Page 66 of Who Wants to Marry a Duke
With a quick pang, she turned her head to look at his pillow. That’s when she remembered that somewhere during their second time, they’d climbed under the covers. But now it was almost as if he’d never been here.
She thrust out her chin. Nonsense. He’d been here, and he’d behaved as if she was special to him.
You mean, like last time? When your mother had to blackmail him into offering marriage?
“Hush,” she said aloud to her saner self. “Let me enjoy this a while longer, will you?”
Suddenly, her temporary lady’s maid burst into her bedchamber. “Oh, thank heaven you’re finally awake, miss. Your stepmother has come, and she’s spitting mad. She’s with His Grace right now in the drawing room and asking for you.”
It took a moment for that to sink in, but when it did, panic replaced her delicious haze of satisfaction. Mama, here?
Dear Lord. Something must be wrong. Otherwise, how had Mama known that Olivia had come to Rosethorn? And Thorn waswithher mother? This just got worse and worse.
Olivia was about to leave the bed when she realized she was completely naked, which the maid was bound to find suspicious.
So she told the young woman, “Would you mind calling for a pot of coffee? I’ll never make it through a conversation with my mother otherwise.”
“Of course. But you should probably hurry, miss. His Grace seems a bit . . . um . . . annoyed at Lady Norley.”
“No doubt,” Olivia muttered.
As soon as the maid had gone out into the hall, Olivia leapt from the bed, found her nightdress, and dragged it on. Then she froze as she spotted last night’s clothes draped over a chair. She knewshehadn’t done that, which meant thathehad.
She ran into the sitting room to look at the windowsill where he’d undone her chignon. There was nary a hairpin to be seen. He must have gathered them all and put them somewhere.
Sure enough, when she returned to the other room, she found them on her dressing table. Her heart sank. He’d gone to great pains not to have her caught doing something that might ruin her for good.
She could take that one of two ways. Either he was being scrupulously courteous to the woman he meant to marry. Or he was covering his tracks so he wouldn’thaveto marry her. No doubt that was something he’d done countless times before with his married lovers.
The maid returned to announce that the coffee was on its way, and Olivia thanked her. Then the young woman walked over to the bed and started as she saw something.
“Miss,” the maid said, pointing to the coverlet. “There is . . . um . . . blood here.”
Oh, dear, Thorn had missed one crucial indication of their . . . indiscretion. Olivia thought fast. “I came in so late and was so exhausted that I barely had time to disrobe before I had to lie down on the bed or risk falling down. When I woke in the night, I realized my menses had begun. I was too tired to do more than change out of my shift into my nightdress and grab some rags. I didn’t realize I had bled on the coverlet. I hope it doesn’t prove too difficult to clean.”
Olivia knew she was babbling, but she was desperate to hide what had happened. Because if Thorn had gone to such great lengths to do so, he might have had a reason, and she didn’t want to be truly ruined just because she couldn’t lie convincingly.
Though the maid blushed, her suspicious expression had vanished entirely. “Oh, no, miss, don’t you worry your head about it in the least. We women know how that happens. If you’ll just give me your soiled shift, I’ll make sure it’s taken care of.”
“Thank you.”
The maid helped her dress and didn’t say another word about Olivia’s menses. Olivia could only hope the young woman had believed her.
But Mama was here. Olivia found that more reassuring than she should have. It would be nice to have a shoulder to cry on if Thorn proved to be as much of a rakehell as he’d seemed last night.
Even if he did offer marriage, he’d already as much as said he would never offer her love and happiness. And he probably meant it. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that.
Once she was dressed, she gulped some coffee, then hurried downstairs to the drawing room. She walked in to find both Gwyn and Thorn trying to hold her stepmother at bay.
“I swear on my life, Lady Norley,” Thorn said, “I haven’t hidden your daughter or whisked her away somewhere. I’m sure she’ll be down any moment.” He glanced over at the doorway and saw her. “You see? Here she is. She must have been sleeping deeply. I do know from the servants that she worked in her laboratory until very late.”
Olivia’s stepmother walked over to kiss her on both cheeks, concern clear in her eyes. “You’re all right, aren’t you? I was so worried!”
“I’m fine, Mama.”
Gwyn said, “How about I call for some tea and coffee for all of us?”
“And perhaps a bit of toast and butter for me?” Olivia was starving after her late night activities.
