“Why should you care what I think of you?” Olivia asked. “It does not matter to me whether you sleepwalk into a hundred areas of domesticity. Perhaps one of them will be more to your liking.”
Olivia felt an odd sensation in her chest and clenched her fist. She met Nigel’s gaze. The man let out a frustrated sigh.
“That kind of thing… it has never happened to me before. Usually, I try and take precautions, but…” Nigel shook his head. “This is all coming out wrong. The sleepwalking, I never know when it will happen. Sometimes, drinking can make it worse.”
“And yet clearly you felt that you need not take such precautions at Emberly? How fortunate for me,” Olivia said sarcastically.
“I tried to bar the door. Truly. But the wine…” Nigel clenched his fists, clearly frustrated.
“To be clear, knowing that wine can make your sleepwalking worse, you chose to get so drunk you could not even manage to bar the door to your own chamber?” Olivia folded her arms across her chest.
“Well, not exactly. I hadn’t planned on drinking anywhere near that much.”
“But you did plan on drinking?” Olivia raised an eyebrow. “Hardly the sensible choice.”
“It was not my finest hour. And I understand how distressing it would have been to find a strange man so near. I can only apologise.” Nigel smiled, but to Olivia, it seemed a rather patronising thing.
“You know, I might only be an ‘innocent’ and… what did you say? Ah! Yes, ‘naïve girl who knows nothing of the world’. But at least I manage to stay out of other people’s beds and avoid scandal.” Olivia’s anger seeped into her words.He is only apologising for ending up in my room, not what he said.
“That was poorly said — I was just trying to explain to your mother and Lady Cotswalts that nothing had happened between us.” Nigel’s frustration seeped into his voice. “That the idea was utterly ludicrous, and that nothing wouldeverhappen between us.”
“Oh, indeed. You made that quite clear.” Perhaps it was his use of the word ‘ludicrous’ again or his emphasis on ‘ever’ that broke the dam of Olivia’s anger, but she could not say for certain.“Though for someone who so clearly thinks the idea of marriage to me is so ‘ludicrous’, you took staggeringly little precautions to prevent it with the kind of scandal your behaviour could have caused.”
“As I said, I was not in control of myself. I cannot help what happens,” Nigel interrupted her, casting a look around the shop and lowering his voice.
“Perhaps not, but one would think that if one knew that drink made one’s sleepwalking worse, then they would either take steps to ensure their late-night wanderings caused no harm, or they would perhaps limit their consumption of drink.” Olivia took a step towards him. “But perhaps you simply lack the self-control to do so or the willingness to inconvenience yourself.”
Nigel’s eyes narrowed, and Olivia saw with satisfaction that she had touched a nerve. “You do not know what you are talking about.”
“No? Perhaps not. But I can see now that you were right when you said that you and I would never have worked. Would never work, in fact.” Olivia took a step towards him, fury making her bold. “I would never want to be with someone as patronising as you.”
“Well hang on a minute, I —” Nigel began, but Olivia cut him off.
“No, I could never be happy with a self-centred fool who thinks so very much of his own charm and skill that he cares little for the impact his behaviour will have on others. Why would I, naïveand silly girl that I am, want to settle with a man so ‘worldly’ that he thinks he is above the rest of us?” Olivia shook her head in disgust.
“I used to think that you were a decent person, after all you are Alexander’s friend, but I see now that you are just some scared and silly little boy who thinks he is too good for the rest of us.” Olivia turned on her heel. “Good day, Duke Glassley. Thank you for sparing me the ludicrousness of a lifetime with you.”
Olivia stalked away and did not bother to look back. She did not care what the man thought of her outburst. She did not care if he thought she was melodramatic or hysterical. She had given him a piece of her mind, and quite frankly, she felt elated.
Perhaps now he will finally leave me in peace.She found Jane staring at her, a million questions in her eyes. Olivia sighed. “I will tell you everything, but let us leave this place. If I have to be near that infernal man a moment longer, I shall scream.”
Jane nodded, and as they waited to pay, Olivia risked a glance around the milliners. Nigel was nowhere to be seen.Good.
“Was thattheNigel who was…” Jane looked around as they left the shop before whispering, “you know…”
Olivia sighed. “Yes. It was. I hadn’t expected your mother to tell you.”
“I do not think she meant to, but she let it slip, and then well…” Jane trailed off. “He wasn’t what I was expecting.”
Olivia rolled her shoulders but did not enquire as to what her friend had been expecting.I do not want to even think about the man, let alone talk about him.“I do wish your mother would tell me who she had in mind for me this season.”
Jane made a sympathetic noise. “It’s most frustrating, I know, but that is not really mother’s way. She insists that it is far better to be kept in the dark, or else you risk standing in your own way.”
Olivia grumbled. “Well, whoever she has in mind, I am quite sure I know one man it won’t be.”
And with that, she smiled. She had new prospects and a fresh start — that was all that mattered.
Chapter Six
