Read Online Miss Goldsleigh's Secret by Amylynn Bright - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Amylynn Bright
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his jacket. “She said he was in a horrible accident, then Lord Dalton looked so…”
“I apologize, Miss Goldsleigh. I truly didn’t mean to frighten you.” Lord Dalton’s voice rumbled and soothed across her nerves. He smiled gently, drawing her attention from the strength in his arm to his smile, and she was momentarily distracted.
She stared at him and blinked several times, trying to grasp what the two of them were telling her. “Are you saying Warren is not dead?”
Lord Dalton nodded, but it was his mother who answered her question. “Oh, heavens, no!” The marchioness moved to the side so Olivia could see into her brother’s room. The bump of feet under the coverlet was still, but there was a doctor in the room speaking to whomever lay in the bed, which implied the bump was alive or else the doctor was even more confused than she. “He has a broken arm,” Lady Dalton repeated. “Come see for yourself.” The marchioness swept back into the room clearly expecting Olivia to be right behind her.
“We’ll speak more later,” Lord Dalton promised her. He gave her hand a quick, reassuring squeeze. “And again, I sincerely apologize for causing you undue distress. It was not my intention, I assure you. It is my hope you will still feel welcome in my home.”
Olivia longed to say something eloquent back to the man who had done so much for them in so little time. Something that would guarantee he would understand how grateful she was for everything, but words were not forthcoming. It didn’t matter what Lord Dalton thought he’d done. Short of actually killing her brother, Olivia couldn’t imagine what the man could do that would cause her to be so annoyed with him that she’d storm out of his house.
Instead she blinked at him again, her brain fuzzy with all the realizations in the last several minutes. The concentrated attention of the gorgeous man in front of her did not help her gain her intellectual footing. “F-f-fine. I’m fine.” She stammered out the words. “Thank you, Lord Dalton.”
Blue eyes. She couldn’t see anything in the hallway but the intense blue of his eyes smiling back at her. She had no idea how long she stood there like a gaping ninny, mesmerized by him, before Lady Dalton called from the bedroom roused her from her stupor.
“Go in and see your brother.”
Warren.
She released Lord Dalton’s hand and rushed into her brother’s room, leaving the Apollo with the compelling blue eyes in the hallway.
Olivia spent the rest of the afternoon and evening in her brother’s room trying to assuage her own guilt over his accident. Intellectually, there wasn’t one single thing she should be feeling guilty about, but her sense of responsibility ran too deep. If she’d handled things differently at home, differently with her cousin, none of this would have happened.
The boy had napped fitfully off and on, but for now he was awake and telling her about his day spent with the marquess before the accident.
“First we went to his tailor, and the funny little man measured me at least a hundred times. Dalton told me—”
Olivia interrupted, “You mean the marquess? You didn’t call him Dalton, did you?”
“Yes I did,” he declared. Olivia threw her head back and looked at the ceiling in exasperation. “He told me to. He really did. Anyway, he said I was too big now for little boy clothes, so the tailor fitted me for trousers and stuff. That wasn’t especially fun, sort of boring actually, but after that we went to his club for lunch.”
“You went to his club? Which one? What was it like?”
“It smelled like Father’s study but even more so,” he explained. “There were lots of gentlemen there.” He grinned. “There was roast for lunch. But they didn’t have any strawberries.”
“You were gone all day though. What else did you do?”
“After Henry had his meeting, that’s when we went to Tattersall’s.” Warren’s eyes shone with the delight of the
“I apologize, Miss Goldsleigh. I truly didn’t mean to frighten you.” Lord Dalton’s voice rumbled and soothed across her nerves. He smiled gently, drawing her attention from the strength in his arm to his smile, and she was momentarily distracted.
She stared at him and blinked several times, trying to grasp what the two of them were telling her. “Are you saying Warren is not dead?”
Lord Dalton nodded, but it was his mother who answered her question. “Oh, heavens, no!” The marchioness moved to the side so Olivia could see into her brother’s room. The bump of feet under the coverlet was still, but there was a doctor in the room speaking to whomever lay in the bed, which implied the bump was alive or else the doctor was even more confused than she. “He has a broken arm,” Lady Dalton repeated. “Come see for yourself.” The marchioness swept back into the room clearly expecting Olivia to be right behind her.
“We’ll speak more later,” Lord Dalton promised her. He gave her hand a quick, reassuring squeeze. “And again, I sincerely apologize for causing you undue distress. It was not my intention, I assure you. It is my hope you will still feel welcome in my home.”
Olivia longed to say something eloquent back to the man who had done so much for them in so little time. Something that would guarantee he would understand how grateful she was for everything, but words were not forthcoming. It didn’t matter what Lord Dalton thought he’d done. Short of actually killing her brother, Olivia couldn’t imagine what the man could do that would cause her to be so annoyed with him that she’d storm out of his house.
Instead she blinked at him again, her brain fuzzy with all the realizations in the last several minutes. The concentrated attention of the gorgeous man in front of her did not help her gain her intellectual footing. “F-f-fine. I’m fine.” She stammered out the words. “Thank you, Lord Dalton.”
Blue eyes. She couldn’t see anything in the hallway but the intense blue of his eyes smiling back at her. She had no idea how long she stood there like a gaping ninny, mesmerized by him, before Lady Dalton called from the bedroom roused her from her stupor.
“Go in and see your brother.”
Warren.
She released Lord Dalton’s hand and rushed into her brother’s room, leaving the Apollo with the compelling blue eyes in the hallway.
Olivia spent the rest of the afternoon and evening in her brother’s room trying to assuage her own guilt over his accident. Intellectually, there wasn’t one single thing she should be feeling guilty about, but her sense of responsibility ran too deep. If she’d handled things differently at home, differently with her cousin, none of this would have happened.
The boy had napped fitfully off and on, but for now he was awake and telling her about his day spent with the marquess before the accident.
“First we went to his tailor, and the funny little man measured me at least a hundred times. Dalton told me—”
Olivia interrupted, “You mean the marquess? You didn’t call him Dalton, did you?”
“Yes I did,” he declared. Olivia threw her head back and looked at the ceiling in exasperation. “He told me to. He really did. Anyway, he said I was too big now for little boy clothes, so the tailor fitted me for trousers and stuff. That wasn’t especially fun, sort of boring actually, but after that we went to his club for lunch.”
“You went to his club? Which one? What was it like?”
“It smelled like Father’s study but even more so,” he explained. “There were lots of gentlemen there.” He grinned. “There was roast for lunch. But they didn’t have any strawberries.”
“You were gone all day though. What else did you do?”
“After Henry had his meeting, that’s when we went to Tattersall’s.” Warren’s eyes shone with the delight of the
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