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Hubert sighed heavily, though affection softened his expression. "You shall have it. Whatever challenges the coming months bring, I will stand beside you. And I want to be kept updated on every single thing involving this matter."

James lifted his glass, and Hubert did the same. "To your … advantageous marriage," Hubert said.

James raised an eyebrow. "To my very carefully calculated marriage."

Hubert snorted. "That is what every man says immediately before discovering that his wife is the one person in the household who cannot be calculated."

James found himself genuinely looking forward to tomorrow.

Chapter Nine

The next day, Olivia found herself seated in the parlor beside Louiza, both of them arranged upon a sofa while their aunt congratulated herself with the satisfaction of a general who had conquered an entire kingdom before breakfast.

Lady Charnley sat opposite them with her tea balanced delicately upon a saucer, her back straight and her expression unbearably pleased with herself.

"I must say," she announced, lifting her cup with great ceremony, "I have accomplished rather a lot in the short time you have been under my roof."

Olivia kept her hands folded in her lap and resisted the urge to look at Louiza, for she suspected one glance would be enough to make them both laugh. They had been at Charnley Manor less than a week, and already their aunt had separated them, turned Louiza into a maid, arranged Olivia's marriage to a fifty-year-old viscount, and threatened to ruin what remained of their lives with the efficiency of a military campaign.

Lady Charnley took a sip of tea and continued without requiring either niece to encourage her. "Your mother wrote to me expecting me to make something respectable of you," she said, directing a stern look at Olivia. "I confess I thought she had exaggerated the difficulty."

Olivia raised her eyebrows faintly, but Louiza nudged her with an elbow before she could say anything unfortunate.

"Yet I have managed it," Lady Charnley continued, evidently pleased with her own triumph. "Within days, I have secured you a husband, Olivia. Lord Boulton is a respectable gentleman, and you ought to be grateful that I have spared you the uncertainty of searching for one yourself."

Olivia swallowed the response forming on her tongue. The uncertainty of searching for a husband seemed preferable to being delivered to Lord Boulton like an unwanted parcel, particularly when the parcel had not agreed to be sent anywhere.

"You may both be surprised to hear," Lady Charnley added, settling more comfortably against the back of her chair, "that I am feeling unusually generous today."

Olivia glanced at Louiza, who looked equally suspicious. Nothing good had ever followed their aunt's declaration of generosity. "I have been considering your sister's situation as well," Lady Charnley continued. "Perhaps I shall spare Louiza the indignity of remaining with the servants after all. If I can find her a suitable husband, she may have the opportunity to rise above her current circumstances."

Louiza's expression remained composed, but Olivia knew her well enough to see the hurt behind it. The words struck Olivia with an unexpected force. Her sister had never deserved to be treated as though her value depended upon whether some man found her sufficiently pleasing.

I would rather face Lord Boulton myself than allow Louiza to remain here another month. Our sisters will never allow this maid nonsense to continue.

Lady Charnley seemed delighted by the silence that followed. She rose, collected her cup and saucer, and moved toward the tall windows overlooking the grey gardens, continuing to boast as though she were addressing an invisible audience of admirers.

"I have always said that difficult circumstances require decisive action. Your mother may be emotional, but I am practical. Had I not intervened, goodness knows where you two would have ended up."

Olivia watched her aunt's reflection in the window and thought that, if decisiveness meant making everyone's life considerably worse, Lady Charnley possessed the quality in abundance. She had nearly finished congratulating herself when Louiza leaned toward Olivia, keeping her face carefully turned toward the fire.

"Do you think the duke will really do what he promised?" she whispered.

Olivia's heart gave a nervous flutter at the mention of James. She had spent most of the morning trying not to think about him, which naturally meant that she had thought of almost nothing else. His blue eyes, his dry amusement, the warmth of his hand around hers, and the quiet certainty with which he had promised to make their marriage happen had followed her through breakfast and into the parlor. Yet promises were one thing, and actually arriving in time to rescue her from Lord Boulton was another.

"I can only hope I can trust him," Olivia whispered back, keeping her voice low. "We have only two days before Lord Boulton takes me to Scotland."

Saying the words aloud made the situation feel horribly real. Two days. Forty-eight hours in which James had to arrange a marriage, somehow prevent Boulton from taking her away, and protect Louiza from Lady Charnley's latest scheme. It was an outrageous plan, which meant that Olivia was beginning to believe it might actually work.

Unfortunately, Lady Charnley possessed ears that seemed specially designed to detect anything that did not concern her.

She turned sharply from the window, her eyes narrowing. "What are you two whispering about?" she demanded, setting her saucer upon the nearby table with a decisive click. "I will not have you conspiring against me under my own roof."

Olivia's stomach tightened, but she forced herself to smile pleasantly. It would hardly do for their aunt to discover that they were discussing a duke who intended to steal her niece away from the husband she had selected.

"We were merely agreeing with you, Aunt Jane," Olivia replied, folding her hands demurely. "You have done a great deal of work for us, and we thank you."

Louiza lowered her head at once, presumably to conceal the smile threatening to betray them. Olivia kept her expression angelic while Lady Charnley studied her with deep suspicion. For one dreadful moment, Olivia wondered whether her aunt had finally developed the ability to recognize sarcasm. Fortunately, Lady Charnley appeared to possess too much confidence in her own importance to consider that possibility.