Then, abruptly Julien tore his lips from Henry’s. He stepped back and slapped Henry across the face before crossing the room. He flung himself into a chair, leaned forward, and buried his face in his hands.
Henry rushed over and went to his knees in front of him. “Julien, I did this for us. It wasn’t supposed to be this long.”
Olivia made a strangled sound pulling Max’s attention from the two men, and he turned to her. Olivia had her hand on her throat. Her eyes were wide and glazed in shock. “Henry?” She swayed on her feet. Max reached for her. Her eyelids fluttered, and she fainted into his arms.
*
Olivia came towith a start. Max’s arms surrounded her, and he brushed his fingers across her cheek. She blinked a couple of times, trying to process what happened. They were on the floor. Max held her in his lap.
“You fainted, darling,” Max said. He looked up. “She’s all right.”
Olivia glanced up and found Henry’s familiar face looking down at her. “Henry,” she croaked. How can this be? She reached out a hand, and her fingers were soon wrapped in a warm, solid clasp as Henry squeezed her hand gently. She looked back at Max. “Is this real?”
He nodded. “He appeared in front of me yesterday in the memorial garden like a bloody apparition. He wanted me to bring Julien to him, but I insisted you must know, too.”
Olivia scrambled to rise. “You knew he was alive?”
“Just for the past twenty-four hours.” Max helped her to her feet. “I’ll let him tell you both the whole of it.”
She swiveled around to face Henry. Alive. She couldn’t understand. They had buried his body in the family crypt. He looked the same. Well, perhaps thinner, and that bushy beard covered his handsome features. But whole and unharmed. “Why are you alive? Dear God, Henry, what is going on?”
Henry pushed both hands through his hair. He took in a deep breath, his chest rising and falling. He turned to Julien, who had raised his head to stare at them. His eyes were gleaming with unshed tears. Olivia crossed to him and reached for Julien’s hand. Suddenly she was so angry. It flared like fire in her chest. She turned to her husband. “Henry, you owe us an explanation.”
“I faked the carriage accident. I hired two men out of Portsmouth to help me. One posed as my coachman, and the other waited for us a mile or so from the house with fresh horses. I left the Dunhurst’s home early, begging off with a headache. Once we were out on the heath, I got out, and the two men handled everything. They cut the horses loose, put the cadaver they’d procured into the carriage, then set the whole thing on fire with the carriage lamp.”
Olivia’s mouth dropped open. “But why?”
“It was the only way I could think of to be free to be with Julien, to free us all. It was never supposed to take a year for Max to arrive and accept the title. I thought a few weeks at most. Then you both would get your letters. I hoped Julien would be inspired to take his trip. I planned to be on the boat and reveal myself there.” His gaze searched out Julien’s.
Julien opened and closed his mouth several times. “You ridiculous fool.”
“And what about me?” Olivia asked. “You were going to let believe you were dead?”
“Don’t you see darling, this way you could move on and find love. Our arrangement was never fair to you.”
She shook her head in disbelief. She didn’t believe for a moment that Henry had done this for her. He was crazy to have gone to such lengths to run away with Julien. “Where have you been?”
“France. Staying in a small village on the coast. Waiting for word that my heir had been found and come to take possession of the entail. Dying each day that we were apart.” His eyes never left Julien. “I don’t want to be Rivenhall anymore. I don’t want to pretend we are just good mates. All I want is to disappear somewhere we can be together and never worry about what society thinks. Do you think the jungles of South America will be far enough?”
Olivia searched for Max. He stood alone by the window, gazing out. Did he feel like a pawn in this whole scheme of Henry’s? As if he could feel her gaze on the back of his neck, Max turned. Their eyes locked. All she wanted was his arms wrapped around her. Nothing made sense. Her whole world was turned upside down. The only thing she was sure of was Max. She stumbled toward him. He strode across the room and folded her into his embrace. He stroked her back as she clung to him.
A few minutes later, Henry’s voice came from behind her. “These are for the both of you.”
Olivia twisted in Max’s arms. Henry held out a long narrow box full of letters. “I have been hiding here the past few weeks. One morning, I stubbed my toe on a loose floorboard in the bedroom and found these tucked beneath it. Your father was intercepting your post.”
Olivia reached out and picked up a letter from the box. It was addressed to her in Max’s tight, precise handwriting. She stepped forward and rifled through the letters; there were dozens, some for her and some that had been meant for Max.Oh, God.Her father had kept them all. Hidden them. Taken not just the letters but their future. All those years stolen from them. Her breath shuddered in as a stabbing pain of grief almost brought her to her knees. She closed her eyes. Not one minute more would she waste.
“I’ll keep your secret, Henry.”
Max rotated her around to face him. “Wait, no, it’s too risky. What if someone discovers he is still alive?”
“No one will. I will leave the country quietly. I will take off to South America.” Henry turned to face Julien. “I will wait there until you can forgive me. I will wait with hope, until the end of my days.”
Max shook his head. “But if you’re not dead, she is still your wife.”
“I am dead. Legally Livvy is my widow.” Henry stepped forward and took hold of her hands. “Livvy, I am truly sorry for all of this last year. I did think I was doing the right thing for us all.”
She stared into the familiar, oh so dear, brown eyes of her oldest friend. She nodded. “We must break all the rules for love.”