Daniel’s hand settled on the small of Grace’s back, and she blinked up at him. “Why don’t we go for that ride after all, my love?”
Thank heavens for Daniel and his even nature. But…what was that sudden grinding sound she heard? Oliver’s teeth, perhaps? Well, he could grind them to dust for all she cared. She wasnotgoing to allow him to ruin her future a second time.
Chapter 9
Oliver couldn’t helpbut notice Grace from the window, her flaxen curls bouncing as she and Lacy rode toward the forest on their mounts. Nausea warred within him once more. “What do you know about that fellow?” he asked.
Braden looked up from his desk to glance out the window. After spotting Lacy, he shrugged. “Heir presumptive to the Downe earldom. He was in Quent’s year at Eton.”
Of course he was, as Oliver had gone to Harrow and didn’t know a blasted thing about the man except that he’d written the bloody best treatise on crop rotation that existed. Damn his eyes. “Is that all?”
His friend frowned at him as though he were mad. “What else should I know about him, Oliver?”
He shook his head. “I’d just think you’d know as much as possible about the man since you’re marrying your sister off to him.” He heaved a sigh. “Grasmere was fine enough, not that Ginny had any sort of choice in the matter; but I wish my father had looked a little closer at the man’s relations.”
Braden sat back in his chair and for the first time in as long as Oliver had known his friend, he was afraid the marquess might see right through him. Braden templed his hands as if in thought, but then he said, “I’ve yet to meet Patience’s Dr. Campion, and didn’t know the first thing about him before they married, though Danby did vouch for the man’s character.”
Honestly, Campion had seemed perfectly pleasant when Oliver met him over Christmas, but he didn’t feel like saying as much at the moment.
“They’ll be arriving any day for Grace’s nuptials,” Braden continued. “So I’ll finally get to meet the fellow in the flesh. And though I’ve known Kilworth for years, I’d have never thought he was the sort for Hope, but—”
“Lucky you are the man stuck his spoon in the wall,” Oliver agreed. The late Earl of Kilworth was a disingenuous blackguard of the first order. And the world truly was well rid of him, even if Lady Hope had somehow lost her heart to the villain.
“Oh.” Braden chuckled. “I forgot youhavebeen gone.”
“Oh, what did I miss?” Oliver asked, though he kept watch on Grace out of the corner of his eye.
“Hope somehow fell for thenewLord Kilworth, believe it or not. Thaddeus Baxter. Known him for years in the Four-in-Hand club, though I never would have thought he’d make the perfect match for Hope. Much more serious than she is, in any event.”
“The new Lord Kilworth?”
His friend nodded. “The two married a few weeks ago.”
Thatwasshocking. Oliver remembered very well the conversation he’d had with the lady during their waltz. She was so dispirited and resigned to whatever future the Duke of Danby had mapped out for her. “So she avoided Danby’s Christmas deadline after all, did she?”
At that Braden grinned. “Oh, Danby had everything to do with that match from what Quent tells me. Even the special license was his. Your cousin Wright performed the ceremony, even.”
Had he, indeed? Oliver wasn’t certain what to say to that. Who knew what else he’d missed after all the time he’d spent in Westmorland? Unfortunately, he’d missed the most important thing - Grace’s betrothal. Would she have gone through with it if he’d been in Town? And would she go through with marrying the man, now that he was back? His heart twisted at the thought of her marrying Lacy. She wouldn’t really do so, would she? Not when she loved him. She couldn’t really.
How in theworld was Grace supposed to eat anything with Oliver sitting right across from her and looking perfectly miserable? The blasted man. He should have gone back to Prestwood Place and put them both out of their misery. If—
“I hope your mother is doing well,” Mama said to Oliver a few spots away.
“Thank you, my lady,” he replied. “She is quite thrilled at having her first grandchild.”
“I would love to visit, but I don’t want to intrude.” Mama smiled, which was a rare occurrence to be sure. Did that mean she was looking forward to having grandchildren of her own? With the way her sisters were enthralled with their husbands, it shouldn’t be too long.
Oliver shook his head. “After being stuck in Westmorland for so long, I’m certain she’d be happy to see a familiar face. Besides, she’d love to have you gush over little Lord Grasmere and tell her at length that he is the most delightful little marquess ever born.”
Lord Grasmere. It was still so difficult to believe Ginny’s husband was gone. Life was certainly fleeting. “How is Ginny?” Grace asked.
Oliver’s attention returned to her, and she wished she hadn’t asked anything at all. Would she ever be able to be in the same room with him and not feel the intensity or longing in his blue gaze? “Now that she’s home, I’m confident she’ll be herself in no time.”
“Grasmere?” Daniel asked, his brow furrowed in distant thought. “Heard something about him in Town. Killed on his estate, or something?”
A hardened expression settled on Oliver’s face and a muscle twitched in his jaw.
Braden cleared his throat. “Hardly a dinner discussion for the ladies, Lacy.”