“I really am sorry,” Amelia said for the thousandth time since Evan’s departure. “It is so very unlike him, and when he returns, you may rest assured that I shall box his ears and send him to you with an apology and, perhaps, an explanation.”
Olivia shook her head. “That will not be necessary.”
“Olivia!” her mother cried. “Of course it will be necessary. That… that… foolish gentleman’s actions cannot go unpunished.”
Olivia mustered the smallest smile, realizing that her mother was trying exceptionally hard not to use coarse words. After all, she knew of heartbreak and wretched men, better than anyone. She had used many a choice of word when she had first discovered her husband’s infidelity; Olivia remembered them all too well.
“Quite right,” Amelia agreed. “I could not be sorrier. Please, do say that you will stay to the end of the fortnight. I have so enjoyed your presence here, and I should hate for us to part on… unpleasant terms.”
Caroline raised mournful eyes to Olivia. “Are we certain that no one spoke with him before he left? Is it not possible that he is… not such a terrible beast? Might there be some reasonable explanation?”
It broke Olivia’s heart twice over to see her newest friend so upset, for Evan had not just betrayed Olivia, he had betrayed Caroline and Amelia and Daniel. All those who had wished for his happiness.
“My darling Caro, thereisa reasonable explanation,” Olivia said quietly. “He does not want to be married to me. It is as simple and embarrassing as that.”
She would not admit to the entire table that, in truth, she had no notion of what had caused the rejection and had no one to ask. It was likely obvious anyway, to almost everyone present, that she was struggling to understand it all, putting on a brave face to weather the humiliating storm.
Olivia’s father’s nose crinkled, as if his coddled eggs were rotten. “I will remedy this, one way or another. His father will send word to me when he is found, and I will have satisfaction for this… dishonorable conduct.”
“There is no need for a duel, Father,” Olivia said drily. “I would prefer to forget that any of this has happened. Of course, it will utterly devastate any chance I might have had of marrying, but I rather think that is for the best.”
Beneath the table, Anna and Leah, who sat on either side of her, squeezed her hands in support. Without them, Olivia doubted she would have been able to get to her feet after Evan rode away, but they had swept in just as soon as she had crumbled to her knees. They had wielded her away to the Dowager House, far from the party, and there they had talked her through her pain until the early hours of the morning, while passing around a bottle of brandy that Matilda had pilfered.
“What if he misunderstood my words? What if he thought I was going to tell him something terrible?”Olivia had lamented.“And when his father spoke to him, it was enough to make him doubt the entire union. He would not give me a moment to explain myself. I just wanted to warn him that I would not always be… rational, that is all.”
Her friends had assured her that it was not her fault, offering up alternative theories—that Evan’s father had threatened Olivia and Evan was protecting her with his absence; that Evan was just a coward who had been searching for an excuse; that he was struggling with the pain of his past, and realized he could not marry Olivia until he had healed from his old issues. Yet, no explanation seemed to fit quite right.
Still, Olivia’s head might have hurt that morning, but her grief felt that little bit lighter, all thanks to the four friends who were more like sisters to her.It should be The Sisters Club, at least to us,she mused, drinking her coffee.
“And you truly have no notion of where he might be, Daniel?” Amelia jumped in, before Olivia’s father could resume his hopes for a duel.
Daniel swallowed a mouthful of toast. “I do not. I wish I did.” He caught Olivia’s eye. “I understand the pain he has caused you, Miss Agarn, and it is not my place to tell you to ignore the injury he has inflicted, but—”
“You cannot fathom it,” Olivia interrupted, weary of circling around the same point. “No one can, apparently, but here we all are.”
Amelia looked like she might cry. “Oh, you sweet, sweet girl. I am so very sorry.” She blew her nose loudly with her napkin. “At the very least, let us have one more picnic by the lake. Or, perhaps, we could arrange to rendezvous in London? Might we peruse the shops together or take tea together? I just… I just cannot let you leave like this.”
“London would be a delight, but I do believe it is time for my departure,” Olivia insisted. “I may be mistaken, but I fear that you are hoping Evan will return with a refreshed proposal of marriage. There is little use in us all wounding ourselves with impossible hope. Perhaps, he will write to me one day, with his explanation, but I require nothing more from him. As for you, dear Amelia, and you, my sweet Caro, I really do hope this is the beginning of a long friendship. I ought to swipe something from the jaws of defeat, after all.”
Across the table, Laura Agarn’s shoulders slumped. “It is for the best. Being here, I fear, may be too painful for my daughter, but you simply must visit us at Canrave. Oh, do say that you will.”
“Certainly, dear Laura,” Amelia promised, gently squeezing Laura’s arm.
It was a strangely endearing sight for Olivia, to see the bond that had developed between the two women. Yet, a moment later, it just made her situation sting afresh, thinking of what might have been if Evan had not abandoned her. Laura and Amelia would have been family, likely visiting so often that Olivia would have been forced to tell them that it was too much. They would all have picnicked regularly, played skittles together, walked together, spent holidays together. And Caroline would have had companionship whenever she desired it, never feeling alone or isolated again.
Moreover, Olivia would have been happy. So very happy.
“I meant to ask,” Olivia said, folding her napkin and placing it on the table. “Does anyone know where Evan’s father is? Did he remain after last night’s… heated debate, or did he leave?”
Amelia’s eyes flashed with annoyance. “He departed not long after Evan, and good riddance.”
“Pardon?” Olivia’s father remarked.
Lifting her chin defiantly, Amelia repeated, “Good riddance to him. All was well until he arrived. I cannot lie and say it is a coincidence that Evan suddenly rode off, breaking the heart of someone Iknowhe cares for, after meeting with his father.” She clicked her tongue. “They have not seen one another in years, and it should have stayed that way!”
Olivia’s father sat back in his chair, his expression pensive. Indeed, he looked as if he had just been given a rather baffling riddle to solve.
Why should that perturb you?Olivia wondered. In the end, she decided she did not care. Her father was probably just annoyed that his only daughter would remain a childless spinster for the rest of her days.
