Lord Bradford’s shoulders slumped in defeat as he yelled after the butler, “Send word to Evans my butler and have him inform my mother that I have returned. I imagine she may have been concerned.”
Benson bowed slightly, then left to finish his assigned tasks.
Bradford glanced at Nathanial and rolled his eyes. Nathanial just laughed. “What happened?” he asked. “Did you kill them or will I have to?”
“Not if I get ’em first,” Jocko said as he pulled Olivia into his arms. “You all right, Miss?” he asked her, wanting her to look him in the eye and tell him the truth. When she did, the old Breton visibly relaxed.
“Well boy?” he asked Lord Bradford. “Answer the man, did you kill them or am I going to have to find them and wring their necks.”
Bradford glanced down at his feet for a moment and slowly shook his head. “No, I only wounded one, he might succumb later. The other two got away. It was either that or leave Olivia by the side of the road and pursue her attackers. I thought it best to remain with her.”
“Wise choice,” Nathanial said as he nodded his approval.
“Yes, the correct decision,” Warwick added.
Jocko held his stare for a long moment, his lips turned down in a frightful frown. At last, though, he reluctantly nodded. “Yes, that was the best move.”
Olivia watched as Bradford straightened up as if a heavy weight had been lifted from his shoulders. The man had truly been worried that he had made the wrong decision, she suddenly realized with a shock. All this time, it had probably been eating at his insides and she had not even been aware.
Men, she would never understand them.
As the group moved into the parlor, a thousand questions were asked and a hundred hugs given. Olivia sighed with pure contentment. She was home. The most important people in her world were safe and happy.
As they entered the study, Lady Weston, Alice’s mother, used her cane to slowly stand up.
“You’re home,” she said as she closely examined her.
Olivia’s insides tightened into a small ball of worry. Lady Weston did not look pleased with her return. A fact that surprised her, she and the older woman had always gotten on so well. She would have thought she would have been overjoyed. Instead, she looked as if she had just eaten a basket of lemons.
“Welcome home, my dear,” the older woman said as she took her hands and gave them a welcoming squeeze. “I am so happy you are safe.”
Olivia searched the other woman’s face with interest. Something bad was going to happen. She just knew it. But before she could explore her concerns, she was pulled into a dozen different conversations. What had happened? Why? They wanted to know every detail.
As she told them, she looked across the room and caught Bradford studying her, a glass of whiskey in his hand, a serious frown on his brow. Lady Weston continued to frown as well. What was wrong? she wondered.
At last the questions were answered and the room finally began to settle down to some kind of normal.
It was at this moment that Lady Weston stepped forward. She leaned heavily on her cane as she gave Olivia a sad look of condolence.
“I am afraid we have an issue yet to be dealt with,” she said with a firm resignation.
Everyone stopped talking and looked at Lady Weston with expectation.
“Unfortunately, Miss Olivia is compromised.” The old woman said.
Amanda gasped, Alice shook her head, “Mother, now is not the time.”
“Yes, it is,” Lady Weston said forcibly. “The sooner we deal with it, the better. And don’t tell me that no one will ever know. This is London. Everyone will know before they sit down to dinner. If they don’t already. Between Caldwell’s inquiries. Your rush back to this house even in your condition,” she said, addressing Lady Alice. “The servants have told everyone up and down the street by now. Neighbors saw them enter the house. No, believe me, everyone knows what happened.”
“Really Lady Weston,” Nathanial said. “I can assure you…”
“No, you can’t,” the old woman replied. “You can buy a lot of things, Caldwell. But you cannot buy a young woman’s reputation. Of course, it is not Olivia’s fault. But that does not change the fact that she was abducted and taken from her family. People are monsters, so of course, they will assume the worse. Even more so in this case because it will remove Olivia from the field and can be used against you in business.”
Everyone in the room continued to stare at her, the mood suddenly oppressive and heavy.
“I am sorry,” Lady Weston continued, “but Olivia will receive no invitations to balls. She will not be cut directly, but she will not be included in our world. No mother wants an heir that might not be her son’s.”
“Mother,” Alice gasped.
Olivia’s heart lurched. Was it really all over. Was she to spend the rest of her life as a spinster all because someone she didn’t even know had tried to abduct her.
Lady Weston continued to frown. “I believe in telling the truth. And while Caldwell’s wealth might buy her a husband. It won’t be someone high in the ton. I’m sorry my dear. So, so sorry.”
“I don’t want a husband bought and paid for,” Olivia said. “If I wanted that, I could have had any of a dozen.”
The hollow sadness was finally beginning to sink in. Of course, she would find a way around this problem. But for the moment, she allowed herself to feel just how much things had changed. It wasn’t fair but deep in her heart she knew that Lady Weston was correct. The ton was ruthless and so judgmental. They ached to find any flaw, any weakness, especially for people like herself and her brother. Commoners who had tried to rise above their station in life.
“This is ridiculous,” Amanda said. “There is an entire world out there that does not revolve around the English aristocracy.”
“Yes,” Lady Weston said. “But that is no longer Olivia’s world. She has created a new world inside the ton. And it is always hard to go backwards. Those with titles will not accept her. They can’t risk the scandal. Those without titles will always be questioned. Did they marry such damaged goods for some of Caldwell’s money? It could be the only reason.”
Olivia felt her world shift under her feet. There was no solution. People would always assume the worst. There would be whispers and looks of doubt. She would always be an outsider.
And Lady Weston was right. She could no longer return to the world of Merchants and Bankers. There would always be the knowledge that she had failed in the ton and returned to their world. Again, the whispers, this time joined with looks of derision and happiness at her failure. In addition to which, she well knew that the English Middle class could be even more judgmental when it came to moral expectation.
No, her world was truly ruined.
Lord Bradford cleared his throat and stepped forward. “There is but one solution,” he said as he took another sip of his whiskey, “I will have to marry her.”
Chapter Nine
“WHAT?” Olivia yelled, unable to believe what she had just heard. Her mind frantically scrambled to understand.
The rest of the room froze. Only Lady Weston smiled slightly as she nodded.
Lord Bradford gave Olivia a quick look of apology then turned to Nathanial. “It is the only way,” he told her brother. “I thought about this while I raced after her last night. I well knew this could be a concern.”
“What?” Olivia said again, softer this time. “You were thinking about this and you didn’t discuss it with me.”
Lord Bradford sighed heavily, as if he were dealing with a less than intelligent person who needed things explained in detail.
“I thought it best not to deal with a problem until I knew for certain that it was a problem. I did have higher priorities at the time.”
Olivia’s brow furrowed in confusion. “No,” she said. “I’d rather die a lonely spinster.”
Lord Bradford winced. Amanda gasped at her sharp words. But Olivia didn’t care. This was h
er life they were talking about. She refused to be forced into marrying someone such as Lord Bradford. The man didn’t even like her. How could he think to marry her? Her insides quaked with fear.
The thought of spending the rest of her life being tied to a man that she knew despised her would destroy her soul. Especially this man.
“No,” she said as she slowly shook her head. “There must be a better way.”
The room grew quiet as each of them tried to come up with something better. Lord Bradford stood alone in the corner. Probably regretting his earlier proposal, she thought. Even now, the man must be desperately hoping that someone would come up with a better solution.
“You could do worse than marrying this one,” Jocko said with a nod to Lord Bradford.
Olivia almost gasped. Even Jocko had abandoned her.
No, she thought. How would that be any better than being a spinster? Besides, what of the wedding night? Suddenly, her stomach erupted with butterflies. Marriage would mean that she would be expected to perform wifely duties. In bed. In his bed.
“It need not be a real marriage,” Lady Weston said as if reading her mind. “Many in the ton spend their lives apart. Coming together once or twice a year for some formal event. A public appearance. The rest of the time, living their own lives.”
“I am in no need of an heir,” Lord Bradford said to her. “So that need not be of a concern. Joseph or his sons can inherit.”
Olivia’s face drained of all warmth. He didn’t want her in his bed. How could they be talking like this? In the open. About something so personal. So private. Yet they treated it as if they were discussing a broodmare’s future prospects.
“No,” she said again, softer this time.
Nathanial slowly shook his head as he stepped forward. Resting both hands on her shoulder he looked deep into her eyes. “It is your choice,” he said warmly. “But, do not dismiss it too quickly. It might very well be the best option you have.”
She looked up at her brother and desperately wished her mother was still here. She would never force her into something like this.
Turning, she studied Lord Bradford and realized that half the women in Britain would love to be in her shoes. Handsome, rich, brave, dashing. Everything a woman could want. Yet, she just couldn’t see it. He hated her. Why was he doing this? Why had he put her in this position?
He didn’t put her in this position, she realized. Those men who had abducted her had. He was once again offering to rescue her. She couldn’t do that to him. She couldn’t ruin his life.
“I don’t know,” she whispered.
The room grew very silent. The soft crackle of the fire the only noise to let them know that time was passing.
No, she refused to do this. Turning to Bradford she studied him for a moment then said.
“Very well, I will marry you.”
The words had no sooner left her mouth than she realized what she had done. Her intention had been to refuse him again. Yet the words had seemed to pour out of her mouth without any kind of control. As if some deeply hidden part of her had spoken before she could stop it.
Amanda squealed and pulled her into a quick hug.
Lord Bradford nodded to her, placed his glass of whiskey on the mantle as he turned to leave.
“Where are you going?” Olivia snapped at him, suddenly terrified of being alone with her family.
He stopped, halfway out the door. “To get a special license and to inform my mother. She is going to be rather surprised.” He hesitated for a moment. “Please send the doctor around when he arrives. And Saturday, I should think,” he asked Nathanial. “Here?”
Olivia stared at him, the man was treating her wedding as if he was organizing a card game.
Nathanial nodded, giving his friend a smirk. Warwick stepped up next to Bradford and draped an arm around his shoulders, being careful of his wound.
“I’ll walk with you,” he said. “We can make arrangements about your payment.”
Nathanial laughed.
Olivia frowned as she tried to figure out that last statement, but the two men departed and she felt her world grow a little emptier. How had this happened and what did it all mean? And why couldn’t Bradford have stayed a little longer to help her figure it all out?
.o0o.
The Fifth Earl of Bradford felt as if a mountain had fallen in on him. How had he gotten himself in this situation? The woman despised him and he had agreed to shackle himself to her for the rest of their lives. What had he been thinking?
Warwick chuckled as they walked towards the Earl’s house. “Tell me the truth, did you fall off your horse last night? Hit your head? Perhaps that explains it. You do realize what you have done, don’t you?”
Bradford shot him a frown then picked up his pace a little.
“You marrying Olivia Caldwell. You must be insane,” Warwick continued.
A sharp anger flared inside of Bradford as he stopped and turned to face Warwick, pulling him to a halt in the middle of the sidewalk.
“Listen, Warwick,” he said. “That young woman will soon be my wife. I will not have her disparaged in any way. Are we understood?”
Lord Warwick smiled widely and stepped back, holding up his hands in surrender. “You will hear nothing but high praises from me concerning Olivia Caldwell. I believe the woman to be of excellent character. Beautiful. And very intelligent.”
“Then why didn’t you offer to marry her?”
“Because the thought never occurred to me,” Lord Warwick said as they began walking again. “I find it more than strange that it occurred to you. It is not that I believe Miss Olivia lacking in any way. It is the thought of you two together. A more disjointed pair I cannot imagine.”
Lord Bradford sighed heavily. “I know. I can’t imagine it either.”
The two continued to walk together. Bradford appreciated his friend's silence. He was allowing him time and distance to work through the problem.
“As Lady Weston said, you could always send Olivia to Basingstoke. She to reside in the country, you here in London. It would be one way to avoid the daily explosions between you two.”
Bradford slowly shook his head. “Can you imagine Olivia alone at Basingstoke? She would be bored to death within a fortnight. Either that or I would find the estate completely reworked, my tenants threatening to abandon me and my Earldom in serious distress.”
Warwick laughed. “Or more likely, your estates would be running more efficiently. Your profits would be up and your tenants much happier.”
Bradford shuddered. “That would be so much worse. The woman would be even more insufferable. There is nothing she likes more than being right and constantly reminding every one of the fact.”
Warwick laughed, “Yes, well, it is a shame you two could not work in tandem. The both of you working together would accomplish remarkable things.”
Bradford pondered his friend's words. While possibly true, it would never come to pass. Olivia would never agree to see the world the way he did. No, his life was to be a constant struggle from this point forward.
After another block of walking, they stopped outside his home. Soon to be Olivia’s home, he realized as a sudden dread crawled down his spine.
“There is one good thing to come out of this,” Warwick said with a quick smile.
“What is that?” Bradford asked with idle curiosity, from his perspective, there was nothing of value.
Warwick smiled and said, “I win our wager.”
Bradford sighed heavily, “I would pay twice as much to avoid the situation.”
Warwick laughed and reached up to slap his friend on the back before obviously remembering his wound and holding off.
“Well, I have seen you safely home, now I am off to see someone who might have a word about our possible kidnappers.”
Bradford balked for a moment, but before he could object Warwick continued, “You let us find them, then you can finish them. I realize this is personal now. Your wound.
Your wife, of course. You should be the one to end it. But let Nathanial, Jocko, and I find them for you. Consider it a wedding present.”
The Earl of Bradford hesitated for a moment. The thought of anyone else being involved in this matter rubbed him the wrong way. It was his responsibility now. He should be the one to protect Olivia and avenge her honor. But he would allow Warwick to find them for him. Besides, he was going to be rather busy over the next few days.
“Thank you,” he said to his friend. “And can I expect you there on Saturday, to stand with me.”
Warwick nodded somberly. “It is the least I could do. It would be an honor.”
The two friends shook hands, neither of them willing to admit just how important their friendship was.
Taking a deep breath, Lord Bradford started up the steps. Now to address the real problem before him. His mother.
That familiar scent of bee’s wax and mint greeted him as he stepped in. The smell that would always mean home to him.
For some reason, the memory of Olivia’s lavender perfume jumped into his mind. His brow furrowed. Why was he remembering that now?
The house itself was quiet. Joseph had taken rooms in the city. Brantley was still off at Cambridge, studying for the law. Glancing at the clock at the other end of the entrance way, he saw that it was getting close to time for her afternoon tea. That meant she would be in the parlor.
Turning, he started that way when Evans stepped out of the room and smiled. “Welcome home My Lord,” he said. “We received word that you had returned and had been successful in retrieving Miss Olivia.”
Lord Bradford smiled to himself. The man must be approaching sixty. As bald as a hairless cat, a slightly sloped back bent with age, but eyes that brought happiness into the world. The man filled his earliest memories. That smile. That constant show of positive support.
It was obvious that Evans was proud of him. A fact that made him feel comfortable and confident. Evans had always been the one constant in his life. Not afraid to guide him away from the pitfalls of life.
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