Read Online Lady Farquhar's Butterfly by Beverley Eikli - Free Book Online Page A

as a great gift to lessen her mortal trials. ‘Marry
me, and I will reunite you with Julian.’
    Julian.
    Julian, not
Max, was the cornerstone of her life. Reclaiming her darling baby
was all that mattered and only Nathaniel Kirkman could gain him for
her, for she had not the courage to travel an alternate path.
Nathaniel’s will was too powerful. He handed her his lawn,
laceedged handkerchief. She had not known she was crying; and again
he mistook its cause.
    ‘Under my
tutelage you shall learn to subjugate your wanton impulses.
    Through me you
shall tread a Godly path and find comfort.’ His voice grew honeyed.
‘I have the power to bring you true happiness, Olivia’ – he waited
for her to compose herself, for his words to sink in – ‘through
your son and humility of spirit. Now my dear, you have not answered
me. I have the letter here. Am I to have it delivered to Mr
Atherton?’
    Olivia gave
another sob.
    An image of
dark, curly-headed little Julian ought to have inspired her to
respond in the affirmative. Instead, memories of Max’s warm smile
and his gentle touch blinded her to reason. His kisses had ignited
a need she thought she’d conquered. She covered her eyes and tried
to banish his image.
    A fortnight,
it had been. Two painful weeks since she had left him, and not an
hour had passed without her yearning for him, yet she had spent
barely two days in his company.
    She felt
Nathaniel’s hand on her shoulder. She thought he might stroke her
hair, or otherwise insinuate his touch upon her, but, as ever, he
was the model of restraint and propriety.
    He indicated
for her to pour him another cup of tea. When he spoke again his
tone was intimate, collaborative. ‘Only you and I know all the terrible things you have done in Lucien’s name, but there are
enough who have been a party to those events which have tarnished
your reputation; some would say, forever. I, however, believe you
can be redeemed. And I believe it is God’s will that I try.’
    Another nail
in the coffin which housed her hopes and dreams. Max had risked his
life for king and country. Honour and valour distinguished him. He
could never understand, much less condone, the things Olivia had
been forced to do, the wicked, terrible things to which Nathaniel
referred.
    Still, she
could not bend her will to Nathaniel’s so easily. Her stubborn
spirit which had been the undoing of her in the first place finally
came to the fore.
    ‘Your offer
does me great honour, Reverend Kirkman,’ she said, drying her eyes
as she banished her emotion. With dignified calm she gazed at the
man who would be her husband; a man to whom she owed a great deal
and who had eased some of the pain of her marriage, but whom she
had no wish to marry. ‘Pray, allow me a day in which to consider
it.’
    He appeared
unfazed and relief washed over her. She hadn’t known how Nathaniel
would react if she’d thwarted him. ‘A very proper request, my
dear.’ He drained his tea cup, pushed back his chair and rose.
Bowing, he said, ‘I shall return tomorrow afternoon to receive your
answer.’
    She found her
aunts waiting in the parlour like a couple of impatient schoolroom
misses. They greeted her from the window embrasure which afforded
an uninterrupted view of the summerhouse.
    ‘Did he ask
you, Olivia?’ Aunt Catherine looked just like a little pea hen, the
fluffy grey hair beneath her lace cap matching her dove-grey gown.
Her kind, twinkling blue eyes were full of excited expectation.
    ‘Did you
accept?’ Aunt Eunice’s voice cracked like a whip, her interest
completely counter to her sister’s.
    ‘Come now,
Eunice, why won’t you admit that marriage to the reverend is the
best future Olivia could hope for?’ Catherine appealed to her
taller, more formidable sister.
    ‘I said I’d
give him his answer tomorrow.’ Olivia sank into the chair beside
the window and picked up the book lying there, as if her recent
assignation was of little account.
    ‘You will,