“Well, and you.”
Angelo studied her face. “You are pale.”
“Lavinia has been too occupied in assisting Leopold so that supervision of my younger sisters has fallen to me. They have a very active schedule and I have not been getting as much sleep as before.”
Angelo leaned close. “As I recall, you were not getting very much sleep before…”
“Stop!” she quietly hissed. “Do not speak of...”
“I apologize. I should have made no mention of…” Except, that was all he thought about, no matter how wrong it was to do so. He needed to put Octavia from his mind and heart because he would soon wed another.
“How have you been?”
“I have been well,” he answered.
“Is your courtship of Lady Briana official?” she asked. “She is lovely.”
“She is,” he answered absently.
If Angelo had never met Octavia, Lady Briana would be everything he could hope to have in a wife. She was pretty, intelligent, and while not independent, she wouldn’t need to rely on him for every small decision either. She was also the perfect age of two and twenty. But there were a few other matters that made her perfect for him, which he would not share with Octavia, as he suspected that she would not approve.
They came to the terrace doors and Octavia stopped. The corner of her mouth tipped. “I am not so foolish as to leave the ballroom with you, Lord Bolton.”
His heart ached. Those were some of the first words she had ever spoken to him. “It is such a lovely evening. The sky is clear, and the stars sparkle like diamonds in the sky.”
She chuckled. “I am certain such a silver tongue may work on others, but not me.”
“I am but stating a fact.” He gestured to the sky.
She said nothing but stared into his eyes, her smile sad.
“I have missed you,” he finally said quietly.
“I have missed my friend,” she returned.
He was beginning to hate the word friend.
“It is not wise for us to speak again, Angelo,” she said quietly. “What we shared is over and you need to wed. You need an heir.”
She was telling him what he already knew.
“I know.” His gut tightened. “However, I did want to tell you, before you heard the gossip or read it in a newssheet.”
“You are going to marry Lady Briana.”
She said it with such fact, and no emotion. Octavia may have been a friend, but that was all. “Yes. I plan to call on her father tomorrow and then I will ask her.”
“I wish you well, Angelo. Be happy.”
“You too, Octavia.”
With that, she turned and walked away from him. He watched as she approached Leopold, spoke with him for a few moments, and then left the ball, taking his heart with her.
Chapter 28
Octavia was exhausted by the time she returned to Crispin’s home, and her heart ached something fierce. She wished that she did not have confirmation of who his bride was to be. She didn’t want to be witness to the celebrations as he was congratulated or hear any wedding plans.
Angelo did not break the rules by falling in love. Only she did.
