“Where is she?” Olivia tried to smooth the worst of the untidiness but it was a losing battle.
“In the library, madam.”
“I should go and change.” She was dusty from the journey and her skirt was stained after brushing against pollen-laden blossom in the hedgerows.
“The young lady has waited over an hour, madam.”
Olivia turned away from the mirror and met Latham’s grave eyes. Her imperturbable butler desperately wanted this chit out of the house but was too discreet to say so.
“Ah. Thank you. In that case, she’ll have to bear my travel dirt. I’ll go right in.”
He bowed. “I believe that is best, madam.”
Foreboding tinged Olivia’s curiosity as she went through to the charming ground floor room she rarely used. Her life in this house was mainly confined to the decadent salons of sin upstairs.
At her entrance, a heavily veiled figure in a black gown sprang up from where she sat near the unlit fire. She was small and round. Under all that bombazine, it was hard to tell much else about her.
“I’m Olivia Raines. I believe you wish to see me.” Olivia peered beneath the layers of material.
How on earth had Latham worked out this woman shouldn’t be here? She could be anyone from the Duchess of Kent to a scrubber woman. Well, perhaps not a scrubber woman. Her overpowering clothing reeked expense.
With an emphatic gesture, the woman raised gloved hands and flung back the veiling.
Olivia’s belly clenched with a bilious mixture of horror and shock. Latham was right to be worried.
The girl stood proudly and glared at Olivia with open hatred. “I’m Roma Southwood, Lord Erith’s daughter.”
Olivia ignored the girl’s animosity and dropped into a brief curtsy. It was only to be expected that a virgin of good family should despise a harlot. Those were the rules of the world they lived in. But what in heaven’s name was that virgin doing in the harlot’s house? And how could Olivia get her home without igniting an almighty scandal?
“I know who you are, my lady,” she said calmly.
“Then you’ll know why I’m here.” The girl vibrated with contempt.
“No. But I know you need to leave. You’ve been in my house far too long already.”
“It’s not your house. It’s my father’s house. You’re his whore. On whom he sates his disgusting passions.”
In spite of the gravity of the situation, Olivia suppressed a spurt of amusement. Young Lady Roma had an adolescent taste for drama. The funereal thickness of her apparel and the severely pulled back hairstyle made it clear she’d arrived anticipating a scene of operatic proportions.
“Don’t you dare laugh at me.” The girl's fists clenched at her sides and she took a threatening step toward Olivia. “You’re nothing but a…a low-born trollop who spreads her legs for any blackguard with coin to pay for the dubious privilege.”
“Perfectly true,” Olivia said with equanimity, refusing to rise to the theatrical rhetoric.
At Olivia’s easy acceptance of the insult, color rose in Lady Roma's cheeks and lent her a genuine beauty. She was pretty in a very English way, with fine features and blue eyes and shining brown hair. Olivia could only imagine Erith’s daughter took after Joanna. Julian was dark as a Gypsy.
“I…”
Olivia took pity on her. And remembered what was vitally important here. This was Julian’s beloved, troubled daughter, who deserved all her care and protection.
“Lady Roma, if anyone discovers you visited your father’s mistress, your reputation will be in tatters. You must go. My servants will call a hackney to take you home, and you can leave by the back garden. My advice is to get out a few streets before you reach Erith House so nobody connects you with this address.”
The girl’s jaw set in a stubborn line. For a fleeting moment she looked like her father in one of his more difficult humors. “I’m not going until I’ve said my piece.”
“Please listen,” Olivia said urgently. “Perhaps you haven’t considered the risks of coming here. Pardon my frankness, but it was fatally foolish. You have a wonderful marriage awaiting you, you’re the darling of society. But you could lose everything if it becomes public knowledge that you’ve spoken to me. The longer you stay, the more danger you’re in.”
“I’m doing no harm,” the girl said sulkily.
“Your world won’t see it the same way. For your own sake, for your father’s sake, please go. You can send me a letter. I promise I’ll read it.”
“I want to tell you face-to-face. I want you to see how you’re ruining my life. And my brother’s life. And my father’s life.”
Olivia grimly realized she wasn’t going to shift the girl until this distasteful encounter had run its course. All she could do was make sure it ended as quickly as possible and with no negative consequences.
“Won’t you sit down?” She gestured to one of the graceful Sheraton chairs near the window.
Lady Roma visibly bristled. “Why?”
Olivia sighed. Once, she might have grown into just such a self-absorbed chit. Her father had been a gentleman and wealthy enough to indulge his only daughter. But what had happened to her since placed an unbridgeable chasm between her and this spoiled, headstrong girl.
She kept her voice level. “Because I’ve been traveling all day. If a girl young enough to be my daughter plans to lecture me, I’d at least like to be comfortable.”
“I prefer to stand.”
“Really?” Olivia subsided into the chair. “You’ll forgive my rudeness then.”
The girl seemed oblivious to any irony in the words.
The door opened and Latham entered bearing a tray. “I took the liberty of arranging refreshments, madam.” He bowed to Lady Roma. “My lady.”
“I don’t want tea, Latham,” she snapped, confirming Olivia’s suspicion that Latham was well acquainted with her unwelcome caller.
“Thank you, Latham. I do. The carriage ride was long and dusty.”
“Very good, madam.” He didn’t react to Lady Roma’s discourtesy. While Roma stood in mutinous silence beside the fireplace, he set out the tea things on a table in front of Olivia.
After Latham left, Olivia poured a cup of tea and looked up at Roma. “Are you sure you don’t want some?”
Roma scowled. “I didn’t come here to drink tea!”
Olivia smiled again. Had she ever been so young? She didn’t think so.
“No, you came for a row.”
“I came to ask that you do the honorable thing. Not that a woman like you understands honor.”
“I wonder that you know anything about a woman like me,” Olivia said calmly. Ignoring Roma’s glower, she poured a second cup and held it out. “Do you want lemon?”
Grudgingly, Roma shook her head. “No, thank you. Just a little sugar and milk.”
With a pout that Olivia guessed was habitual, Lady Roma accepted the cup and, clearly not noticing what she did, sat on the chair across the tea table. She even tugged off her black gloves and untied and removed her bonnet.
Olivia sipped her tea, dearly wishing it was a brandy. And wouldn’t that shock proper Lady Roma? Although probably it would only confirm that her father shared a den of iniquity with his wanton mistress.
“How did you find out about me? A girl of good breeding shouldn’t be aware of her father’s liaisons. She shouldn’t be aware of anyone’s liaisons.”
“I’m not a fool,” Roma said sullenly, and lifted her cup to take a substantial mouthful. “You’re notorious. And after that disgraceful performance you and my father put on at Lord Peregrine Montjoy’s ball, your affair has been the tattle of town.”
Olivia had known her appearance with Erith would cause a flutter in her own disreputable world. She hadn’t realized it might reach the ears of a sheltered virgin of the highest estate.
“I can only apologize.” She put down her tea and frowned. “Your father will be distressed to know people are telling tales.�
��
She extended a plate of sandwiches, expecting a rebuff, but Lady Roma took one readily enough. If she’d been waiting more than an hour, she must be famished.
“I wanted to know.” Lady Roma devoured her sandwich and took another, then a mouthful of tea. “I’ve been quizzing the servants.”
Olivia stiffened. “That’s not suitable behavior.”
Roma slammed the delicate china cup down on the tea tray so hard that liquid sloshed into the saucer. “How would you know? You’re nothing but a doxy.”
“I know a little about manners,” Olivia said quietly. This time the rebuke pierced the girl’s anger and she had the grace to blush again.
“It’s all over London that you’re going to Vienna with him.”
Olivia sighed. “Lady Roma, forgive me for saying so, but none of this is your concern. If you’ll take my advice, you’ll go home, prepare for your wedding, and forget we ever met. Certainly you must never come here again.”
“Why should you care? You’ve done nothing but cause trouble ever since my father met you.”
“Sadly, I think he’d agree with you.” Olivia tried and failed to lighten the atmosphere. She became serious again. “Please tell me what you want, then you really must go. I assume you haven’t just come here to chastise me for my sins.”
“No. I’ve come here to…” The girl straightened and stared hard at Olivia. Her blue eyes were full of desperate hurt and unhappiness. She took a deep breath then spoke in a rush. “If you retain even a shred of decency, you’ll send my father back to his family.”
She was so young and vulnerable, Olivia couldn’t help but think of Leo. “I haven’t taken your father, my dear.” She reached forward to touch the girl’s hand. She expected Lady Roma to withdraw in horror but the girl just stared at her with a stubborn misery that made Olivia ache with compassion. “He loves you very much.”
“No, he doesn’t. He loves you. But you can’t have him. He came back to make peace with his family. You should leave him to us. What’s one man more or less to you? You’ll find a new lover quickly enough. But he’s the only father I’ve got.”
It was the wail of an overindulged child. But a child whose heart was breaking. “He has a right to his own life, Lady Roma.”
“No, he belongs to us. To William and me.”
“You’re about to be married, to establish your own family.”
“I want my children to know their grandfather. Better than I ever knew my father.”
“He’s going back to Vienna anyway.”
“Only because we haven’t had a chance to ask him to stay. He’s always here with you in this house.”
“That’s not true.” Although Olivia was guiltily aware that she’d taken over Julian’s thoughts the way he’d taken over hers. That’s what happened when you loved someone.
“It is true. I hate that my father cares more for his strumpet than he does for his children. I hate that he shares himself with you and not with the family who have longed for his return for so many years. He’s here yet he’s still absent.” She burst into tears.
“Oh, child, don’t take on so.” With her free hand, Olivia fished in her pocket and passed the distraught girl a creased handkerchief.
Lady Roma’s shaking fingers closed around the pollen-stained scrap of lace and she pressed it to her face. Her voice was choked. “I had to see you, to tell you to let him go.”
Olivia went down on her knees beside Lady Roma and took the girl’s hand. “It will all turn out right, you’ll see.”
Lady Roma took a shuddering breath and stared at Olivia through reddened eyes. “How can it? He’ll go away and never come back. Just like he did when Mamma died.”
“My dear, I know how hard it is for you.”
Then just as she would if she’d found Leo so distressed, she put her arms around the girl’s shaking shoulders and drew her down to rest against her. She had no right to touch this child. But the sheer scale of Lady Roma’s sorrow made it impossible to resist extending comfort.
“I just want my father back. That’s all I’ve ever wanted.” Lady Roma clung sobbing to Olivia.
“I know, I know, sweetheart,” Olivia crooned as she’d crooned to Leo when he’d been a baby.
The girl wept with an extravagance that made Olivia want to cry herself. The poor child had lost her mother when she was far too young, then her father had abandoned her. Julian was aware of his wrongs against his family, but Olivia suspected he had no idea of the depth of unhappiness he’d caused.
How could she blame him for what he’d done? He’d been little more than a child himself when Joanna died and crippled with grief. He’d been in no fit state to take over two infant children. Whereas his sister was already married with a family of her own.
Eventually, Lady Roma’s wild storm of emotion subsided. She pulled away and wiped at her eyes with her hands. It was such an intrinsically childish action that Olivia’s heart was touched anew.
How could this girl contemplate marriage in a few weeks? She barely seemed mature enough to be out of the schoolroom.
Olivia reached behind her and picked up the now cold tea. “Here, have a sip. It will help. I’ll call for more in a moment.”
Any fight had drained from the girl. And thank goodness, with it, the urge to insult the woman she saw as competition for her father’s attention.
Lady Roma nodded and took the cup, lifting it to her lips. Her hand shook so badly, Olivia reached out to support it.
The girl took a gulp and choked. Olivia rose and put her arm around her shoulders through the brief fit of coughing. “Slowly. I have a feeling you’re an impetuous creature, my lady.”
The girl’s muffled giggle was still thick with tears. “You sound like Aunt Celia. I’m always in trouble for leaping before I look.” She sobered and studied Olivia with grave blue eyes. “You’re not what I expected.”
Olivia smiled and sat back. “A painted harpy with a cockney accent and a dress cut down to her knees?”
Lady Roma gave another choked giggle. “I’ve never met a wicked woman before. Well, not one acknowledged by everyone as wicked. Of course, I know about affairs within the ton.”
Olivia tried to frown but failed. “You listen to too much gossip, my lady.”
“I like to know what’s going on.” She put her cup down on its saucer and lifted her chin. “Thank you. You’ve been kinder than I deserve. I treated you with ill grace.”
“You were upset. With some justice. But I can’t—”
“Good God, Roma! What the hell are you doing here?”
Chapter 25
Julian filled the doorway, his high-top beaver hat in one hand, his cane in the other. An expression of unspeakable horror darkened his handsome face.
Olivia’s heart rose to clog her throat. She felt like a child caught in some forbidden act. But his incendiary rage swiftly banished the harmless image.
He looked like he wanted to kill someone.
“Papa…” Lady Roma bounded to her feet with an ungainly movement that briefly reminded Olivia of the way she sat a horse. As she lurched up, she knocked the tea table and the tray went flying.
Olivia leaped aside as tea, milk, lemon, and the drying remains of food shot everywhere. With a resounding crash, china smashed against furniture and the floor.
“Oh, heavens!” The girl wrung her hands as she surveyed the disaster. She glanced in panic at her father, then back to the shattered remnants of their tea.
“It doesn’t matter.” Olivia rushed across to put her arm around Lady Roma. She glared at the tall, furious man who hadn’t shifted from the door. “Lord Erith, you’re terrifying the child. For heaven’s sake, come in and sit down.”
“Terrifying her?” The deep voice that could be as warm and caressing as sable was icy with barely contained temper. “I’d like to take her over my knee and spank her like the irresponsible devil spawn she is.”
“Papa, please…” Lady Roma’s eyes filled wit
h tears and she huddled closer to Olivia.
“And will that help?” Olivia forced a note of command and tightened her protective hold. “Leave the girl until you calm down.”
“Calm down?” His nostrils flared with an aristocratic disdain that cut her like a razor. He took a few emphatic strides into the room. “I find my daughter in cozy conversation with my mistress, the most infamous jade in London, a lightskirt whose exploits are the toast of every tavern in the land, and you expect me to like it? Damn it all, Olivia, this is outside of enough.”
She flinched back a step away from the trembling girl. He was in a rage and prone to say things he didn’t mean. Nonetheless savage hurt arced through her.
He spoke to her like he’d speak to a whore. A whore he despised.
She strove for balance, for reason. He had a perfect right to his outrage. She was a notorious demimondaine. She’d done shameful and wicked things. His daughter shouldn’t have come within a thousand miles of her.
That didn’t mean she appreciated hearing him say so aloud. And in front of an audience.
She forced a rebuke through numb lips. “Roaring like an angry bear isn’t going to improve matters.”
“How the Devil did she even get here?” He shot Olivia a killing look. “Blast you, did you ask her to come?”
Olivia felt the blood seep from under her skin. She fumbled for the back of a chair. Her legs alone wouldn’t support her. The room receded as shocked distress left her dizzy and lost.
He didn’t know her at all.
How could he claim to love her yet have such a poor opinion of her discretion or good sense? How could he imagine she’d endanger his daughter’s reputation? How could he claim to love her yet address her with such flaying contempt?
Her hand curled hard around the chair as she fought for control. Her answer emerged as a croak. “Of course I didn’t.”
He didn’t heed her vehement denial. With suppressed violence, he flung coat and cane to the sofa. “I cannot believe you encouraged my daughter in this featherbrained behavior. You must know the consequences could be calamitous. Or you would if you’d given the matter a moment’s reflection. You have a role in my life, madam. But you have no permission to insinuate yourself into private family business.”
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