My Only Love by Katherine Sutcliffe Read Free Book Online Page A

rumpled clothes and a blanket. Bertrice trailed behind
her, carrying the tray of bread and water.
    The
woman flung her bundle on the floor near Warwick's feet, turned on her heels,
and quit the room. Bertrice, looking somewhat bewildered over what she should
do with her burden, regarded Olivia with a sense of despair. Olivia hurried to
take the tray and gently ordered the woman to return to her chair in the hah
and not leave again for any purpose. Complying, Bertrice ambled toward the
door, only to pause and say, "I ain't too addled to know he's
cockeyed." Then drawing herself up, she wandered out.
    Olivia
turned to discover Miles regarding her again. She tried to smile. "She has
a tendency to become somewhat confused," she found herself explaining.
    "Kitty!"
Bertrice's voice called out in the hallway. "Here, kitty!"
    "You'
11 feel a great deal better once you have something to eat," Olivia said,
feeling ridiculous as she attempted to drown out Bertrice who, obviously, was
not prepared to sit quietly in the hallway.
    "Here
now!" Warwick's housemaid cried. "Ya can't go in there!"
    Placing
the tray on a table near his chair, Olivia did her best to ignore the fact that
her face was flaming. She longed to remove her woolen cloak, then again, she
had no plans to remain here any longer than necessary, especially since
Warwick's scrutiny of her person had become fright-eningly penetrating.
    'The
bread will absorb any whisky left in your stomach," she explained, and
poured the hot water into a cup. "The hot water will help to dilute the
liquor, as well as warm you." Meeting his intense gaze, she offered him
the cup and saucer, thankful her hand didn't shake, causing them to clatter.
    He
ignored the cup and saucer.
    Calmly,
carefully, she replaced them on the tray and stood before him, hands clasped as
casually as possible in the folds of her cloak, feeling as if a lightning bolt
had replaced her backbone. Every nerve ending throughout her body felt
electrified. Finally he spoke.
    "Who
the hell are you?" he demanded in a husky, slurred voice.
    She
had anticipated a great many ways in which he might have castigated her for her
presence. This, obviously, was not one of them.
    "I
beg your pardon?" she replied uncertainly.
    "I
said, who the hell are you? And what are you doing in my house?"
    "Olivia
Devonshire. We met this—"
    "You
are not Olivia Devonshire," he interrupted. "I met Miss Devonshire
earlier, and . .." Frowning, his face growing paler, he glanced
uncomfortably toward the vase and took a slow, steady breath. The moment
passed, and he appeared to relax. Only then did his dark eyes look back at her.
A wariness settled over his face. "You were much prettier this
afternoon," he said matter-of-factly.
    Feeling
her spine turn hard as stone, she raised her chin slightly and struggled for
composure. "And you were sober," she responded dryly.
    Saying
nothing, he sat back in the chair, long legs thrown wide and stretched out
before him. His boots had dripped mud onto the once splendid carpet of
intricate Turkish designs. Still, he had a presence about him, making her
uncomfortable. "It's the glasses," he finally said. "Very unflattering,
Miss Devonshire. They don't suit you at all."
    Her
first instinct was to grab the glasses from her nose. She kept her hands at her
sides.
    His
face, in profile to the blazing fire in the hearth, remained immobile in its
contemplation of her person. Was he intentionally prodding her to anger as he
had that afternoon?
    "If
you've come here to plead your case—" he began.
    She
stared at him, speechless, as his meaning sank in.
    "I
don't wish to seem coldhearted, but I won't marry you. Now you can hurry home
to your father and tell him—"
    "Is
that what you think, sir? That I came here to try and convince you to marry me?
Oh, of course you would; your arrogance would have it no other way, I
imagine." She laughed as lightheartedly as her immense hidden anger would
allow. "I only came here to apologize for