“Oh, no!” one of the boys cried.
Oliver turned to the stream and watched one of his kettles flow down the stream. The water they collected would have been boiled in it.
Johnathan made a face of remorse as the rest of the party began to attack him with harsh words for his clumsiness. “I don’t know how it came untied. I thought I had it tight.”
Clive said, “Maybe we should do a lesson on rope tying. I know all about that.” He’d been tied up for years.
Oliver looked at him and nodded. His mind was miles away and back at his house. Was Belle making her list? Was she still there? They’d left her last evening. The boys had slept in the field not far from the house as a test to see if any of them would wish to stay back at the manor rather than journey on.
No one had wanted to stay back.
They were now some ways away.
Oliver had directed them toward freshwater while telling them what to look for as a guide. They had to learn to listen and be silent, to take note of the sloping hills, and whatever they did, they had to stay away from sitting water. Flowing water was safer.
“I’ll go back for another kettle,” Oliver said to Landcastle and Clive. They had another, but things would go faster with two.
Also, he wanted to see what Belle was up to. Though she’d told him she wasn’t planning anything, he knew better than to believe that.
He walked over to the riverbank and knelt next to Johnathan.
The dark-haired boy wouldn’t look at him. He was having a hard time. First, he’d cried at the inn and now he’d lost one of the group’s kettles.
Oliver grabbed his shoulder. “It’s just a kettle.”
“But it’s gone now,” Johnathan said.
“But you’re not, and that’s far more important than anything else.”
Johnathan looked up at him with wide blue eyes. He had sunspots across his cheeks and nose. He was a handsome lad and it warmed Oliver’s heart when he smiled.
Was it just him or did Johnathan look like Belle? It was the dark hair, Oliver realized. But the eyes were blue, like his own. What would a child of his and Belle’s look like? A sense of peace came over him as he stared into Johnathan’s eyes.
Like Nick, he’d feared becoming a father, but maybe he didn’t have to.
Oliver patted him on the shoulder and stood before his thoughts could get any wilder.
He looked at the group and said, “No one drown until I get back.”
Some of them laughed.
He turned to Noel. “Make sure they collect a great amount of water. We’ll not be by the stream tomorrow.” Usually, if one was fortunate to find water, they stayed close, but Oliver wanted the boys to see what it was like on the run for their lives.
He stopped himself from allowing the thought to grow. The woods always tempted him to fall into his father’s madness. He fought it. He often thought he could beat it, but then he was reminded that nothing was certain.
Time changed things and in a blink of an eye, all could be lost.
* * *
Belle read the document over again, making sure she understood every line.
It was a contract between Oliver and Gregory. Gregory had signed her body over to Oliver, though had made it clear that he owned no other part of her.
She was in Oliver’s mother’s room. She’d tried to stay out of it for most of the day, but eventually. she knew she had to return the necklace. The contract had been inside the porcelain jewelry box as though the paper itself were a treasure.
As though she were a treasure.
Yet she didn’t understand why Oliver would keep this paper and never act on it. What was the point? He still owned her for two more years, yet he’d allowed her to marry another man. He’d allowed her to have a lover.
Nothing made sense.
Why hadn’t he told her? Even if he weren’t going to act on it, she now understood why Gregory never made her sleep with another man again or himself.
She jumped when she heard footsteps in the hall. She knew they were Oliver’s even before he spoke. He was speaking to his valet, giving him instructions. Were they back already?
She heard him move around in the adjacent room. It had been that way when she’d lived here years ago. Knowing he slept on the other side of the wall had been soothing. It was no wonder she no longer feared the dark.
She suddenly heard rattling from the door that connected the room and before she could think, she hid behind the curtains.
Oliver walked in. She could see him through the material. The sun was at her back and left him in nearly perfect view.
He strolled to the jewelry box, opened it, and cursed. “Foster, find Lady Belle.” He picked up the wreath necklace she’d put in there earlier and fingered the jewel. He stared at it angrily and she wondered why it was so important that she wear it.
Did he see it at a collar? He did own her, after all.
Footfalls announced the valet’s return.
“She’s not in her room or any of the common rooms,” Foster said. “I could ask the footmen to check the grounds.”
Oliver continued to stare down at the necklace. He sighed. “No, Foster. That will be all. Please, close the door behind you.”
The servant obeyed.
Belle bit her lip and tried to calm her thumping heart.
“I know you’re in here,” Oliver said. “Come out.”
Belle didn’t move. Maybe he was speaking to someone else.
She knew the thought was foolish, but she wasn’t ready to face the truth.
He looked at her through the curtain. “Belle, come out.”
She peeked out at him. “How did you know I was here?”
“It’s your favorite room.” He dropped the necklace into the box, closed it, and then leaned down and sat on the vanity. “Also, you have something that belongs to me.”
Belle looked down at the paper in her hand. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because you didn’t need to know,” he said. “I never wanted that contract, but Gregory forced my hand. I wanted you freed completely, Belle. Freedom was what I told you I would get for you. You were free and still are free to live as you see fit. You make your own choices.”
She kept her distance. “Do I make my own choices? That’s a very different version of events than I remember. If I recall, you didn’t want me to marry Dunst.”
“Yet I didn’t stop you.”
“And only a few weeks ago you informed me that you planned to marry me off to the man you thought best for me.”
“I’d have made certain you agreed with the match.”
She pinched her lips. “I wouldn’t have agreed to the match because I didn’t agree to be matched. I said I didn’t want to marry.”
“You need a protector.”
“And is that not what you are?” Her heart was aching as a thought came to her. She waved the paper. “Is this why you’ve been so involved with my protection all these years? Because Gregory forced me upon you? Is that why you can see my house from your apartment? Is it why you’ve watched over me?”
He was there suddenly, and he snatched the paper from her. “I protect you because there is no one else to do it.”
“I have Shepard.”
“Shepard is lovely,” he said. “He’s like a pistol, good against casual offenses, but you need something stronger, someone stronger. What you need, Belle, is a cannon.”
“A cannon?”
“You need a man who isn’t afraid to be called a villain,” he said. “Someone who won’t shy away from doing what needs to be done.”
“That sounds dangerous.”
He stepped closer. “That’s exactly right. You need someone who’s a little bad because you don’t lead the usual life. You are friends with very dangerous people and you tend to get yourself into situations that require skills the common man doesn’t have.”
She backed away until her back hit the glass window.
He crowded her
. “Also, you’re beautiful and that alone has been putting you in danger for years.” He leaned into her ear. “It is your weakness and your strength. You wield it well, but it’s not enough.”
He pulled away and moved to the jewelry box. He folded the contract just as she’d found it and tucked it into its original spot before he closed it.
∫ ∫ ∫
4 3
* * *
“Why do you keep it?” Belle asked him.
Oliver kept his hands on the jewelry box. His eyes focused on the swirl of flowers against the china underneath his fingers. He couldn’t tell her the truth, the real reason he kept the contract.
He wanted her. A part of him knew his very soul needed her, but he couldn’t have her. There was too much between them. Too much anger and pain, most of it caused by him, because he couldn’t let go of the past.
He was just as paranoid as his father, only Oliver didn’t fear someone trying to kill him. He feared Belle. He feared giving her the power to kill his will to live. He’d been hurt by her before and his life had been forever changed.
He would do anything for her, which ultimately made her dangerous to him.
“It is mine,” was all he said. He turned and found she was at his side.
She stared up at him. “I don’t think I’ll ever understand you.”
“There’s nothing to understand.” He picked up his mother’s necklace and placed it around Belle’s neck. She started away, but he gripped her neck with one hand and made her stay. “Since you’ve found the contract, there’s no reason to forbid you from this room anymore. You may sleep here if you wish.”
“This room is for the lady of the house. That is not me,” she said.
Redesigning his rooms was also a task for his wife, but he was allowing her to do it. “You’re purposefully being difficult.”
“As are you. Tell me why you want me to wear the necklace? Tell me what it means to you.”
“It means I’ve kept my word.”
She remained stiff in his grasp. Then she relaxed and sighed. “Fine. Collar me if you must.”
He did. He couldn’t stop the heat that stirred in his blood as he pulled his hand away and watched his family heirloom hang from her throat.
Her dress was far more modest than the one she wore the other day. Her breasts were covered, but her upper chest was out.
Unable to stop himself, he touched the edge of the jewel, right where it met her skin. He watched her shiver and was amazed at the color that rose over her.
Her voice was quiet, nearly weak. “You think me beautiful.”
He moaned in the back of his throat. It was neither a yes or no, but they both knew the answer to her question.
“Yet you don’t want me,” she said. “Am I some sort of prize then?”
“We’ve had this discussion before. I already told you that I want you.” He swept his finger up the jewel and to her shoulder. “That doesn’t mean it’s for the best.”
Her breath caught. “If you truly think that, you should stay away from me.”
He nodded but didn’t stop touching her.
Her face turned red. “And I should stay away from you.”
He didn’t acknowledge the words. He was too busy feeling her skin. What in the world did she use on it?
“This makes absolutely no sense,” she whispered. She was completely flushed. “Why does this keep happening to us?”
He had no answers for her. “Perhaps…”
A knock came to the door and a footman informed him of his grandmother’s arrival.
Belle looked troubled. She’d met his grandmother years ago.
Oliver groaned. He didn’t wish to see his grandmother but was glad they’d been interrupted. They were far too close to a bed for his liking. “I didn’t invite her here. She shouldn’t be aware that I’m in town.”
“I told her I was here.” She bit her lip and toyed with it. He was thankful when she stopped. “I wanted to speak to her.”
“Ah, so this was your little plan. This was why you stayed here instead of coming to the forest.”
She rolled her eyes. “Why do you always think me up to no good?”
“I didn’t say you were up to no good.” He cupped the back of her neck. “Usually, you’re up to the greater good, which then turns out very bad.”
“I should take off this necklace.”
“Don’t.”
Her eyes flashed wide. “Your grandmother might recognize it.”
“And if she does?” he asked. “It’s yours now. Tell her I gave it to you.” He could just imagine how the woman would react.
Belle pulled in a large breath. “You’re so confusing.”
“Why did you plan this meeting with my grandmother?”
Belle scrunched her nose. “To apologize. To tell her the truth.”
Oliver tsked. “See? There you go again, doing the wrong thing for the right reasons.”
“Oliver, I told her I was kidnapped, beaten, and left on your property to die. You and I both know that is not the truth. I want her to know the truth.”
“Why?”
“Because it was wrong to lie to her.” Her eyes filled with tears. “It was wrong to lie to you.”
Would she ever stop punishing herself for the past? Would he?
“Go greet my grandmother,” Oliver said. “But don’t tell her the truth.”
“What? Why?”
“Because I will tell her when I see fit.”
She grabbed his wrist. “Oliver, it was my lie. I should be the one—”
He squeezed the back of her neck. “Do what I say.”
Her eyes went wild with anger.
He sighed. “She likes you, but she loves me. She’ll forgive you if I ask her to. Let me tell her.”
Belle cooled and then relaxed. She closed her eyes and took another breath. “And what am I to say is the reason I invited her over then?”
“I’m sure you can think of something.” He dropped his hand. “Give her my love.”
“You’re not coming?”
“I’m not here. I have things to do.” If Oliver got swept into a conversation with the woman, he’d never make it back to the river before nightfall.
“You’re going back to the forest?” she said.
He nodded.
She walked around him and went to the door. Then she looked back at him. “What are we going to do, Oliver?”
He wasn’t sure how to answer that question, so he told her the truth. “I don’t know.”
She closed the door behind her.
∫ ∫ ∫
4 4
* * *
“Who are you?”
Belle looked over from the writing desk and saw an older woman standing by the entrance to Venmont’s drawing-room. She took in the woman’s fine clothes and regal bearings. She stood. “I’m Lady Belle.”
“Countess of Serveck. I am Venmont’s grandmother.” The woman narrowed her eyes. “Are you here to see Nicholas or Leo?”
She hadn’t met either of Oliver’s brothers, but she knew who they were. Oliver had told her about them. He’d also told her about his life and the man who’d raised him and the mother who hadn’t.
He hadn’t mentioned a grandmother in any of his stories, but she supposed the woman wouldn’t lie. The servants had let her into the house, so she had to be who she said she was.
She thought it strange that the countess would ask if she were here for one of her other grandsons. Did Oliver never have a woman over? Belle shouldn’t be here at all. It was a bachelor’s home and everything about Lady Serveck’s expression said she disapproved.
“Actually, I’m a guest of Lord Venmont’s.”
“A guest?” Lady Serveck’s eyes widened. “The marquess invited you into his home?”
Had the man never had a woman over before? Belle doubted that. Oliver was handsome. Belle could barely look at him without wanting to touch him. Thankfully, he didn’t mind her constant touch.
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Belle swallowed. She never had to deal with the mothers or grandmothers of the men she was trying to lure. While she was capable of charming women as well, she was nervous about this one. She was different because Oliver was different.
She cared for him.
Three weeks of his nearly undivided attention and Belle thought herself in heaven. She’d never had a friend like him before. He was so intelligent but far from being arrogant about it. He was kind, humble, yet powerful.
He was out in the woods today. He’d told her that before her arrival he’d rarely spent any time in the house. She’d changed that.
Belle never wanted to leave. She didn’t want to be a guest. She wanted to be Lady Venmont.
But that would never happen. Once Gregory’s enemies were dead, she’d have to return to the duke’s side.
Currently, she was writing a note to him, detailing everything she’d done for the day while he was gone. He’d suggested it and she’d agreed to do it.
Lady Serveck approached her and didn’t hide the fact that she was looking Belle over. Then finally, she smiled. “You’re a lady, you say? Who are your parents?”
Belle’s stomach turned with anxiety. She wanted this woman to like her, but she didn’t want to give her details that she’d yet to give Oliver.
“Oh, dear, you’re turning white. Sit before you faint.” Lady Serveck helped her to a chair. She took one close. “How did you come to be here?”
Belle told her what she’d told Oliver.
Lady Serveck was holding her hand by the end. Her face held sympathy.
Belle caught Oliver’s eyes over his grandmother’s shoulder.
Lady Serveck turned around. “Oliver, I just met your lovely friend Lady Belle. She nearly fainted when I entered. You were right to keep her here. She is in no shape to travel. You are not to let her leave until she is in full health, do you understand?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“And I do hope you gave her your mother’s chamber. It’s the only bearable room in the house.”
“I have.” He walked into the room, bringing in the scent of earth and sea with him. Where had he gone? What had he done?
Lady Serveck turned back to Belle and squeezed her hand. “My grandson will make everything right. Won’t you, Ollie?” she said without even looking at him.
The Marquess Who Kissed Me: (The Valiant Love Regency Romance) (A Historical Romance Book) Page 22
