Page 49 of The Gentleman's Seduction
“I shall see you both home,” Martin finally said, tugging his gaze away from her.
Livvy recoiled at the cold response and tasted bitter disappointment on her tongue, but she forced herself to speak.
“Thank you for coming to my aid, Mr. Banks.”
Martin nodded stiffly and looked out the window. Livvy looked to Martin, praying for some sign that he was hurting as much as she was. But he didn’t even spare her a glance. He kept his focus on the window opposite her.
When the coach reached her home, she motioned for her father to leave, but he shook his head. “Let me have a moment with Mr. Banks.”
She left the coach and headed inside. Livvy put a hand to her mouth as she turned away, swallowing a fresh wave of pain inside her heart. Was it possible for a heart to break a second time? Because she was quite certain it had shattered again.
“TELLme you don’t love her,” Edwin said.
More than you can ever know. More than I ever dare admit to anyone.
“I…” The words were there on the tip of Martin’s tongue, but they wouldn’t come. It wasn’t easy to admit his feelings to a man who had taken so much from him.
“I know you and I will never be friends, and the barest cordiality will exist between us, but please do not let my sins destroy your future with her, if that is what you desire. I can make no excuses for the wrongs I’ve committed against your family. I can only say that I was fighting to prevent my own family from being ousted from our home. I made regrettable decisions to protect Livvy and her mother, but I don’t regret trying to protect them. I know you understand that, if nothing else. If you love her, don’t let the past ruin that.” Edwin’s eyes held no cruelty, no mockery, no evidence of the man he’d been over a decade ago. Was it possible the man really had changed?
“I will think on it,” Martin said finally, but even as Edwin exited the coach, Martin knew how he truly felt. After seeing Livvy bruised and hurt, his rage filled him with a blinding need to protect her.
I cannot live without her. If that means forgiving her father in some small way, I shall do it.She was worth keeping, worth protecting. Worth loving at any cost.
He rapped the ceiling of the carriage with his cane. The cane she had convinced him to buy at the frost fair.
There was much to do.
17
He didn’t come for me.
Livvy sat in the drawing room, a book clutched in her hands, the words unread. The embers were dying in the fire, and outside the snow was falling thick in the early morning. It’d been a full week since she’d been rescued from Viscount Stamford, and it felt as though she’d been trapped here. All she could do was replay that moment when Martin came to her rescue. But then he’d let her go home with her father, and she knew then that she would never see him again. She’d carried hope within her that he might come and whisk her away to be married. But he hadn’t. He’d cared for her, but it wasn’t enough for him to come back.
She put the book aside. It had been like that for days, a listless wandering of her thoughts, a lack of desire to even rise from her bed most mornings. Food seemed to lack taste, and the world seemed grayer than it used to be. Life itself had become pale. She knew she suffered from a broken heart. It hurt enough that it might kill her, and yes, she knew that sounded terribly dramatic, like something from one of her Gothic novels, but it was true. Frighteningly true.
“Livvy, dear?” Her mother’s voice disturbed her from the dark gloom of her thoughts.
“Yes?”
“I’ve had a new gown made for you. I would love to see how it fits.”
It sounded like a dreadful way to spend her time, but what else was she to do? She joined her mother upstairs in her bedroom. A large white box sat on the bed, and upstairs maid Sally was waiting to assist.
Her mother nodded at the box. “Well, go on and have a look.”
“Mama, I don’t need a new gown. I have plenty from—” She didn’t finish. She noticed her mother’s threadbare purple gown and wished her mother had bought herself a gown instead.
“Please, Livvy.” Her mother sounded oddly desperate.
She sighed and opened the box. Inside was a stunning rose-colored gown of expensive watered silk. It was too fine for a day gown, it looked more suited for an evening gown, but the décolletage was higher. She pulled the gown from the box and held it up, spinning a little in front of the mirror, fascinated and a little confused. How could she afford this? She caught sight of her mother’s watery smile in the mirror.
“Mama, what’s the matter?”
Her mother wiped tears from her cheeks. “I am just picturing how lovely you will be in it. Please, put it on.” She motioned for the maid to help Livvy change.
Once Livvy was finally dressed, her mother took her gently by the elbow.
“Your father and I would like you to meet someone.” Livvy’s stomach knotted with nerves as she followed her mother downstairs. Her father wore his best black coat, holding up her new cloak.
