Laura Matthews by A Baronets Wife Page B

to be private with you and assess your feelings. You have only to be honest with her, as you were with your brother and me. I will be in the Small Library if you want me.” He smiled his encouragement and opened the door for her.
    The room into which he ushered her was of moderate size, its walls painted a warm toffee with dragged brush work, and its silk draperies of a slightly lighter shade framing windows overlooking the park. There were Chippendale mahogany bureau bookcases on either side of the fireplace, whose mantelpiece held some remarkably fine Bristol Delft. Between the windows was a handsome walnut bracket-timepiece above a folding mahogany spider-leg table. On a rosewood table with revolving top and fitted drawers lay an open book and an unfinished piece of embroidery. It was one of the most comfortable, quietly elegant rooms Olivia had ever seen.
    Lady Lawrence was seated on a white velvet sofa under a Beechey painting of the king, and she beckoned Olivia to join her. “That will be all, Noah,” she said, and he offered her a cheeky smile as he withdrew. She murmured, “Impudent fellow,” but her tone was indulgent, and she turned her attention to Olivia.
    “Sit here by me, Lady Olivia. I’m distressed to hear what problems Noah has created for you.” She did not look the least distressed to Olivia.
    “He had no intention of harming me, ma’am. I feel sure it will all be forgotten soon enough.” Olivia seated herself on the edge of the sofa and attempted to look at ease.
    Lady Lawrence regarded her with pursed lips. “You are wrong, Lady Olivia. It is the sort of on dit which will be passed from person to person because it involves you, the sister of an Earl.” She made no effort to conceal the distaste she felt for Peter. “Your brothers have earned a most unsavory reputation which will merely lend authenticity to such gossip. I presume Noah told me the truth when he said there was no foundation to it.”
    The older woman’s accusing stare very nearly unnerved Olivia, who swallowed painfully before she spoke. “I am sure your son told you the truth. The only dealings we had that night were in aid of... a fellow guest who was sick.”
    “You need not be delicate with me, Lady Olivia. Noah has told me the whole story, I assure you, though it does him no credit. I am surprised that you did not succumb to the vapors under the circumstances,” she said with a small nod of approval, just barely discernible by her companion. “However, you must not think that a damaged reputation is forgiven overnight. In this case, the aura of it may cling to you always. You would do better to accept my son’s offer of the protection of his name.”
    It was difficult for Lady Lawrence to say this, for although she truly felt it the proper course of action, she was not at all convinced that she wished her son to marry into the Fullerton family. She really knew very little of Olivia and was used to thinking of her as a part of the unwholesome household at Stolenhurst. “I think you have rejected the solution out of hand and should give it more thought.”
    Olivia studied the gray-haired matron for some moments before replying. “It would solve one problem merely to create others, ma’am. I am convinced you mean well, as it cannot be a match you would ordinarily approve, but I believe it would be a mistake.” Suddenly Olivia smiled mischievously and asked, “Would you do so in my place?”
    Her attack surprised the older woman, who frowned momentarily and then admitted with a suspicion of humor in her eyes, “No, I do not believe I would, my dear, except that I am inordinately fond of my son.”
    “Well, I am not,” Olivia said, and then drew herself up abruptly. “That is, I have found Sir Noah most accommodating in the present instance, and I may have misjudged him previously; but he strikes me as too much of a piece with my brothersto appeal to me as a life-long partner.” She realized that her honesty had