Page 68 of The Butterfly
Olivia’s anger with him vanished in an instant, and she reached over to place one hand on top of his. “Of course I know that, Hart. Even if I haven’t always approved of your methods, I always knew you were fighting for me. You and Niall did battle for me when I could not do it for myself. You cared for Serena when I was not able, and I could never tell you how grateful I am for you.”
“And, Niall,” Adam said, turning to glance at him. “You’ve been my brother in so many ways, loving my sister without fail and having my back at all times. I used to question what the two of you had. I was against the idea of you being together at all, thinking that for Olivia it was only a phase, that she’d grow out of you and find a husband here in London. But, five years of watching you two together and hating that you could not be what you once were … it made me wonder if I hadn’t been wrong all these years. It made me see just how strong your bond was …is.”
Olivia was reaching out with her other hand, taking one of Niall’s while still clinging to Adam’s. “You were. I’ve always loved him, Adam. We just … we thought we’d never be together the way we wanted.”
Niall had never told him of their planned elopement, or the earl’s interference. He felt certain that even after all that had happened, Hart would kill him for having hurt Olivia all those years ago.
Adam nodded slowly, glancing back and forth between them as if searching for something. “Is that what you want now—to be together, permanently?”
Olivia turned her questioning gaze to him, the doubt in her eyes breaking his heart. Of course she looked to him for an answer to the question. She had proved to him time and again that she wanted him forever. As a young girl of eight and ten, she’d been willing to defy society and her stepfather to marry him. He had been the one to cry off. It did not anger him to see that she still had her doubts and fears. If anything, he was only furious with himself.
“Aye,” he replied without taking his gaze away from hers. “It’s what we want. Isn’t it,mo gradh?”
She smiled at him, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. A little laugh escaped her when she nodded, her fingers tightening around his. “Yes.”
Adam cleared his throat, pulling his hand away from Olivia to rise. He took up an envelope, as well as a small wooden box—an ancient-looking thing carved with vines and scrolls along its edges.
“Then, I believe you’ll be needing these,” he declared, handing both items to Niall.
His heart stuttered to a stop as he set the box upon his knee, opting to open the envelope first. When he found what was inside, he glanced up at Adam in shock, then turned to Olivia, who sat looking at him with curiosity furrowing her brow.
“It’s a special license.”
Her eyebrows shot up as she snatched the paper from Niall’s grasp. “Hart …”
“There’s a vicar prepared to perform the ceremony on any day at any time,” Hart declared. “He will come at my behest to marry you discretely. The way I see it, no one has seen you in town or in Edinburgh in over five years. Who’s to say you did not run off to marry the Stablemaster and bear his child five years ago? Who’s to say you haven’t been wed all this time, and perhaps stayed away in order to hide a scandalous union? The only ones who need know you were only recently wed are myself and Maeve—who will sign the register as your witnesses—and the vicar, who will be paid well to keep his silence on the matter. In the unlikely event that he is ever asked about your marriage, he will swear he married you months before Serena’s birth.”
Niall’s head spun as he glanced down at the object resting upon his knee. While Olivia studied the license, he lifted the little box and opened it, finding a ring inside that must surely be worth more than any amount of money he’d ever be able to earn. It looked to be several decades old, the gold setting flaunting pure cream-colored pearls interspersed with tiny diamonds glittering in the light.
Olivia glanced into the box and gasped, one hand coming up over her mouth. “Mama’s ring.”
Adam nodded. “It was always meant to be yours … along with many of her other personal effects. I’ve kept all her things stored at Dunnottar for you. I sent for the ring once I realized you’d begun to recover. I supposed that if you were feeling your way back to us, there’d be no better time than now for the two of you to finally get what you deserve.”
Niall looked to Olivia, who had begun shedding tears now, her mouth still open in disbelief. She returned his gaze, looking as dumbfounded as he felt. He could hardly think or speak, his mind and heart torn in so many directions at once. At last, Olivia could truly be his in all the ways that counted, in all the ways he’d ever wanted. There was nothing to stand in their way this time—except perhaps the strictures of a society that had never included him. It was the one thing holding him back from claiming her, the one thing that had always niggled the back of his mind.
“Hart, will ye give us a moment alone?”
Adam scowled. “Are you ejecting me from my own study?”
“It isnae yours anymore, is it? It’s Daphne’s. Now sod off, ye bastard.”
With a chuckle, he stood from behind the desk and tugged at the hem of his coat to straighten it. “I’ll wait for you in the drawing room. Take all the time you need.”
He crossed the room in a few long strides and disappeared with a quiet click of the door.
Niall studied the ring for a moment. Olivia waited in silence, her gaze still a bit unfocused. This was a dream come true for them both. Nevertheless, he could not forget his father’s words, even all these years later.
Fine things aren’t to be touched by the likes o’ me.
See that ye never forget it!
Try as he might, he hadn’t forgotten that Olivia was never supposed to be his. Loving her as he did, he realized that marrying him would bring its share of trials for her. After all she’d been through, he did not like the idea of being an added burden upon her. Neither did he like the notion of letting her go.
Plucking the ring from the box, he turned it this way and that, studying the facets of the diamonds, the gleam of the pearls. The perfect ring for his perfect woman, and he was not fit to touch it.
He glanced up to find her watching him, her gaze turned questioning.
“Niall?”
