Gabriel nodded. “And the weather. So lovely this time of year, would you not agree? Not too hot, nor overly windy?”
The two of them had never had to resort to the weather in order to find topics to converse upon. Her lips twitched with not quite a smile.
“You look different.” She surprised him, and then, with a wave of her hand, added, “Your hair, and your… face.”
He laughed. “A necessary evil when one’s mother is involved. What do you think?” He rubbed the smooth skin along his jaw and then turned to the side. “Am I fit to meet with our guests?”
She blushed again. “You appear all that is appropriate, My Lord.”
He caught her eye and held it this time. “Ah, Olivia. It is as it should be, is it not?”
And again, she nodded. His fiancée was in residence, along with his mother and his sisters.
He bowed.
“May I escort you to the drawing room?”
As she took his arm, he realized he’d not bowed toward her since first meeting her again in Crawford’s garden. Had he?
He’d teased her, cajoled her, kissed her, and other… things, but at some point, he’d dropped even the pretense of mannerly behavior while in her presence.
He’d done his best to convince her that she deserved to marry higher than Luke Smith, told her she could do far better than to marry a laborer but had been unable to offer himself as proof.
The thought troubled him as he led her through the myriad of corridors to the main part of the house. He’d stressed that she was the daughter of a viscount. Her father had angered him to no end by referring to her as his curse. And what had Gabriel done about it?
He’d taken it upon himself to ‘befriend’ her.
* * *
Olivia foughtthe light-headed sensations sweeping through her as she allowed Gabriel Fellowes—the Earl of Kingsley, her one-time lover—to assist her to more familiar surroundings.
Of course,he was in residence. Why would he absent himself from his own estate when his mother was hosting a house party?
Had she been hoping he would be there all along? She dismissed the thought as nonsense. It had taken her weeks, no, months, to shake her melancholy about him.
She no longer loved him. He was an earl. He wasbetrothed.
And tonight, this evening, he appeared every inch the aristocrat he’d always been. So much she wanted to tell him, and to ask him but could not. She remembered how she’d felt when he’d looked down on her from the altar at Louella’s wedding. How different he’d seemed.
He’d insisted he’d been her friend, but after… Oh, after being with him in that way, they could never go backward.
They could not go forward, either.
Olivia had not thought it mattered at the time, but she was so very glad she wore one of her new gowns this evening. The confidence that came along with it allowed her the fortitude to face him without feeling apologetic. Being measured, poked, and then pinned had all been worth it to see a glimmer of… something different when his eyes landed upon her.
What had happened to the unrestrained hoyden who’d gone where she pleased, barefoot and dressed in secondhand garments for most of her life? Before the collapse of the mine, Olivia had never thought twice about her behavior. She’d felt quite comfortable, in fact.
But now… Without even realizing it, something inside her had shifted. She doubted she would ever be that same girl.
Had it been the tragedy at the mine that changed her? Had it been Luke Smith’s death?
Or had it mostly had to do with the fact that she’d known a man in the biblical sense? She stopped herself from snorting at the thought. There had been nothing biblical at all in what she and Gabriel Fellowes had done together.
As she’d donned the fine material of her new gown that evening, she’d remembered the feel of a man’s lips trailing along her skin. She imagined how wearing silk or satin might evoke similar sensations. She understood why a woman would put on oils and perfumes before engaging in intimate activities...
The thought had not gone away as she’d wound her way about the castle getting horribly lost.
And then oddly enough, as though she’d summoned him with her thoughts, he’d appeared out of nowhere.
