Page 74

At last, he broke the silence.

"I should apologize for my uncle," James said, his gaze remaining ahead as they followed the path.

Olivia looked toward him, surprised by the sudden change of subject.

"For what he said about Felix," he continued, his jaw tightening slightly. "Hubert is old, and he still possesses some old-fashioned ideas."

Olivia merely nodded, though a small part of her remained irritated. She knew Hubert had apologized, and she knew James had defended Felix, but the comment had still lodged somewhere painful inside her. Felix was not a curiosity or a problem to be explained. He was a baby who deserved to be loved.

"I accept your apology," she said quietly, adjusting her cloak as the breeze moved through the trees.

Yet the subject of Hubert's question had reminded her of something far more troubling.

Olivia slowed her steps, watching James carefully. "What about the threatening notes?" she asked.

James immediately became still. "They are my burden," he replied, his voice quiet but firm.

Olivia frowned. "That is not an answer."

He resumed walking, apparently determined to leave the matter behind, but Olivia followed him. "James," she insisted, catching up with him, "I want to know what is going on."

He glanced at her with an expression that warned her not to continue, but Olivia had never been particularly talented at obeying warnings.

"You are my husband," she said, and the word made her cheeks burn.

It sounded strange coming from her lips because they were not husband and wife in the ordinary sense. There had been no courtship, no long engagement, no tender promises exchanged before their marriage. There had been a baby, an escape, an arrangement and a desperate journey to Gretna Green. Yet despite all of that, the word remained true.

She looked away briefly before continuing, "Whatever burden you are carrying affects me now. Is it about Felix? Is someone threatening to expose him?"

James's expression softened slightly, though his silence made her increasingly anxious.

"No," he said at last. "I do not think it is."

Olivia stared at him. "What do you mean, you do not think it is?"

James drew a slow breath and looked toward the waterfall. "The notes began after I inherited the title," he explained. "Felix was not in the picture then."

Olivia's stomach tightened. If the notes had begun before Felix had entered their lives, then the danger was far older than she had realized.

"So?" she pressed, stepping closer. "If it is not about Felix, what are they about?"

James remained silent, and Olivia could see the battle taking place behind his eyes. She had become accustomed to his reserve, to the way he locked his emotions away before anyone could reach them, but this was different. This was fear, or something close to it, and the realization sent a chill through her.

"You cannot simply tell me that someone is threatening you and then expect me to pretend it does not matter," she said, her voice gentler now. "I deserve to know what kind of danger my husband is facing."

James looked at her then, truly looked at her, and Olivia wished for one moment that she had not asked. There was something in his expression that made the world around them seem suddenly colder.

"I was never meant to be the heir," he said quietly.

Olivia frowned, trying to understand. "But you inherited the title."

James nodded. "I did." She thought of everything he had told her about his father's will, the trustees, and the condition requiring him to produce an heir before the estate could be reunited. "Is this about the heir clause?" she asked, searching his face. "Is someone trying to stop you from fulfilling it?"

"I do not know," James replied, shaking his head slowly. Olivia waited, her heart pounding harder with every second. He looked away for a moment, as though gathering the courage to say something he had spent years refusing to speak aloud. When he finally turned back toward her, his blue eyes were colder than she had ever seen them. "It has nothing to do with the heir clause."

Olivia's breath caught. "Then what?" she whispered, unable to keep the fear from her voice.

James stood perfectly still, his face unreadable, and for one terrible moment Olivia wondered whether she had pushed him too far. Then he spoke, his voice so quiet that she almost wished she had not heard him at all.