OLIVIA
Chapter Seventeen
The silence that followed was
nearly deafening. Olivia could feel his body tense beneath the hand she had on
his arm. He stopped momentarily and turned away from her.
"Cal." She softly said
his name. "She was a horrid woman and I didn’t like her being around our
babies. Please try to understand why I took it upon myself to do this."
When he turned back to her, his
dark eyes sparkled with anger. "How dare you so blatantly go against me in
this matter?" He gripped her arm and pulled her back to the parlor. Olivia
could feel the heat coming from his body as he opened the door and led her in.
He had barely shut it when he whirled her around to face him. "Do you have
any idea what you’ve done?"
"Yes," she answered
without hesitation. "I did what I thought was best for our children. I
told you how I felt about her."
Cal glared at her as if he
couldn’t believe she had the nerve to answer him. "I specifically told you
to let the woman do her job and now I find you’ve taken it upon yourself to
dismiss her."
"I’m sorry, Cal, but I
couldn’t stand her one more day. The woman was unbearable," Olivia said in
defense of herself.
He threw his head back and let
out a deep breath. "Do you honestly believe I care about the woman’s
disposition? You have defied me yet again with this act of impudence."
"No." She shook her
head in denial, reaching for him. "No, Cal. That’s not true."
"Mrs. Ryan will be
reinstated by morning, and I don’t want to hear another word about this!"
he snapped, and stepped away from her.
Olivia let out a small gasp.
"You’re bringing her back?" She breathed the question. "But you
can’t…"
Cal turned around and stared
scathingly at her. "I can’t? I can’t? Is that what you said?"
"I…" she whispered, but
said nothing further as she watched him walk slowly around the leather couch.
The casualness of his movements belied his controlled anger. She should have
known his reaction would be like this. She shouldn’t have been so bold. She
licked her dry lips as he came to stand back in front of her again. He stared
down at her before running his finger down her cheek.
"Do not try to take
advantage of our tryst last night, my dear," he drawled dangerously.
"I may have enjoyed your company, but do not think I will be blinded by
it. I am still in control here, and you would be wise to remember that."
Olivia couldn’t believe what she
was hearing. Did he honestly believe that she would do that? If anything, it
was her confidence at finally finding her place as his wife that prompted her
actions. Why couldn’t he see that?
A knock at the door interrupted
them, and then Emma came in. She seemed oblivious to the tension in the room.
"The babies are so cute. They’re getting so big, Liv. I just adore
them."
Olivia forced a smile in spite of
how she felt. "Thank you, Emma."
"Oh, Cal, Mrs. Ryan isn’t up
there, only Angelina. She said Mrs. Ryan was gone," Emma said as she went
to sit on the couch.
"Yes," he answered.
"I did remember she was going to be out tonight, but she’ll back in the
morning. Isn’t that right, Olivia?" He looked pointedly at her as he
spoke.
She lowered her eyes away from
him and crossed her arms. She realized she had no choice but to comply with his
wishes if she wanted the peace between them to remain. There was no other way.
"Yes, that’s right," she said, turning to him stiffly. "She’ll
be returning in the morning."
Cal gave her a self-satisfied
smile of triumph and slid his arm around her waist. "Well, then, now that
that’s settled, I’m starving. Are you joining me?"
"No." She shook her
head. "I’ll stay with Emma and eat later."
"As you wish." He bowed
his head and turned to leave. Another knock on the door had them all turning to
it. Their butler, Henderson, came in and informed them that Constance and
Charles were there, and it wasn’t hard to figure out why.
Emma got quickly to her feet and
looked at Olivia. "Oh, no! It’s Mother and Father!" she cried, tears
forming in her eyes. "Liv, you have to stop Mother from sending me away.
Please, please talk to her. Please don’t let her do it!"
"Emma," Olivia said in
comforting voice. "Don’t worry. Everything will be all right."
The door opened and Constance
stalked in with her husband in tow. From the expression on her face, Olivia
knew this wasn’t going to be easy. She walked straight over as Emma drew
herself up.
"Young lady, I have been
worried sick about you. I can’t believe you would just run away without any
word whatsoever. You are to never do anything like this again. Is that
clear?"
Emma’s demeanor wavered for a moment,
but she stood strong in front of her mother. "I wouldn’t have run away if
you weren’t trying to ruin my life."
Constance sighed heavily. "I
have had enough of this behavior from you, Emma. We will discuss this matter at
home."
Emma stared pleadingly at Olivia,
who stepped forward to stand by her sister.
"Mother, Emma is very upset
right now. I’m sure if we talk about this, we can work something out."
Constance crossed her arms as she
addressed Olivia. "Your sister was wrong in coming here to you. Your
father and I will handle this in the way we feel best."
"I couldn’t agree
more," Cal said. "This is a matter for you and Charles to settle
amongst yourselves."
Olivia glared at him for a moment
before turning back to her mother. "I don’t feel that sending Emma away
will accomplish anything. It will only make her resent you even more."
"I will not stand here and
discuss this any longer." Constance held up her hand. "Your sister is
not going to see that boy again. She will not bring shame and disgrace upon our
good name by keeping company with that…that…stable hand."
"You don’t even know
him!" Emma cried. "He loves me and I love him and nothing you say or
do will keep it from being that way."
"I have heard enough,"
Constance said stonily. "You are leaving for London this weekend. It’s
already been arranged."
"No!" Emma shook her
head. "I won’t go! Olivia, please don’t let her do this!"
Olivia’s heart went out to her
sister and she wished that things could be different. Before she could answer,
Cal came up to stand behind her. He lowered his head until his mouth was next
to her ear. "This is becoming rather tiresome. You are not to interfere
with this any further, Olivia. I want this to come to an end now."
She turned sharply to look at him.
She was shocked and appalled at what he had said. Did he expect her to turn her
back on her sister when she needed her? But it was quite obvious he did mean
it. She looked back at Emma and saw the look of despair on her beautiful
features. She was torn over what to do.
"Do not disobey me on
this," he whispered, and tightened his grip on her waist.
Olivia closed her eyes as the
heaviness of the situation fell on her. As much as she wanted to help her
sister, she couldn’t go against Cal. She already knew what that would mean for
her, and she just could not do it. She cleared her throat and moved forward to
take Emma by the hands.
"You…" She paused and
licked her lips. "You should go with Mother, Em. It’s for the best. I know
you can’t see that now, but one day you will."
The look of betrayal on Emma’s
face was more than Olivia could bear. A small tear slid down Emma’s cheek as
she swallowed hard. She stepped away from her, and then, without a word, she
turned and ran out of the room.
Constance took a deep breath and
came over to Olivia. "Thank you for that, darling. She will see that it’s
for the best." She kissed her cheek, gave her a brief hug, and turned
towards the door. "Come along, Charles."
Charles, who had said nothing the
entire time, came over to Olivia and kissed her as well. "She’ll be fine,
Olivia. She’s young and she needs time to be away from here."
As Olivia watched her parents
leave, she had never felt so horrible in her life. Before she could stop
herself, she broke into tears and covered her face. She cried for Emma and she
cried for herself.
"It is for the best,"
Cal said. "Dry your tears, darling. We still haven’t had dinner."
And with that, Cal left the room,
leaving Olivia alone once again.