Page 40 of With Good Grace
‘Have a lovely evening, madam,’ Jane said, recalling Olivia’s wandering attention.
‘Thank you, Jane. I shall do my very best to enjoy myself.’
‘I doubt it will require much effort.’ Jane giggled. ‘Not with the handsome earl to bear you company.’
Olivia ought to scold her maid for her impertinence. Instead she simply laughed, feeling as though Jane was more of a feminine confidante than a servant. ‘Oh, he is certainly handsome, Jane, and well he knows it.’
Jane bobbed a curtsey as she opened the door and stood back to allow Olivia to pass through it in her wide skirts. Olivia thanked her, took a deep breath and made a slow descent of the grand, winding staircase.
‘Lord Torbay is only just back,’ a footman told her as she reached the vestibule. ‘He said to wait in the drawing room, if you would be so kind, and he will join you just as soon as he has changed.’
‘Very well.’
Olivia walked into that room, where a cheerful fire burned and the lamps had been lit, even though it was not yet dark and the curtains had not been closed. Olivia sat beside the fire, wondering what had kept Jake at the theatre for so long. No sooner had the thought filtered through her head than the man himself joined her. Suave and self-assured in his pristine evening clothes, Olivia’s breath caught in her throat as their gazes duelled. She seemed incapable of looking away again, or even articulating a single word of greeting.
‘I am sorry to have kept you waiting,’ he said, suffering from no such affliction as he smiled and subjected her person to a lazy perusal that caused her to blush. His smile radiated approval, and something more fundamental, causing a horde of butterflies to run riot deep within Olivia’s core. He knew precisely what he was doing to her, the rogue, and appeared to remain in command of himself whilst entertaining himself at her expense. ‘Champagne for Mrs Grantley, Parker. I will have whisky and when you have poured the drinks you had best stay and hear what I learned.’
‘I can tell from your expression that you made headway, Jake,’ Olivia said, finding her voice and a modicum of self-control as Jake took the chair across from hers.
‘Thank you, Parker.’ Jake took the glass his man handed to him, having first served Olivia. ‘Sit down yourself. I’ll get neck ache looking up at you.’
Parker seated himself a short distance away from where Olivia and Jake faced one another on either side of the fire.
‘Have you ever heard of Miss Melanie DuBois, Olivia?’ Jake asked.
Olivia wrinkled her brow. ‘The name is familiar but I cannot seem to—’
‘She is Madame Céleste’s right-hand woman.’
‘Ah yes, I recall now. Very organised, with sharp features and a tongue to match.’
Jake smiled. ‘Your memory serves you well. She has been with Madame since she was seventeen and has made herself indispensable over the years. It is she who saw me at the theatre.’
Olivia shared an amused glance with Parker. ‘Even your formidable reputation did not get you past Madame Céleste’s gatekeeper.’
Jake sent Olivia a provocative look that implied she would atone for her levity when they were alone.
‘Miss DuBois and your late husband came to an understanding, Olivia.’
‘Nothing that Marcus did to further his ambitions would surprise me.’ Olivia nodded slowly. ‘Miss DuBois is a little shrew of a thing and I always thought that she enjoyed Madame Céleste’s favour not only because she was loyal and efficient, but also because she was no threat to the actress in terms of beauty and character.’
Jake nodded his agreement. ‘Your husband had a good head for business; that has never been in dispute.’
It was Olivia’s turn to nod. ‘Go on,’ she said when he paused to sip at his drink. She sensed he was attempting to find words that would not shock or offend her. She was tempted to remind him that she ceased to care what Marcus did a long time before he died. Jake’s compassion, his concern for her finer feelings, was another reason why she loved him as comprehensively as she did. Not that she would ever admit it, of course. She had already told him that she loved him and, despite the fact that their conversation had been interrupted, it hadn’t escaped her notice that he had been in no hurry to return the sentiment. Well, she had her pride and would not return to the subject. Her feelings for this complex, dutiful yet sensitive aristocrat was her cross to bear in solitude.
‘Your husband saw the changes in the theatrical world and its accessibility to the emerging middle classes as an opportunity.’ The deep, melodic timbre of Jake’s voice returned Olivia’s wandering attention to him. ‘He already had contacts and money to invest in new productions, thanks to his involvement with your brother in his import business.’
‘It seems odd that Marcus came out of that venture with full pockets and yet…well, you saw Rupert for yourself the other day and he is clearly in dun territory. He obviously cannot manage anything properly without Marcus’s guiding hand.’
‘There’s more competition in that area nowadays,’ Parker pointed out.
‘Very likely,’ Olivia agreed. ‘I’m sorry, Jake, I interrupted you. What were you saying?’
‘I was about to mention that Marcus was most likely not prepared to invest in productions unless there was as an above average possibility of their showing him a decent return. He saw an opportunity to manage some of the best emerging and established actors, have them take leading roles in the productions he was backing, and success was guaranteed for him on all fronts.’
Parker nodded. ‘Their names drew the audiences, so the productions showed him a profit, plus he took a percentage of the actors’ income in return for managing their careers. Very astute. Even so, I’ll wager some of those big names didn’t want to be tied down to a manager with no track record.’
‘You are in the right of it,’ Jake replied. ‘And Grantley knew that. He also knew that there is almost always some sort of scandal behind every success story in the theatrical world and so—’
