He smiled at Lady Jocelyn. “I’m told to tell you that you need to return to your guests and that you only have one coming out ball in life. I believe there are dejected gentlemen waiting to dance with you.”
She smiled gently at him. “Very well. Look after my friend.” And she returned to the ballroom.
He entered the library quietly. There were only a few candles lit and their shadows flickered on the walls. Otherwise, the room was cloaked in darkness.
It took him a few seconds to locate Olivia standing by a doorway leading to the terrace. He could see that she gazed up at the moon, and she was bathed in the glow of moonlight. He drew in a breath; Olivia was the most hauntingly captivating woman he had ever met.
Hearing him she turned to peer into the darkness. “Jocelyn?” she called gently.
“It’s me, Marcus,” he replied gently.
“I’d prefer to be on my own, My Lord,” she responded.
He took a step forward. “No one should be alone to deal with the hurt which you experienced in the ballroom.” He felt the weight of the heavy door pulling it closed behind him.
“What Lady Cressida said was cruel and clearly untrue. You are one of the most beautiful women I have ever met.”
“Oh the words were cruel, but not entirely untrue,” Olivia said in a voice which sounded close to tears.
He moved slowly towards her, uncertain what to say but determined to listen.
As he approached her, he held his hands out, hoping she would take and hold them.
She moved towards him, the moonlight illuminating her face in its soft glow. In a single movement she touched her hair and moved it away from her face, then lifted it up above her head in the moonlight. He heard several heavy pins clatter as they fell on the floor.
The scar ran down the side of her face, a raised crimson line from her forehead down to her ear, with skin puckering around it. He wasn’t sure, but he thought there was a puckered section of skin moving back into her hairline where she had no hair.
“There, Lord Hatfield, my secret scar.” she laughed a hollow laugh. “I live with disfigurement and have accepted my changed appearance. Why should it be necessary, as Lady Cressida seems to think, for me to display my scars to the world?”
He waited for her to continue, hoping she would tell him more.
“They are personal and private. I thought it might be possible to live a life with some semblance of normality by disguising them. My maid, Ellen, dresses my hair and uses ribbons and bonnets to give me confidence to go out into society, without the feeling that I am attracting attention and being talked about incessantly,” Olivia confessed.
“Why has she done this to me tonight? On Jocelyn’s special day. What have I done to provoke this reaction?” She added.
“I suspect you have done nothing,” he said quietly. “Lady Cressida is perhaps jealous.”
At this Olivia burst into loud laughter. “A fine lady, with wealth and connections envious of me? Surely not.”
He took a deep breath before continuing. “She saw us together. She watched us waltzing.”
“But that’s ridiculous. It is quite usual for men and women to dance together, even if it is a waltz.”
“I believe she sees something more than friendship developing. There is, I believe, a connection between us, and she could see that.”
Olivia looked at him and he could see that he was right.
“Can you tell me what happened? Or is it too painful to share?” Marcus asked her gently.
“You have seen my scars. You may as well hear my story.”
“I shall listen. However, I have lived through wars and turmoil, and as I have grown older, I know the importance of comfort and care. Please Olivia, and I am going to assume I can call you Olivia and not Lady Olivia while I listen to your very personal and private story. I have heard some of the story from others, but would like to hear from you what actually happened. Please sit and be comfortable.”
She made her way to a wingback chair. “You’re quite right. I do feel a little fatigued, though far from a fit of the vapors,” she added with a hint of a smile.
“I am also going to find a maid, and despite the fact that there is a ball out there and everyone is drinking either wine or iced lemonade I am going to secure us a pot of hot tea.”
This time she laughed and agreed.
