CHAPTERTEN
Olivia had never seen a manor more beautiful. The sandstone gleamed yellow in the morning haze, and fog rolled across the lawns like a hazy ocean while Evan cut a lonely figure up ahead, dispersing the tide of fog before it swept back in behind him.
As he came to a standstill beside a border of fuchsias, he glanced back over his broad shoulders, his smile so warm and inviting that Olivia felt a strange and sudden urge to run to him.
I should never have asked about his past,she knew, for all through the previous evening and night, even as she slept, what Caroline had told her had crept into her thoughts, augmenting the way she viewed Evan. Upon waking, she hadwantedto see him and be in his company, so when she entered the breakfast room to find him alone, she had not been certain if she was still dreaming.
“I thought the purpose of a chaperone was to walk behind you both, not keep your bride company!” Caroline complained with a laugh as they caught up to Evan.
He waved a dismissive hand. “You ladies in your dainty shoes walk too slowly.”
“Nonsense!” Caroline balked. “You were marching forward as if someone had ordered you into battle.”
Evan grinned. “I assure you, if someone had ordered me into battle, I would not be marching quickly toward such an unpleasant fate. I would be dragging my heels, like the two of you.”
“We should have made a competition of it,” Olivia said shrewdly, “then I would assuredly have won.”
Evan raised an eyebrow. “Are your legs as strong as your arms?”
It was a rather untoward question, but Olivia took it in her stride, refusing to be disarmed by the handsome, dauntingly charming man in front of her. “Alas, I have never quite mastered the art of turning pages with my feet, so I lack the same dexterity and power.” She cast him a furtive smile. “Although, you really must cease remarking upon my limbs, Evan, or people will begin to gossip. I would not want anyone to think that I was… too familiar with you.”
He coughed, clearing his throat as if he still had a crumb stuck there. “If you desire gossip, Olivia, you should lead with that remark about turning pages with your feet. There will not be a set of lungs in the entire estate that is not bursting with a gasp.”
Olivia had to laugh. “I shall save it for if I need to leave a conversation swiftly at the party.”
“You must cease your flirtations,” Caroline interjected, “or I shall turn so red that I will be mistaken for a beetroot. Although, you are charmingly alike. Have you realized that?”
Olivia did not know whether to be intrigued or offended. “Are we?”
“My cousin is always saying wildly amusing things—things I would not even consider—and so are you. In humor, you are certainly well paired, and Mama has always said that humor is the cornerstone of a happy marriage,” Caroline replied in a tone of endearing wisdom.
Olivia looked toward Evan, trying to envision a life with him, trying to picture his heroically handsome face in forty years. Would he still have that shine in his eyes and that lopsided smile? Would he still make her stomach flutter despite itself, or would they hate one another so much by then that they could not stand the sight of each other?
What am I thinking? Shescolded herself vehemently, forgetting for too long that their engagement would never get that far. He would be a small blot on the pages of her life story, that is all.
“Do you think you could be happy with just one lady, Evan?” Olivia reminded herself to stay on the attack as she offered him a dry smile.
He stiffened. “Oh, undoubtedly… if that lady were you.”
Olivia’s heart clenched as if he had taken it and squeezed it, while fresh butterflies were set loose in her stomach. Of course, she did not believe him; he likely said it to every woman he had ever encountered, but she could not tell the butterflies that. Stubbornly, they refused to listen.
“This is what I mean!” Caroline cried, holding her stomach as she laughed. “You said that to her as if you were a terrible lothario, and I almost believed it, but you could not pretend to be a rake even if you wanted to. Aside from me and Mama—and, now, Olivia—I cannot say I have ever seen you say more than two words to a lady.”
Olivia cast Evan a curious look, remembering the warning upon his face when she had almost spoken of his improper history in front of Caroline. Evidently, his sweet cousinhadbeen sheltered from his reputation, and if Olivia had wanted to hurt him, she might have revealed the truth there and then. But as the butterflies flapped into her chest, their delicate wings catching in her throat, she could not do it.
“I hear it is always the charming ones that you must be careful of,” she said instead, weaving her arm through Caroline’s. “The gentlemen who seem to be one thing but are entirely another.”
Caroline clicked her tongue. “Oh, indeed, but my cousin is precisely what he appears to be. He is a clumsy, amusing oaf… who would burn himself to keep you warm.”
“You speak too highly of me,” Evan feigned a protest, puffing up his chest and tilting up his chin, drawing Olivia’s eye to the cords of his neck and the athletic physique of his upper body. It really was quite unfair for him to be so beautiful to behold, with no sign of his corrupt soul upon his face.
But is he corrupt?a small voice that sounded a great deal like her friend, Anna, whispered.Or is he merely wounded and in need of healing? What if his bad behavior is just a symptom of his past, and you are his cure?Olivia only had herself to blame for such thoughts being allowed to slink into her mind, for she was the one who had insisted on knowing more about him. It had made the ground of her battle plan soft and slippery, churned up by confusion and conflict, and she had not yet had the chance to rethink her advance in order to ensure his surrender.
Just then, Caroline darted forward, bellowing, “Daniel!”
A figure had emerged on the pillared front porch of the manor house, dressed only in a shirt and trousers. Caroline flung herself into the man’s arms, and he swung her around in turn, the two laughing and smiling as Olivia looked on.
“Your cousin, I assume?” she said to Evan, who had not moved from her side. If anything, he seemed rooted to the spot, his shoulders stiff.
