Page 77 of Ruthless with a Rogue
Aunt Mellie studied her silently, and Livy couldn’t hold back her squirm.When Aunt Mellie wasn’t enjoying her claret—and apparently even when she was—she saw much more than she let on.
Finally, she spoke softly.“You know I met your Uncle Nigel at my very first ball.It was minutes, Olivia.We both knew in minutes.But I also have friends who have known their partners since childhood, and it wasn’t until much later that feelings developed.You can’t put a timeline on love.How long it’ll take to develop, nor how long you’ll have it.”
Livy’s heart cracked for her aunt—at the pain that seemed to have drained some of the rich blue hue from Aunt Mellie’s eyes, like part of it had faded away along with Uncle Nigel.
Aunt Mellie smiled sadly, then cleared her throat.“Why did you want to marry Mr.Thorton?”
Livy blinked at the abrupt question.“Urm.He made me happy.Made me laugh.He filled the empty places…” The ones born from a mother's abandonment, a father lost in his own world, a friendless childhood.“For once, I felt like I had a safe place to land.After feeling alone for so long, he was warmth and security and hope for a future different from what my current life was like…”
“But…?”
“I spent those five years trying to be someone I’m not.Not entirely different but still hiding some parts of myself because it’s not what’s accepted by the greater part of society, Mr.Thorton and his family included.By Mother,” she added the last on a whisper.“And now I feel as though perhaps…I was willing to give up too much to hold on to that feeling—of not being alone.”
“Hmm.”Aunt Mellie pursed her lips.“And Lord Dunmore?Same question.”
A stinging built behind Livy’s nose, and she pressed her lips together against the well of emotion swirling inside her chest.But she couldn’t hold it back.The burn built, her vision blurring over.She met her aunt’s gaze through her watery one.
“Because he sees me.All of me.He sees me, Aunt Mellie, and he genuinely likes that woman.I’m not sure I can put into words the way he makes me feel.It’s like nothing I’ve ever felt before.And I didn’t want it.I tried to ignore it.But I can’t.”She dropped her gaze to her lap.“Not any longer,” she whispered.
Aunt Mellie leaned forward and took Livy’s hands in her own.She gave them a firm squeeze, a wealth of reassurance in that small gesture.“It’s not a bad thing, Olivia.I don’t doubt—nor should you—how you felt about your Mr.Thorton.But in life, it’s a rare thing that a childhood infatuation comes to fruition, that the first person we develop an attachment to ends up the person we spend our entire life with.Especially in a society where one is lucky if there are any positive feelings at all.I may have met your Uncle Nigel at my first ball, but it’s not as though I’d never fancied a man before him.Stolen a kiss or two.”She winked, and Livy’s lips pulled up.
But they immediately fell.“Unfortunately, Lord Dunmore isn’t the marrying type.Something I have repeated so often to myself, it should be etched into my brain.And still…here I am.”
“All men aren’t the marrying type, darling.”Her aunt arched a brow.“Until they marry.”Her smile turned sly.“You came up with this clever plan to win over society.And it isworking,Olivia.I have no doubt you can snag that marquess.When you are determined, you are a force to be reckoned with.You can conquer anything you set that clever mind too.”
Livy huffed out a laugh.Her aunt made her sound like some villainous tactician.“I won’t trap him, Aunt Mellie,” she said quietly.She didn’t want to coerce him.To force him.If he didn’t want to marry her…
“Oh, darling, you won’t need to trap that man.Call me a romantic, but some souls are just meant to be together.I see it with your Lord Dunmore.”
Livy’s gaze snapped to her aunt’s at that.“You do?”she blurted.Heat rose in her cheeks.“I mean…whatever could make you say that?”
Her aunt snorted at her terrible attempt at nonchalance.“You didn’t see him the night of your accident.That man is so besotted he has no idea what to do with himself.”
Something burst in Livy’s chest, bright and crackling and full of hope.She’d love to believe they shared whatever this feeling was.That, perhaps, his out-of-character reaction last night might be because he too was confused and overwhelmed by whatever was passing between them.
But as the fireworks inside her fizzled out, something he’d mentioned at the theater whispered through her mind.Something involving the funding of a foundling home.
It was more complicated than just convincing a reluctant man to become open to the idea of marriage.Because Derek admitted he would marry.For the foundling home.As much as that man wanted the world to think he was heartless, the Marquess of Dunmore had a bigger heart than most.He’d do the thing he wanted least in this world…if it meant saving his charges.
Livy didn’t have a penny to her name.Even if she could convince Derek, if there was even a chance he felt something close to what she did…she couldn’t ask him to put children on the streets for her.He wouldn’t do that.She knew it with absolute certainty.
A knock sounded, and Livy startled out of her reverie.
The butler entered.“A letter for Miss Forester,” Peterson intoned.
Livy took the proffered letter from the butler and sliced it open.A small firm card peeked inside the parchment, its telltale red seal winking at her.She scanned the light blue ink, and her breath left her on a hitch, free hand flying to cover her mouth.
Ladies Voucher
Almack’s
Deliver to
Miss Olivia Forester
Tickets for the Balls on the Wednesdays of May 1817
And there in the corner, the initials: D.D.I.
