by Vella, Wendy
She sipped the tea and then briefly closed her eyes, when they opened he knew he had won. He had buttoned her white nightdress to the neck and her hair hung in a long dark plat still tied with the black satin ribbon. She looked very young and fragile sitting against a pile of pillows but Will wasn’t fooled. The love of his life was about as fragile as a battalion of soldiers.
“I would ask you to listen to me fairly and without interruption and to know that I did what I believed needed to be done to secure my families future?”
“However misguided,” he added before taking a large mouthful of the hot water with lemon and honey the housekeeper had made him.
“Have you never made choices that were wrong, Lord Ryder, choices forced upon you when you had no other option?”
“This is not about me, Olivia, it’s about you,” Will said softly.
Her sigh was loud and the glare she directed his way was spoilt by a yawn.
“The carriage accident that hurt Bella and killed mother also injured my father,” she said. “And slowly the pain of losing his arm and my mother began to destroy his mind until some days he did not even recognize his own daughters. One day I took him his lunch and he was dead, lying back in his chair staring sightlessly at me as I ran towards him.”
Will didn’t speak, he wanted to, he wanted to tell her that she was here safe with him and that he would always care and protect her and her family from this day forward, yet he did not. He needed to hear everything and to do that he had to watch her closely, only then would he know if she was hiding anything from him.
She looked down into her cup before speaking again.
“I found a bottle of poison and a note and quickly put them into my pocket before my sisters arrived.”
My God, how could her father have done that to her?
She told him the rest then, about how they had been left without any money and how they had sold things to survive but that the money had not lasted long. She spoke of trying to keep up appearances so her sisters would have a future and then becoming a highwayman and the guilt associated with her actions. Her strength amazed him, the courage she had shown to keep her family safe and their reputations untarnished.
“When you saw Phoebe and I awaiting the stage to London we were going to see my cousin, the new Lord Langley.”
“Why did you need to see him?”
She told him about the letter and Lord Langley’s intentions of throwing them out of Willow Hall.
“Did he hurt you, Olivia? Was it he who left those marks on your breasts?” Will watched her eyes lower. “Everything,” he said, feeling the anger that had begun to subside rear its head again.
“He knew about father, had found the note and poison bottle. I—I had not destroyed them, you see. I hid them until I could and then forgot to do so.”
“What did he do to you?”
“He told me he would marry my lame sister, as no one else would, and he would treat her like a lady if I b—became his courtesan.”
“I’ll kill him!”
“No,” Livvy whispered as he said the words.
“Did he touch you, Livvy?
“Yes, a little, and he tried to… you know,” she whispered. “But I punched him in the jaw and then bit him hard.”
“Good girl,” Will said, thinking that what Lord Langley would get from him would leave him with more than a sore jaw.
“Are you still angry with me?” She whispered.
“Yes.”
“I’m s—sorry.”
He heard the tremor in her words and saw the glisten of a tear on one pale cheek.
“You’re crying now? After what you went through at the Derby and what you have just told me, it is my anger that makes you weep?” Lowering his cup Will moved to the bed and looked down at her.
“I—I know you are disappointed and angry with me and I fear my actions have lost your love,” Livvy said, holding his eyes. “B—but, Will, I—I would not change what I have done because I believed it was the only course open to me.”
“We will address your penchant for reckless behavior another time, for now I want to know why you think I no longer love you. Do you believe that I am so fickle that I can stop caring in a few hours just because you’ve angered me?”
“I’ve lied to people, stolen money from others and my father killed himself. Can you not understand how these things tarnish me?”
“You are the bravest, most beautiful woman I know, Olivia Langley.” Will needed to hold her close, so lifting her he then re-settled them both on the bed, resting her on his lap. “Only a strong woman could have done what you did, love, and no matter how I feel about the choices you’ve made, I cannot blame you for them. You did what you thought was necessary to keep your family safe.”
“I thought I had lost your love,” Livvy said, gripping his shirt tight.
“Never, Livvy, I could sooner stop breathing than loving you.”
“You were so angry with me.”
“I’m angry because the woman I love was in danger and I was not there to keep her safe. I’m angry that you confronted your cousin alone and he frightened and could have hurt you and I would not have known. But more importantly, I’m angry that you believed I would care about how your father died or that his suicide would in any way impact how I felt about you or your sisters.”
“But how was I to know how you would feel about father’s death? I no longer knew the man you had become, how could I trust you when you had left me before?”
“Perhaps in the beginning that was true, but later, after we had made love and you knew my feelings you should have told me them.”
Will took the sting out of his words by kissing the top of her head. Cupping the back of her neck he began to knead the muscles he knew must be aching.
“You broke my heart when you left, Will. Just waking up every day took so much effort for weeks and weeks. Hiding it from my family and your family was even harder. The pitied looks and pats on the shoulders.
“Had I stayed, I would have broken it anyway, my love, I was a man bent on destruction and I would have taken you with me.”
She thought about those words and realized they were true, he would not have settled for marrying her had he stayed.
“Tell me that you trust me now, Livvy, and promise me there will be no more secrets between us.”
Tilting her head back she looked up at him, saw the doubts on his handsome face.
“Yes, I trust you with my life and that of my sisters, Will, but you have to understand that for so long I have dealt with this alone, frightened that someone would see what we took pains to hide. To trust another with our secrets, even you”—she added as he opened his mouth to speak—“was not something I took lightly.”
“I love you, Olivia Langley.” Will closed the distance between them. He kissed her softly a slow meeting of lips and souls. “And I hope you can trust me to deal with everything now.”
“We will deal with it, Will, I’ll not be pushed aside, not when I have been the head of this family for so long.”
He traced her features with a finger. The fine, feathered brows, the line of her nose and curve of her check, the fullness of her lips.
“We will deal with it then,”
He held her, lying quietly with her in his arms, feeling peace for the first time in days. Will inhaled the scent of his woman. She was here safe with him, where she would now always be.
“Love me, Will,” Livvy whispered, lifting her face for his kiss.
“Forever,” he said, pulling her close and framing her face with his hands. “I believe I have always loved you, Livvy Langley, yet only now since my return have I come to realize how much.”
Livvy closed her eyes as he kissed the tears from her cheeks.
“Five years ago when Thea told us you had left I felt as if my world had crumbled. I was devastated that you had gone without a word or a note and it was not until I saw you that day in the cemetery that I realized your feelings had
not been the same as mine,” she said, placing one hand on his chest.
“I did care for you, love, very much, yet I carried so much anger and confusion inside me and I knew that I had to leave or it would destroy us both.”
Livvy stroked a hand down one of his cheeks. He was such a strong, powerful man, yet beneath the surface lay vulnerabilities just like the next person.
“I still loved you then, Will. With me you were always gentle even when you were teasing me.”
Capturing her hand he placed a kiss on the palm.
“Of course I was gentle. You could punch harder than any man I knew.” Will sucked one of her fingers into his mouth as he finished speaking and felt her shiver.
“Marry me, Olivia Langley. Let me sleep with you in my arms and wake you with my kisses. Only with you can I truly be the man I want to be. You fill all the places inside me that have been empty for so long and you take away the pain of who I once was and the people I hurt.”
“Yes, Will, oh I long to marry you. But what of my cousin he is to arrive shortly?”
“I have had my suspicions about him since your visit to London, Livvy, and have had Freddy investigate him. As it turns out, your cousin is not a very nice man.”
“Really?”
“Really, and now we shall open that door and bring your sisters in before they break it down,” Will said, lifting her from his lap and placing her gently beside him as he regained his feet.
“But what will we do?” Livvy said, trying to follow him, only to moan loudly as her body protested the movements.
He braced his hands on either side of her head before speaking.
“Do you trust me?”
Livvy nodded.
“Then know that what I am about to do is the best thing for your family, love, allow me to share your burdens now, you are no longer alone, Livvy.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
“Lord Ryder said you were to stay in bed until he returned, Miss Olivia,” Jenny said as she helped Olivia down the stairs and into the front parlour.
“Yes, Livvy, Will was insistent in this, he said you would try to override his orders and we were not to let you,” Bella said from behind them.
“I will not receive the Duke in my room, it is bad enough that none of you will help me change into a dress,” Livvy snapped and then hissed as some other part of her damaged body protested.
“You’ll lie on the sofa and have a blanket pulled up to your chin before Lord Ryder returns or we will all be in for it,” Jenny added.
Livvy didn’t say anything further as she was now seriously regretting her intention to face the Duke in the parlour. Her head swam as Jenny lowered her onto the seat.
“Pinch her cheeks, I hear a carriage,” Phoebe ordered Bella as she hurried to the windows. “She looks like a bloody ghost and we shall be in for it if Lord Ryder walks in and she’s fainted.
“Please, I can take no more of your tender care, sister,” Livvy said as she tried to fight off Bella’s hands.
“It takes a lot to intimidate me, Livvy, but when he stormed into the kitchen after locking you in your room, I swear I have never seen an angrier man. His eyes were narrowed and his fury seemed to fill the room even though he was speaking to Jenny politely.”
“You should have shared a carriage with him.” Bella shuddered. “He sat with his fists clenched on his thighs the entire journey and his eyes never moved from Livvy.
Rather than feeling intimidated by her sisters words, Livvy felt warmth fill her. He would never hurt her she knew this; his anger was because he loved her.
“Perhaps you should slap some colour into her cheeks,” Phoebe said, returning to Livvy’s side.
“Witch!”
“I thought I told you to keep her in her bed!”
Livvy could do nothing to stop the foolish smile that lit her face as Will stormed into the room, over coat flapping around his heels, head bare he frowned at her which only made her smile more.
“Prey enlighten me, why you are smiling?” he said, dropping to his knees beside her.
Livvy grabbed a handful of his coat and pulled him towards her.
“Because I love you and finally I feel hope.”
The scowl fell from Will’s lips. “You humble me, love.” Kissing her he then stood once more to make room for his brother.
“I’m sorry you have been brought into this, Your Grace,” Livvy said as Joe bent to take her hand. “It was never my intention.”
“We are to be family, Olivia, in fact I believe I am to inherit three sisters when my brother marries and family must always stick together, sister.”
Will watched Livvy as tears filled her eyes. “You always were a silver-tongued sod.”
“I inherited my nature from our mother, unlike you,” the Duke added, taking the seat next to Bella.
Will snorted but said nothing further; he had never loved his brother more than at that moment.
“If you’ll allow me, I will tell Joe your story now, Olivia, Phoebe, Isabella.” They all nodded and so briefly he told his brother what Livvy had told him.
“Good grief, you robbed people to survive?”
“Yes, Your Grace.” Will watched Livvy blush.
“Lord Ryder was our first robbery,” Phoebe added. “The second was Major Bruntly, and the third two women who seemed rather pleased with the experience.”
“They do not need to hear that, Phoebe,” Livvy said softly. “What we did was wrong, no matter the outcome.”
“Good grief!” Joe said again.
“I almost wish I’d been there to see you robbing Bruntly,” Will said softly.
“I understand you must be horrified over what we have done, Your Grace, but I felt we had no other choice,” Livvy rushed to add.
“You did what you thought needed to be done, Olivia, however misguided,” the Duke said, mirroring his brother’s words. “I have no right to judge you because of it.”
Livvy sent Will a look when he snorted.
“However, I wish you had come to me for help when your father died and the subsequent years after, but I understand pride as both my brother and I have plenty of it.”
“A horse is coming,” Phoebe cried, running to the window. “It must be Jaccob alerting us that Lord Langley is near.”
“Perfect timing,” Will said, taking a large bite of Jenny’s fruit cake.
“But what will we say?” Livvy tried to rise, her face pale with worry and pain.
“Trust me, Livvy?” Will said, reaching for her and lifting her to her feet.
“I do, Will.”
“Then let your sisters button you into a dress and then I shall carry you to a chair in here and we shall await your cousin.”
“Should she not be resting?” The Duke questioned.
“If she is not in the room, she will be standing outside of it listening at the door,” Will drawled.
Forty minutes later Livvy was sitting in a large, comfortable chair with Will sitting on the arm at her side. The Duke was sitting in another slightly further back. They had discussed what needed to be said and Will had told Livvy she was to keep her mouth shut, he had little hope of her obeying but he had asked anyway.
“Oh dear, he is here,” Livvy whispered, grabbing his hand.
“He can’t hurt you anymore, love, remember that.”
Nodding she let his hand go with a final squeeze and tried to look calm.
Lord Langley walked into the parlour and then stopped upon seeing Will standing beside Livvy and the Duke at the rear.
“What are you doing in my house?”
Neither of the brothers rose to their feet.
“Waiting for you, Langley,” Will said calmly.
Olivia’s cousin looked foolish, dressed in lavender breeches and matching waistcoat with a neckcloth that was tied in so many folds he looked like a puppy. He was fat and sweaty and the thought of him touching the woman he loved had him clenching his fists.
“Easy,” Joseph whispered.
>
“I demand to know the meaning of this!”
“I don’t believe you addressed me correctly, Langley,” the Duke said. He, like Will, had a dark, implacable gaze leveled on the man. Langley must have seen something that gave him pause because he quickly slipped into a clumsy bow.
“Your Grace, pardon me, I was merely surprised to see you here.”
This man had dared to touch Livvy, threaten her and her sisters, and were it not for the lecture about winning this battle with words that Joseph had given him just moments ago, he would have planted his fist in the man’s face by now.
“You will listen to what I have to say, Langley, and not speak,” Will said. “You need not concern yourself over your cousins any further as they are no longer your worry and are now under my care.”
“I care for my cousins!” Langley declared, taking a step closer to Olivia.
“Step back, Langley,” Will said quietly. Something in his voice had the man doing just that.
“I have heard disturbing things about you this day, Langley, things about murdered girls, gambling debts, bungled investments, and more.”
“T—tis untrue, Lord Ryder!”
“I think not, Langley,” Will said. “In fact, my man is, as we speak, on his way to London to buy up every one of your markers.”
“What? Why would you want my markers? They can be of no interest to you,” Lord Langley said, darting a look from Will to Livvy and then finally Joseph.
“You will be indebted to me, Langley, for some time, if not the rest of your life,” Will added. “And make no mistake that I am bluffing, because I am a very wealthy man and your debts will cause me very little discomfort and a great deal of control.”
“Why?” Langley asked again. He was clearly baffled by the animosity in the room. “What have I ever done to either of you?”
“The Langley sisters are very, very good friends of ours, Langley. It is my belief you have not treated them as a family member should have.” Will climbed to his feet and walked closer to the man. “You have neglected to care for them and left them to fend for themselves.”
“Tis untrue! Would you believe their word over that of a nobleman? If she has spoken against me it is slander, I tell you, and jealously that I inherited and she did not,” he said, pointing at Olivia.
