What he’d felt then was infatuation. What he felt for Olivia ran deeper. It was desire, yes, but anchored in devotion. She was everything the girl in the garden had only pretended to be.
He met her gaze. “I’m in love with my wife.”
He pitched the words to land hard, but even as he spoke, something shifted inside him, as though saying it aloud carved it deeper into his soul.
“Some rumours about me are true. I’d die to protect whatis mine. If your niece is seen sneaking about my estate again, there’ll be hell to pay.”
“My niece is the devil. Surely you’ve realised that.”
Though he laughed, fear sliced through him. For the first time in his life, he had something he couldn’t bear to lose. “Be assured, she has met her match.”
“It’s because you’re her match that she’ll need your help running Wynbury Hall when I’m gone.” Mrs Culpepper tried to stifle another cough and failed, doubling forward as a harsh retch tore from her. Gabriel steadied her with a hand. “And as for your wife,” she croaked, clutching his coat sleeve, “if you married for love, why have you not spent a night in her bed?”
Damnation. He’d string his loose-tongued servant up by the ballocks.
He stepped away from the bed. “I don’t know which of my servants is spreading lies, but I have made love to my wife.” At least in thought, if not in deed. “There’ll be no annulment.”
“No, I’ll give the chit her due. She was clever enough to snare you, but I doubt she’s clever enough to keep you. Not now Katherine has come home.”
His temper flared. He turned for the door before he lost the last shred of his patience. “Rest, madam. If you survive another day, you’ll need your strength to meddle.”
He marched from the room and descended the stairs, resisting the urge to sprint to the carriage and take Olivia far from this accursed place.
She seemed surprised he was back so soon.
“What happened? Was Mrs Culpepper too ill to speak?”
“Take us home, Kincaid.” He closed the carriage door with a weary sigh. “Miss Bourne responds to bribery. Whenher aunt is dead, I shall purchase the house for an extortionate sum and ensure she can trouble us no more.”
“I see.” Her voice was calm, but she lowered her gaze. The meaning beneath was clear. She thought he wished to be rid of temptation, not trouble.
“Protecting you is my only concern,” he said.
“Of course.”
“You don’t believe me?”
“I believe you want to think so, but something Mrs Culpepper said has clearly left you unsettled.”
As the carriage rattled down the drive, he repeated the exchange so she could be under no illusion. “What concerns me most is who’s been feeding the gossip mill. The bitter take comfort in making others suffer. I’ll not permit Miss Bourne to hurt you to spite me.”
He took her hand and held it in his lap, threading his fingers through hers. Yet it felt as if they teetered on a precipice, and she was slowly slipping from his grasp.
“I suspect Mrs Culpepper believes her niece is incapable of managing the estate,” Olivia said, staring at the passing scenery, “and assumed you would welcome her back with open arms.”
“Then she was sorely mistaken.” The future seemed remarkably clear to him now. “All I want is peace. And you, Olivia. I want you, not some boyish fantasy that turned into a blasted nightmare.”
“It’s hard to think amid these wicked machinations.” She looked at him then, but her light had dimmed. “Things seem so simple when we’re alone together, when no one interferes.”
His stomach flipped. What was she trying to say? “Because we’re open and honest and can speak freely.” Still,he couldn’t tell her that she made him feel alive, that his heart had never beaten so fast, that every thought revolved around her.
“They’re the makings of an excellent friendship,” she said.
Friends? Like hell that was all they’d ever be. A woman didn’t kiss the way she did unless she wanted a man for her lover.
“But what I feel for you is no mere friendship, Olivia. I want you. In every way a man can want a woman.” He wanted her to feel the depth of his devotion, even if she couldn’t yet trust his words. “Don’t answer now. Wait until this wretched business is behind us. But if you want me, you know where to find me. Just … don’t come to my bed out of obligation.”
After a pause, she said, “It may be hard to believe, but everything I’ve done with you, I’ve done because I wanted to.”
