OLIVIA
Chapter Thirty-Seven

Cal kicked open the door to the parlor with Nelson right on his heels. He stalked over to the bar and threw off the lid to the decanter.

"Cal, I brought you home to sober you up, not watch you drink yourself into a stupor." Nelson slammed the door.

"Get away from me, Nelson," Cal snarled, and sloshed the alcohol into the tumbler. "Isn’t there a beach in the Riviera waiting for you?"

"I think you will find why I’m home more interesting," Nelson retorted.

"I could care less why you’re home."

Nelson shook his head as he came to stand in front of him. "You are a fool, Cal. You have everything a man could ever want, and yet you treat it like it’s nothing. You’re careless and reckless, and it’s come home to haunt you."

Cal snorted and slammed the tumbler down. "What would you know about it? You know nothing of my life. You’ve been too busy cavorting all over Europe, wasting your money on God only knows what. Do me a favor, Nelson. Don’t come here with your sanctimonious speeches telling me what a good life I have. You know nothing," he retorted, and picked up the decanter. Nelson grabbed it from him and threw it behind the bar, shattering the glass against the wall.

"You’ve had enough, Cal," he gritted. "I know what’s going on here, all right. I know everything about why you’re drinking yourself into a stupor every night. I know about the money and your wife and the sons she was supposed to deliver. I know everything," he told him. "It’s despicable to think of how you two have manipulated that poor girl."

"Nelson, so help me, if you don’t leave…" Cal growled as the two men faced each other.

"I also know that she hasn’t gotten pregnant since the fall when she miscarried. Yes, my dear cousin, I know it all. It seems my uncle has been coming down hard on you to produce more heirs, and you can’t deliver the goods. So, where does that leave Olivia? She’s only one of the victims in all of this. If the girl had a modicum of sense, she’d leave you and never look back."

"Why, you…" Cal grabbed his coat while rearing back with his other arm. "Get out of my house!"

Nelson shoved Cal back and gripped his hands into fists at his side. "I’m not leaving until you hear what I have to say."

"I can’t imagine anything you have to say would interest me in the least," Cal retorted as he adjusted his collar and jerked down his jacket.

"How wrong you are, cousin."

"Nelson, I’ve had quite enough of you for one night. If you don’t leave, I will have you thrown out, family or not."

"Tell me, Cal," Nelson started. "When is the last time Julia crossed your mind?"

Cal paled slightly as his head jerked around to Nelson. "What did you say?"

"Julia…don’t tell me you’ve forgotten her already."

*****

Olivia and Marietta entered the foyer and stepped into the hall. The lights were dim and all was quiet until she heard the sound of crashing glass. Stopping at the foot of the staircase, she turned to Marietta and bit her lip.

"I’m not sure I want to know what is going on in there," she said quietly.

"Miss Olivia, please come upstairs," Marietta implored. "You would only be hurting yourself if you go to him. He’s hurt you so much already."

Nodding in agreement, Olivia took her hand and squeezed it. "I know, but he’s still my husband. Whatever is going on, I must know about it. You go on upstairs. I’ll be along shortly."

Frowning, Marietta slightly shook her head, but did as Olivia instructed her. When she was finally alone, Olivia walked to the door, ready to open it until she heard Cal and Nelson’s raised voices.

"Julia…don’t tell me you’ve forgotten her already?"

"I have no idea what you’re talking about." Cal laughed nervously.

Olivia listened to her husband’s reaction to Nelson’s question, wondering why he was suddenly sounding so strange.

"Don’t you?" Nelson asked quietly. "Do you even care to know what happened to her?"

Cal’s voice became more agitated. "Is there a point to this, Nelson?"

"She’s dead." Nelson landed the statement cold and hard. "I was with her in the end. She died with your name upon her lips. She loved you until the end of her life, and you…" He paused for a moment. "…and you didn’t even have the decency to care about her or the child she carried."

What? Olivia’s mind reeled as the impact of Nelson’s words hit her. What was Nelson talking about?

"Nelson, not one more word. This is not the time--"

"This is exactly the time." Nelson cut him off. "She came to me, you know, when she found out she was pregnant. She was scared, afraid of what you would think."

Olivia covered her mouth with her hand. The corseted gown she had on felt tighter than ever as she fought to breathe. Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. She leaned in closer to hear what was being said more clearly.

"I refuse to discuss this--" Cal started, but was quickly cut off by Nelson once again.

"She said you called her a whore and the child she carried a bastard and you wanted to nothing to do with either one. Did you honestly think this would just go away, Cal? Did you think that you could get her pregnant and then walk away without another thought?"

"What I do is, quite frankly, none of your business!" Cal snapped tightly. "How dare you show up here and start accusing me of such things?"

"I dare because I watched her die! She lay there calling your name. She hoped until the last that you would show up, knowing you wouldn’t."

"What do you want from me, Nelson? Sympathy? I have none to give. She made her choices, as I did."

"You despicable piece of filth," Nelson said in a low, dark voice.

"Call me names if it makes you feel better." Cal laughed coldly. "It won’t change anything that has been done. It won’t bring her back."

"You are unbelievable." Nelson’s voice changed to that of incredulity. "Do you honestly feel nothing in all of this? It was your child she carried, Cal."

"How do I know that for sure? Because she said so? It could have been anyone’s," he said in a dismissive tone. "It could have been yours, for all I know."

Olivia fell softly against the door as all that Cal had said settled like a heavy weight on her heart. Who was this woman? When did this happen? It must have been recent, or else why would Nelson be here? Every fiber of her being wanted to storm into that room and confront Cal about it.

"She was your mistress. It was you she loved. It was you she wanted. I was only there as her friend and her confidante."

"Lovely…see yourself out, Nelson. You’ve conveyed your message, and your duty is done."

"Yes, but yours isn’t," Nelson threw out. "The child survived, if you’re interested."

Silence like the heaviness of water fell over everything. Olivia’s mouth fell open in spite of trying to keep herself composed. No! her mind screamed. It was too much, too, too much to bear. Flinging herself from the door, she ran up the stairs, the tears now streaming freely down her cheeks.

When she reached the top, she fell against the banister and took in great gulps of air. Her eyes darted wildly around the landing while her mind raced in confusion. Oh, God! She had to get out of there. She had to leave. She could no longer stay in this house with him. It was impossible!

She ran to her room and called out for Marietta, who promptly came out.

"Miss Olivia?" she asked as Olivia jerked at the dress she had on.

"Get me out of this! Undress me now!"

"Yes, ma’am." She nodded quickly and began to help her out of the constricting costume. "Miss Olivia, is everything okay?"

"No," Olivia answered shortly. "No, it’s not. Hurry, Marietta!"

"Yes, ma’am." She became silent and went to her task with efficiency. When she was finally free from the costume, she pulled her dressing gown on and ran out onto the landing to the nursery.

"Olivia?"

She quickly turned to the whispery voice and saw Patrick step onto the landing from the staircase. "Patrick!" She ran to him and flung herself into his arms. Her whole body shook uncontrollably when she felt his strong arms circle around her and hold her.

"What’s the matter? What’s going on?"

"Get me out of here, Patrick!" she cried into his neck. "I don’t care where we go. Just take me away from this place."

"Olivia, what is going on?" He pulled back to look at her. Then his face turned dark. "He didn’t hurt you, did he?"

"I can’t…I can’t talk about it, yet. Just please, take me away from here."

"Olivia…"

"Please, Patrick!" She grabbed his shirt front. "I can’t stay here any longer."

Sensing her urgency, he shushed her and pulled her close to him. "We can’t stay out here. It’s too risky. Follow me." He took her hand and led her down the hallway to the west wing into an unused guestroom.

When they entered the room and he shut the door, she fell against him and let the tears flow unchecked. He held her, letting her cry until the sobs turned to small sniffles.

"Are you going to tell me what happened?" he asked quietly in the darkness.

"Someday, maybe, but I just can’t…not right now." She sniffed and held him tighter. "Just believe me when I say I can’t stay here any longer. Please, please, take me away. I’ll go anywhere with you. I don’t care where it is, as long as I’m with you."

"Okay, okay." He soothed her and cupped the back of her head. "But we can’t leave right now, Olivia. We have to plan this. The timing has to be right."

"Soon. It has to be soon," she said firmly.

"Soon, I promise…"

Chapter Thirty-Eight
Stories