Page 87 of The Truth About Lord Stoneville
“You want him. I can see it whenever you look at him, the same way I can see it in his eyes whenever he looks at you.”
Maria turned away, her heart flipping over in her chest. “Oliver doesn’t know what he wants.”
“Perhaps.” Mrs. Plumtree came up to lay her hand on Maria’s shoulder. “And that is my fault. I have let himwander in the wilderness for too long. But he is finding his way back at last. And if you leave now—”
“He isnotfinding his way back—don’t you see?” Maria cried as she faced the woman. “He’s still gripped by guilt over that terrible night at the hunting lodge.”
Mrs. Plumtree’s eyes went wide. “He told you about that?”
“Yes. He told me how he wanted to go after his mother, but you wanted to wait. He told me he was the one to find his parents dead. He told me he was covered in blood and you paid off the servants.”
Mrs. Plumtree trembled. “He has never spoken about that to anyone, my dear. Not even me, and I was there. He has never told his siblings, nor his friends, as near as I can determine it. You are the first person with whom he has ever discussed what happened that night. That proves how much he cares for you.”
Maria swallowed. “But not enough to change his ways.”
“If you would but give him a chance—”
“And end up in the same nightmare you put your daughter in?” When Mrs. Plumtree paled, she said, “Forgive me. I shouldn’t have said that.”
Mrs. Plumtree stared down at her hands. “No. You are right. I should have seen that Lewis was not the sort of man to be a good husband. I should never have promoted the marriage, never encouraged Prudence’s pursuit of him, or his of her.” She let out a shaky breath. “But I thought that Prudence’s love would change him.”
“Just as you think my love will change Oliver.”
Startled, the woman lifted a hopeful gaze to Maria. “You love him?”
Maria stared blankly at her. Heavens alive. She did. She loved him. She could not pretend otherwise, even for his grandmother.
Yet he could never love her. He thought love was “a fancy word for lust.”
Tears sprang to her eyes, and she willed them not to fall. Seizing Mrs. Plumtree’s hands, she said, “Please do not tell him, I beg of you. He will use it against me to gain what he wants.”
“My dear—”
“Swear that you won’t tell him! Think of your daughter.”
“Iamthinking of my daughter. She would want better for her son than the life he leads now.” Mrs. Plumtree gripped her hands with surprising strength. “You seem to think he is like his father, but he is actually like his mother. I do not know why he has pursued his father’s path all these years, but it is not his real character, I swear.”
“How can you be sure?” Maria whispered.
Mrs. Plumtree’s blue eyes held a wealth of heartache. “Something happened to him that night,beforewe went to the hunting lodge. He said he and his mother quarreled, and that is what sent her in search of Lewis. Oliver wouldn’t say what it was about, but I know it wounded him deeply. He has ignored the wound ever since. What he needs is for someone to heal it. And I think you might just do that.”
“I don’twantto do that.” She drew her hands from Mrs.Plumtree’s. “I want my life back, my ordinary American life where people say what they mean and do what they—” She caught herself. Even her ordinary American life was a lie. Nathan had proved that.
Still, it was better than the ever-present pain of loving Oliver when he couldn’t love her in return.
“I see I cannot prevent you from going,” Mrs. Plumtree said. “So I will not importune you further. All I can do is urge you not to give up on him yet. Not until all hope is gone. I think he still has the power to surprise you.”
“Of course you think that—as well you should; you’re his grandmother. But I can’t afford to be so blind.”
Turning away, she returned to her packing.
Mrs. Plumtree walked over to the dressing table and picked something up. “Youaretaking these, aren’t you?”
Maria turned to see her holding the box containing the pearls Oliver had given her. “Of course not. I have no right to them.”
“And I say that you do.” The woman hobbled toward Maria with the box. “They belonged to my daughter. I want you to have them.”
“Forgive me, but under the circumstances, I can’t accept them.”
