, it is me.”
She closed the door, but she could still see the shape of him from the light coming through the window, where the curtains were drawn back on a view of the garden and the starry sky. The rain had long ago gone, and all was calm again. It was almost as if none of it had ever happened.
She gave a shiver. She had been told that the man, Jacob Rendall, had drowned after he left her. He had not wantedto face the consequences of his actions. Was it wrong of her to be glad he was dead and could no longer hurt them?
