“And you accused me of being a bad liar,” she quipped. “You’re not sorry at all. But then, neither am I, I suppose. He turned out to be rather more dishonourable than I would have liked. Do you know, he took me to Hyde Park the other evening and tried to get me to take a stroll down Scandal Lane, as though I didn’t know what it was. As though I would be depraved enough to go anywhere near that place or let him take liberties with me without so much as a proposal!”
Olivia felt suddenly rather ill as shame and confusion bubbled inside her.
There she’d been, piously judging her sister and she’d turned out to be the disgraceful one. She’d turned out to be the hussy.
Did the fact that she was desperately in love with Alex change anything? Probably not. Yet she couldn’t bring herself to regret what they’d shared either.
What a mess she’d gotten herself into.
The clock chimed the quarter hour and Olivia realised she’d be late if she didn’t get a move on.
“Well, I’m glad you’ve seen his true character and the error of your ways, Jane. Now you can concentrate on meeting a nice man who will truly care for you.”
She knew she was practically shooing her sister out the door but if Jane didn’t leave then Olivia couldn’t leave, and that meant that Alexander would arrive on their doorstep.
Sending Jane off with a hearty ‘chin up’, Olivia waited until her footsteps padded down the hallway then swept quickly from the room.
Alexander couldn’t believehowanxious he felt as he checked his watch once again and resumed his pacing.
What if she refused to come?
Well, he’d meant what he’d said. He would bang her door down if he had to.
Of course, he wasn’t quite sure what he’d do once he’d gained access. All his ideas very much involvednothaving her family around.
He couldn’t believe that one stupid conversation three years ago had gotten them so off course. But he would fix it. Somehow, he would make her see what she had come to mean to him.
Too restless to stay inside his carriage, he’d jumped from the conveyance and started wandering aimlessly in the direction of Scandal Lane.
He’d come here in his youth, he had to admit.
There’d been a particular liaison with a very bored but very married marchioness that had nearly ended badly for him. And he’d often met Lucia, his Italian opera singer mistress here on a balmy summer evening.
Now, he didn’t particularly want to be anywhere near the place. And he definitely didn’t want Olivia near it.
But he was a sentimental sop and wanted to do this here, where he knew he’d fallen in love with her. Where he hoped she’d fallen in love with him.
Besides, as insalubrious as the place was, she wouldn’t come to any danger with him.
Provided she actually showed up.
Biting back an oath of frustration, Alex turned to make his way back up the lane.
If she didn’t come, did that mean he had no hope at all?
Well, either way he was determined to find out.
He’d forcedher to come, and he wasn’t even in his dratted carriage to meet her.
Olivia scowled in frustration as she stood warily at the entrance to the notorious lane trying to avoid eye contact with the people going in and out. Some she recognised from the other day. Some, she didn’t want to look at long enough to see if she recognised them.
Where on earth could Alex have got to?
“Why, Miss Darington. This is a surprise. A very, very pleasant surprise.”
Olivia spun around, her heart hitting her toes as Elliot St. Clare leered down at her.
Judging from the smell, and the way he swayed unsteadily in place, the man was well and truly foxed.
