Chapter 23

A Most Unusual Alarm

Olivia was lying in bed, staring at the ceiling above her. She had been trying to sleep for hours, but all she could think was that tomorrow would have been her wedding day. Or perhaps today. God, I have no idea what time it is.

She closed her eyes, trying to force sleep to come. There was a soft tap at the window. Probably just my imagination. But when she heard it again, Olivia opened her eyes. Was she hearing voices?

"Please tell me I have not broken my mind and my heart," Olivia murmured, pulling the covers over her head. "Although perhaps if I am mad, this will hurt less."

Two more taps at her window. Then a third. Was that a dog barking?

"Olivia!" a voice seemed to be shouting.

"Oh good, now I am hearing voices. Go away. Leave me in peace." Olivia batted a hand at the air as though this could make the phantom madness leave.

A loud thunk and crack sounded at her window, followed by the sound of cursing and a dog barking. Her eyes flew open. Outside, it sounded like a man was whistling a tune, an achingly familiar whistle and tune. The dog had begun to howl. Is that Dandelion?

"What on Earth is going on?" Olivia muttered to herself as she drew her dressing gown around her and moved to the window.

As she threw open the curtain, she saw the large crack in the windowpane and winced. Carefully, she opened it and peered out, trying to understand exactly what was going on.

Nigel was staring up at her with Dandelion at his feet. Why on Earth is he sopping wet? Behind him, looking like he deeply regretted being here, was Alexander.

"Olivvviiiiiiiaaaaaaa!" Nigel called again. "I am sorry!".

"Nigel? What are you doing here? Were you throwing rocks at my window??" Olivia shook her head. "Were you not content with breaking my heart? Did you need to break my window as well."

Nigel winced, but Olivia could not find it in her to feel pity. How dare he show up like this in the middle of the night. Something else stirred in her chest, but she refused to acknowledge it. Instead, she fed her anger.

"The pebbles didn't seem to be getting me anywhere, and I really needed to speak to you." Nigel ran a hand through his hair. "I'll pay for the glass, of course."

"You're going to wake the entire estate," Olivia hissed at him.

"I… I know, but… damn it, this couldn't wait."

"What couldn't wait?" Olivia folded her arms across her chest.

"Would you let me come in so that we might speak privately?" Nigel asked.

Olivia shook her head, preparing to close the window yet finding her hands unwilling to obey her. "I have nothing to say to you."

"My cousin has been trying to kill me!" yelled Nigel.

"WHAT?!" Olivia yelled, completely forgetting that this would definitely wake the entire house. "If this is some plot to force me to speak to you, you should come up with a better lie."

"He is telling the truth, Olive," Alexander spoke, his voice carrying across the grounds. "I was there. I heard the confession." Olivia was fairly certain she could hear the sounds of footsteps and voices throughout the house, but she did not care. Blood thundered through her ears. Lord Briston tried to kill Nigel.

"Don't you see what this means?" Nigel called, earnestly.

Olivia hardened her heart. "That your cousin is a murderer?"

"That I am not cursed. I never was." Nigel shook his head and said with a hope that almost broke Olivia's heart, "I am not dying."

He's not dying. "How do you know there is no curse?" Olivia asked. This doesn't change anything. Does it?

Nigel had still lied to her. Even if there was no curse, the news of his cousin's treachery was awful, but the curse had not been what drove them apart. Still, some part of Olivia could not withdraw from the window.

"His man told me." Nigel clenched his fists, and Olivia could hear his rage and pain in every word. "My cousin and his family, it would seem, are rotten to the core. They are the reason I never knew my grandfather. They are the reason I grew up without a father."

It was as though a knife were twisting in her heart. I must be strong. The depth of Nigel's pain spoke to the truth of his words, and a part of Olivia longed to comfort him. But she couldn't.

"That doesn't change what you did," Olivia said bitterly. "It does not change any of this."

"It was Briston that told you of the curse, was it not?" Nigel's voice was full of pain. "He meant to drive us apart. He did not want us to marry because he could not risk me siring an heir."

"And he would not have been able to drive us apart if you had told me the truth!" Olivia flung the words at Nigel as though they were daggers.

He took a step back. "Do you not love me?"

"Of course, I love you. God, I wish that I didn't. I would do anything not to feel this way." Olivia felt tears threaten, but she forced them away, even as her voice broke. "You lied to me Nigel. You kept this from me, and you can't just show up at my window, sopping wet, and expect me to forgive you."

"I should have told you the truth, should have told you it sooner." Nigel looked up at her as though he was trying to find some hidden meaning in her face. "It was stupid, stupid not to tell you. I have regretted it every day. I expect I will regret it until I die."

"But that doesn't change what you did." Olivia shook her head.

"It does not," Nigel admitted. "I should never have kept it from you. I - I was scared. Whenever I tried to tell you I - I imagined your hurt face, and my heart, it broke. I didn't want to hurt you."

"Well, you did." Olivia felt tears flowing down her cheeks. Damn him. "You broke my heart."

"I know. And I will do whatever it takes to make it right!" Nigel yelled. "I would do anything you asked of me, anything at all. I would walk from noon and til night, until my feet were red and raw, and I could walk no more. Making pilgrimage to all the holiest of places that some Saint might grant me your forgiveness."

"My forgiveness is not theirs to grant," Olivia pointed out, even as something in her treacherous heart wavered.

"I would spend the rest of my life dancing with you in the garden, whistling the tune of our first dance. I would spend an eternity doing nothing but shopping if I thought it would make you forgive me," Nigel called.

Olivia felt an odd mix of warmth and anger as she remembered him complaining about having to go shopping for new wedding clothes.

"What if we went together?" she had asked.

"If you are by my side, then I could do anything. Even something as dull and tedious as shopping," Nigel had replied, smiling.

In the present, Olivia's heart twisted. She felt something inside her start to waiver. He lied to me. He lied to me.

"I would let you laugh at my painting! Anything you desire, name it, and I will do it."

Olivia felt the corners of her mouth begin to quirk up and took a step from the window. She shook her head. She needed to be strong. She could not just forgive him; how could she marry a man she did not trust? A man who did not trust me.

"I was going to tell you that day!" Nigel called to her, his voice pained.

Olivia frowned and leaned out of the window as she called, "But you said you could not tell me. I heard you say that to your mother."

"Then you only heard half the conversation." Nigel met her gaze, and Olivia saw the fire in his eyes even as he added, "I told you that listening at doors was not a good habit."

Damn him. Why is he so wonderfully endearing when I am trying to stay cross with him? "What do you mean?"

"I had been telling her that I was scared, no terrified that I - I would not be able to tell you. But that I knew I must," Nigel said, his words echoing in Olivia's ears.

"So, you would have told me?" Olivia asked trying to keep the hope from her voice and heart.

"I swear it. I would not have let you marry me without knowing the truth." Nigel ran a hand through his hair. "Even though it turns out… it wasn't the truth at all. You deserve to make your own choices. I just… I just hope that you will choose me."

Olivia's head was ringing. The dam of her resistance gave way, and hope flooded through her. He was going to tell me.

She gripped the window frame, trying to steady herself as she fought to understand how everything had managed to change so quickly. Say something. Anything.

"Olivia?" Nigel's voice rang out through the grounds, and Olivia was sure she heard whispering from several windows nearby. She ignored it, focusing on the earnest question in Nigel's voice instead.

"I'm here," Olivia called, her cheeks flushing with colour.

Nigel knelt on the ground, Dandelion sitting plaintively beside him. "You are everything to me. You are perfect. You have stolen my heart, Olivia Rokesby.

"You make my heart sing. You make even the darkest day seem as bright as Heaven itself. If I could sing, I would serenade you, because my love cannot be contained in words alone!" Nigel's voice was full of warmth and hope.

"Perhaps you should try poetry?" Olivia suggested, unable to keep a small smile from her face.

Her heart felt as though it would explode. More than anything, she wanted to run to him. To throw herself into his arms and to be close to him. He loves me. And God help me, but I love him.

Nigel paused for a moment. "Would a poem help you forgive me?"

"It might," Olivia answered.

"Very well." Nigel stood up and cleared his throat.

"Could there be a love as good as my love,

She is pretty like a dove,

For how could I love another,

When Olivia is like no other,

For she is fair beyond compare,

With rather nice hair."

Alexander groaned. The sound made Olivia giggle. Around them she heard several sniggers.

"Oh good sir, you are no poet." Olivia shook her head, her eyes alight with mischief.

"I love you, Olivia Rokesby. And I will love you until my dying day. Will you forgive me and be my darling wife?" Nigel gazed up at her, holding his hand outstretched. "Let me spend the rest of my life proving to you just how sorry I am for not telling you the truth. Let me show the world how much I love you."

"And you swear you will never lie to me again?" Olivia said, even as her heart soared.

"I will never, ever lie to you again. I swear it." Nigel held his hand over his chest and bowed a solemn bow.

Olivia rolled her eyes. "You are a fool."

"I am, indeed, a complete and utter fool," Nigel agreed.

"But you are my fool," Olivia said before she could stop herself.

There was a heartbeat of silence as something in the night air shifted. Nigel's gaze found hers. Olivia's heart thundered in her chest.

"I will always be your fool," Nigel whispered.

"I would rather you were my husband." Olivia smiled at him.

"Does that mean you forgive me?" Nigel's voice was full of hope.

"I suppose that depends." Olivia stroked her chin thoughtfully. "Did you mean it when you would say you would do anything for my forgiveness?"

"On my honour." Nigel placed a hand over his heart and nodded. "Anything you asked."

"What if I asked you to go, to leave and never return?" Olivia asked.

"If that is what you truly wanted, with everything that you are, I would do it." Nigel's voice was firm. "My heart would break, but I would do it."

"Then it is lucky for both of us that I do not desire that." Olivia shook her head. "Not with any part of my soul."

"Then you forgive me?" Nigel asked.

Olivia's heart felt as though it would burst. "If you truly want my forgiveness, then I have two requests:

"We get married today —"

"We can get married right now! I have the Special License!" Nigel waved a piece of paper in the air.

Olivia teased, trying not to laugh, "I am not getting married in the dead of night. If you are to be my husband, we shall do this properly."

"I am to be your husband." Nigel grinned his charming grin, and Olivia's heart melted.

"Besides, I want you to see how stunning I am in my dress." Olivia blew Nigel a kiss.

"I think you look radiant in everything you wear." Nigel frowned. "But that is only one request."

"The second is that you never, ever attempt to write poetry again!" Olivia laughed. "And with that, good sir, I bid you good night. I am getting married in a few hours!"

And before Nigel could say anything else, Olivia shut her window and moved away. A moment later, Jane burst through the door, still in her night gown with her mother close behind.

"I told you that there was hope! I told you so!" Jane threw her arms around Olivia laughing.

"You did; you most assuredly did." Olivia felt as though her heart would burst with happiness.

"Well, I am glad it has all worked out, but I think we all could have done without the Duke's poem." Lady Cotswalts' eyes twinkled with amusement. "It is a good thing that I did not stop any of the wedding preparations though unfortunately we will be rather a smaller party than originally planned."

"You didn't cancel any of the preparations? But why?" Olivia canted her head. "Did you truly have that much faith in us?"

"Of course. You two were made for each other." Lady Cotswalts winked at Olivia. "And if you had not reconciled, well, everyone loves a good party. And I would have made it one to remember."

"I'm sure it will be a wedding to remember." Olivia beamed at Jane and Lady Cotswalts.

"You should try and rest, dear girl. You must look your best for tomorrow." Lady Cotswalts gestured to the bed, stifling her own yawn as she did. "We will be able to do precious little at this time of night. I shall have messages sent out to Emberly House in the morning and tell them that the wedding is back on.

"It will be too late to invite the ton to the ceremony, but we can ensure they attend the ball afterwards." Lady Cotswalts gently guided Olivia to the bed.

"But I'm not tired." Olivia tried to say, but a yawn made the words somewhat unintelligible. "Perhaps I am a little tired."

"Rest. In a few hours, you will be married to the love of your life." Jane tucked Olivia into the bed.

"What if I wake and this has all been a dream?" Olivia felt a tiny prickle of fear.

"It is no dream, I assure you," Jane replied. "I will see you in a few hours."

"I cannot wait." Olivia's cheeks ached from the broadness of her smile. "And one day, I shall be a bridesmaid at your wedding."

"Of course, you will," Jane whispered.

Olivia closed her eyes, and as sleep claimed her, one thought filled her mind. In a few hours, I will be the Duchess of Glassley, and I will start the rest of my life with the man I love.