Read Online In Your Arms Again by Kathryn Smith - Free Book Online Page B

her.
    “Janie will be here soon. I just pulled the bell for her.”
    “Then talk quickly, but do not leave anything out.”
    Smiling, Octavia joined her cousin on the bed. “I went to a private suite to congratulate Madeline—”
    Beatrice brows rose. “That actress you know?”
    She knew more than one, but that was beside the point. “I cannot talk quickly if you keep interrupting me.”
    Her cousin nodded, duly chastised. “Continue.”
    “I was not there five minutes before he appeared. There was no reason for us not to speak as we were surrounded by old friends.” Absently, she stroked the brocade counterpane. “It was good to see him again.”
    “And how did he react to meeting you?”
    Poor Beatrice. Was the only excitement in her life what she could glom from Octavia’s own? “He seemed pleased. He was pleased.”
    “Are you going to see him again?”
    Her hand stilled on the bed. “No.” And there it was, the reason for her ill temper. The next time she saw North Sheffield, he would no doubt pretend not to know her, and she him. It would be as though tonight never happened. As though the first half of her life with him no longer existed except in her own mind.
    Beatrice’s expression was sympathetic, as though she could read the direction of Octavia’s thoughts. “Why do you not confide in Lord Spinton? I am certain he will understand.”
    Octavia was certain he would as well. Was there anything Spinton wouldn’t understand, or at least try to? The man was all goodness—too good for the likes of her. “I promised my grandfather I would not.”
    A shrewdness came over Beatrice’s smooth features, pinning Octavia where she sat. “You promised Grandfather you would marry Spinton also, but you have yet to keep that promise.”
    There was that word again. Yet . Such a little word to encompass so very much. So very much of nothing.
    “But I will marry him,” Octavia admitted. “I will marry him because I said I would, and if he finds out the truth after that, I will face the consequences, but I gave my word he would not hear it from me, and he will not.”
    Beatrice shook her head. “I used to envy your closeness to our grandfather, but no more. I am thankful he never made me make such promises. I am certain I could never keep them.”
    Octavia laughed softly. “Of course you could. You are by far the more honorable of the two of us. You would keep them and probably make Spinton a more suitable countess than I ever would.”
    Her cousin blushed softly in the dim light, so softly Octavia would have missed it if not for her sudden downcast gaze. Was it possible Beatrice’s feelings for Spinton ran deeper than infatuation with a man who paid attention to her? Was her cousin in love with Spinton?
    Or was Octavia simply hunting for reasons to put off her marriage even longer—perhaps indefinitely? What if Beatrice did love Spinton? More to the point, what if Spinton fell in love with Beatrice?
    Lord, wouldn’t that be a tangle! Wouldn’t they all be wonderfully miserable then? Especially if Octavia kept her promise to marry Spinton. And she would keep her promise. Eventually.
    It was at that moment that there came a knock on the door. At Octavia’s command, her maid Janie entered the room. Janie was a pleasant girl; Octavia had never seen her ill, tired, or without a smile. Just the sight of her was enough to raise Octavia’s spirits.
    “Did you have a good evening, my lady?” she asked as she closed the door behind her.
    “I did,” Octavia replied as she stood. “But now I want nothing more than to climb into bed and sleep till noon tomorrow. Work your magic, Janie dear.”
    Beatrice slipped off the bed. “I should retire as well.”
    “Oh,” Janie said, as though the thought suddenly occurred to her. “Something arrived for you earlier, Lady Octavia.”
    As she pulled a letter from her pocket, both Octavia and Beatrice stilled. Octavia had received enough similar missives to recognize