CHAPTER 4
Olive woke to the sound of rain on her window the next morning, but even that couldn’t dampen her spirits. Not after last night! Not after the way Phineas had made her feel when he’d told her she was special.
Not after that kiss.
It had made her feel alive in the same way finding a new piece of source material did. No, wait…it wasbetterthan that!
Which, up until yesterday, she hadn’t thought possible.
Humming to herself, Olive hurried through her morning routine. Mary, the maid the L’arbre sisters had brought to Dumpkins Estate with them, was old enough to be their grandmother. Olive had made it clear long ago she didn’t need help dressing or preparing for her morning, so hopefully Mary was still snoring gently upstairs.
Once, her sister Willow had objected, but Olive had pointed out if she ever were lucky enough to see the Great Pyramid at Giza, or camp in the jungles of Borneo, she couldn’t worry about having someone else dress her, now could she?
Only now, as she hurried downstairs, Olive was thinking about someoneundressing her. She’d thought about Phineas’s hands on her last night—histongueon her, doing the things her sisters and friends giggled about—and had touched herself, trying to recreate the feelings he’d brought her.
Perhaps the breakfast room is not the place to be thinking about masturbation.
Point well taken.
He wasn’t at breakfast, and she was greatly disappointed. Had he forgotten their plans for the morning? Had he slept late? Theyhadbeen awake later than usual.
The only other person who joined her for breakfast was Tiffany, who was smirking widely enough to tell Olive something rather special must’ve happened.
“Do not tell me about it,” she warned her new friend.
Tiffany startled. “Tell you what?”
“Whatever has you humming and grinning. Do not think I failed to notice that happy little dance you just managed while holding a kipper.”
“Last night, I?—
Glaring, Olive clamped her hands over her ears. “La-la-la!” she shouted. “Do not make me jealous!”
The other woman burst into laughter, and waved her non-kippered-fingers until Olive lowered her hands. “I knew there was a reason I forced my sister awake at this ungodly hour to rush over here to Dumpkins. It wasobviouslyin order to arrive early enough to see the gentlemen riding out.”
Oh, that was right; Tiffany and her sister Bonnie lived close enough that they didn’t have rooms here at the estate. But the rain sluicing down the windows must have made travel miserable.
Still, Olive was curious as she served herself. “The gentlemen were riding out in this weather?”
“One of them, at least,” Tiffany sighed dreamily. “The Duke of Cashard.” The way she drawled the words made the man’s title sound like an illicit dessert. “I suppose dukes do not care about the weather.”
“So you have eyes for our resident duke, hmm?” Olive focused on her breakfast, amused by the other woman’s fawning. “I found him to be cold and aloof.”
“Andrich.” Tiffany sat up straight, beaming. “Mother has said I am beautiful enough to snag the attention of a duke or, barring that, an earl or viscount.”
Olive, raised to tell the truth, nodded begrudgingly. “Youarequite stunning.” Tiffany’s blonde hair and flawless complexion created quite the perfect image. “And I believe there is a viscount in attendance?”
This last was said with nonchalance, as if she hadn’t memorized every tidbit about Phineas’s family that he had shared last night.
“Oh yes, Lysander Oliphant!” Tiffany nodded eagerly. “He must be the most handsome man I have ever seen, and so debonair! I have not spoken with him, but Ihaveadmired the cut of his trousers.”
The open and honest way she admitted something so naughty had Olive giggling into her tea. Tiffany was the daughter of awidowed baroness, who clearly wanted more for her daughter, but the girl had an honesty and openness Olive could admire, even if shewasslightly jealous of Tiffany’s beauty.
Because the other woman’s mother was right; Tiffanywasbeautiful enough to attract a duke or a viscount with her beauty alone. Pale angels were all the rage with Society these days, unlike quiet dark wallflowers…
Phineas thinks olives are delicious.
Oh yes.
