Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Marcus stared at the letter in his hands.

"It's clearly all lies," he said calmly. "I received something similar from Sir Jonathan yesterday. Apparently, you were, erm, very close to him, and he thought I should be aware of this before our marriage."

"Jonathan wrote to you?" Olivia was astonished.

"He did, and I cannot show you the letter as I burned it in the hearth. His plan was to make me doubt your virtue, and presumably, when I ended our engagement, you would be so distraught that you would need comfort, and he would, I am quite sure, be waiting to give you solace," explained Marcus.

"That's despicable," replied Olivia.

"As is this letter from Lady Cressida to you. I have to say that her letter is far more elegant, detailed, and if I'm not mistaken, she has written using ink perfumed with lilies. Would you like me to tear it up. or burn it in the grate?"

Olivia stared at Marcus, unsure how to respond. Ever since the letter arrived earlier that afternoon, she had been unable to stop reading it over and over again.

"Olivia, please sit down," said Marcus. "You are making me dizzy the way you are pacing the room. What did the viscountess say?" he asked, trusting that the eminently sensible Lady Leighton would give the letter little attention.

"She hasn't seen it. I waited to show you. It's, er, rather a sensitive topic."

"I'll say, and this time she has signed it, and it proves that she is guilty of slander," agreed Marcus.

"She says that you promised to marry her, and that's why she spread gossip at the ball. She tells me of her acute distress that night and hopes I can forgive her," said Olivia.

"Total codswallop. There is no truth in that at all. My mother hoped I might court her once, but I never had any interest in her romantically."

"And the mistresses? The past affairs? She is very specific," Olivia asked, nervously.

"Olivia, please, come and sit with me and I will talk with you," Marcus tried to reassure her.

He sighed with relief as she sat beside him on the settee. He took her hand, and she began to pull it away.

"Please, listen and hear me out," Marcus asked.

Hera and Marguerite took that minute to come and sit at their feet, almost curled up together. He smiled when he saw the look of pleasure on Olivia's face at the sight of the dogs.

"They like each other," she said, reaching down to tickle Marguerite's ears.

"They are a good judge of character as well. I think little Marguerite would know if I were a cad, though reading this letter I believe ‘cad' isn't a strong enough word. I think she is saying I am a bounder and a rake," Marcus said with a grin.

He waited, considering his words carefully. "I have a past. I can't hide it. However, I never had the string of mistresses which Lady Cressida specifies in this letter. This lady, the Comtesse Olivetti, is a matron of good character with five children to her beloved Conte. We are acquaintances and nothing more. And this lady is in fact a dowager duchess, in mourning for her husband, who died two months ago." He paused and took a slow, steady breath.

"I was in love with the Contessa Lucretzia Fiorella. She does not even get a mention in this letter. I loved her very much and hoped to marry her. She turned me down and now spends much of her time at the court in Naples."

Olivia gasped.

"Olivia, beloved Olivia. It is not unusual for gentlemen to have a past. I did love Lucrezia, but since she turned me down, I had been in a state of melancholia, until I met you."

She looked at him, eyes wide, sparkling in the sunshine.

"You bewitched me in the woods that day. Since we met again at the ball, I've been unable to get you out of my mind," he continued.

"She writes so eloquently, and in such detail. I didn't know what to think," explained Olivia.

"You need to believe that she is evil. Look at how she began those rumors, and almost ruined you and Lady Jocelyn. This letter arrives immediately after our engagement is announced, and on the same day I receive a shorter, unpleasant letter from Sir Jonathan."

"Perhaps they are in league with each other. It is too much of a coincidence," she gasped. "I cannot believe I took it so seriously."

"I'm no saint Olivia, but I believe Viscount Leighton had a liaison before he married Marianne. Yet he is devoted to his wife. No one more so. Their joy in each other's company is evident to all," Marcus reassured her.

"I believe you. I have no idea why I believed any of it," she told him. "I read it, read it again, and I began to believe there must be some truth in the allegations."

"It is because you have been through so much, and you are close to exhaustion." Marcus stood, raising her to her feet, and then stunning her by lifting her up into the air. She giggled and looked down at him smiling.When her feet were firmly flat on the ground again,he took her hand in his and kissed it gently.

"We should marry next week," he said decisively. "I'll get a special license. After the wedding we shall travel to the Villa Montefalconi, and you shall rest under cypress trees in the warm Italian sunshine. Let's escape for a few months, just you and I together.

She nodded her agreement, and once more he lifted her up high and spun her round in a circle. "Marcus, stop. My uncle might walk in. I'm going to be so dizzy that I won't be able to stand up," Olivia declared, laughing.

He placed her gently on the floor, but not till after he had spun her round twice more.