Lady Olivia To The Rescue by Julia Parks Read Free Book Online Page A

better, m’lady. I’m sure she will be fine.”
    “Let us hope so. I consider all of you indispensable to this household, you know. Goodnight.”
    “Goodnight, m’lady.”
    In the hall, Olivia stretched her weary muscles and trudged downstairs to her own room. There, a footman was just leaving, having brought a tray laden with all sorts of tempting fare.
    With layers of wrapper and shifts streaming behind her, Olivia’s aunt sailed into the room, inspected the tray, and said, “Sit down at once, my dear. You must be exhausted and famished. How is Pansy?”
    Olivia shook her head, but she sat down at the table and filled a plate. “Better, I think, but only time will tell. By the way, did you see Mr. Jenson today?”
    “No, why should I see that man? I am not ill, and if I were, I would not send for him.”
    “Really? I thought the two of you were friends.”
    “At one time, perhaps, but no more.”
    “Then I am surprised to hear you speak of him with such vehemence. I mean, if he means nothing to you, why should you…”
    “Ah, I see what you are about, sly puss. You mean to insinuate that there was some episode that caused us to have a rift. Not at all. I barely remember the man. As for knowing him as a boy, he was nothing but a grubby, little thing. I used to follow him and my brother everywhere, but that was when I was only a child. No, there is nothing that happened between us.”
    “If you say so,” replied Olivia, hiding her sceptical smile behind a serviette.
    “And so I do. You know how I feel about doctors. For the most part, they do more harm than good, and Mr. Jenson is no exception. Except, perhaps, that he has the most atrocious manners.”
    “Very well then. We will not speak of him again. Won’t you join me?”
    “No, I have already eaten a little something. Why don’t we stay at home tonight, my dear? You must be exhausted.”
    “I am tired, but I cannot miss the Grants’ ball. According to Lady Grant, that old miser Pendleton is supposed to attend. I have been trying for months to have a word with him over that new school I want to build in Richmond. He so rarely attends anything since his young wife died two years ago.”
    “Such a shame. Both her and the babe. Who would have thought she would go before him?”
    “Yes, a tragedy, but he might as well find some charities to give some of that money to as he doesn’t have a direct heir, and I want that school to be one of them.”
    “But he won’t part with a single groat while he is alive.”
    “I think I will be able to persuade him.”
    “If anyone can, it is you, my dear. Very well, then eat up. I will have Jinks come in to help you dress when she is done with me.” At the door, her aunt said, “I am glad to see that your mood has improved.”
    Olivia grinned. “Was there ever any doubt?”
    She finished her meal and began to strip off the round gown she wore. Looking in the mirror, she gave a sigh of satisfaction. She was only five-and-twenty, but she could still pass as a miss in her first Season. Not that she was worried about pleasing the gentlemen. Even if she never married, she had her good works to keep her busy and happy.
    On the wall behind the cheval glass, her mother’s small portrait smiled at her. Her mother had been quite a philanthropist in her own right. She had come from wealthy stock and had left Olivia a small fortune. The rest of Olivia’s vast fortune had come from her father, the Earl of Carstairs, whom she barely remembered.
    When Olivia had been younger and seriously looking for a husband, her aunt’s words of caution had constantly rung in her ears. She had been careful not to become attached to a fortune hunter, but now she had no one, and she had become accustomed to her unmarried state.
    What was more, the gentlemen had come to accept it, too. Last Season, she had received only two offers of marriage—both acceptable, but both rejected. She had decided to settle for nothing less than love, and