What if Jared was downstairs drinking brandy to forget that he was stuck with the lot upstairs?
Olympia paused in front of the glass on her dressing table and scowled at her image. It was not entirely her fault that she and Jared had been obliged to marry, she thought. Jared had set the entire disaster in motion when he had insinuated himself into her household as the children's tutor.
He had deceived her right from the start. And while she could certainly sympathize with his reasons for doing so, the fact nevertheless removed some of her own guilt in the matter.
Furthermore, she had employed Jared at the start of this business and he had never actually resigned.
Olympia's chin lifted. Jared had no right treating his innocent employer to such surly behavior on her wedding night.
Inspired with righteous resolve, Olympia straightened her cap on her hair, retied her wrapper, and went to the door. She opened it and stepped out into the silent hall.
From the top of the stairs she could make out the glow of candlelight under the study door. She squared her shoulders, stalked down the stairs, and crossed the small downstairs hall.
She raised her hand to knock on the door, changed her mind, and turned the knob, instead. Head high, she sailed into the study and closed the door behind her.
She halted abruptly when she saw Jared. The sight of him unsettled her far more than she had expected.
Jared sprawled in her chair with the relaxed grace of a carnivorous beast. His boots were arrogantly propped on her desk, as if he owned the study and everything in it.
He had long since discarded his coat. The single candle that burned in the room revealed that Jared's shirt was undone halfway down his chest. He had a half-finished glass of brandy in one hand.
The black velvet patch over his left eye only served to make the hooded gleam in his good eye all the more intimidating.
"Good evening, Olympia. I assumed you would be sound asleep by now."
Olympia fortified herself against the decidedly unpleasant tone of his voice. "I came downstairs to speak to you, Mr. Chillhurst."
Jared's brow rose. "Mr. Chillhurst?"
"Your lordship," she corrected herself impatiently. "I wish to discuss a certain matter with you."
"Do you, indeed? I would not advise it, madam. Not tonight." He saluted her with the brandy glass. "I am not in the best of moods, you see."
"I understand," Olympia gave him a small, tremulous smile. "You have been through a great deal this evening. A man of your refined sensibilities is bound to be affected by such an unfortunate experience. No doubt you need time to recover."
"No doubt." Jared's mouth twisted. Harsh amusement gleamed in his gaze as he took a swallow of the brandy. "We men who are cursed with refined sensibilities and passionate natures have somewhat emotional reactions to kidnappings and such."
"There is no need to mock me or your own nature, Chillhurst," Olympia said quietly. "We are what we are and we must make the best of it." She took a deep breath and gathered her courage. "And I feel the same applies to our marriage, my lord."
Jared regarded her with a look of disgust. "Does it, indeed?"
Olympia took a step forward and clutched her wrapper very tightly together just below her throat. "The thing is, sir, we are stuck with each other, if you see what I mean."
"Stuck with each other. A charming notion."
"I realize you are having second thoughts about the wisdom of our marriage and I am truly sorry about that. I did try to dissuade you, if you will recall."
"Only too well, madam."
"Yes, well, unfortunately, there is nothing to be done about it now. We must try to make the best of it."
Jared put down his brandy glass and rested his elbows on the arms of the chair. He placed his fingertips together and regarded her with an enigmatic expression.
"Are you having second thoughts about our marriage, Olympia?"
She hesitated. "I regret that you felt compelled to marry me, my lord. I would not have had it thus."
"I was not compelled to marry you."
"Yes, you were."
"Must you argue with me at every turn?" Jared's mouth thinned. "I married you because I wished to do so."
"Oh." Olympia was taken aback by that statement. Her spirits lifted. "That is very reassuring, my lord. I had been a trifle anxious, you see. One does not like to feel that one has been married simply because there was no honorable alternative."
"I dissolved one engagement, if you will recall. Rest assured, had I wished to do so, I would have found a way out of this alliance, too."
"I see."
"Like you, I am not overly concerned with appearances or the potential of a scandal."
Olympia took another step toward the desk. "I am very pleased to hear that, my lord."
He tilted his head slightly, his expression mockingly quizzical. "Do you think you might manage to call me Jared? We are quite alone here tonight. And as you have just pointed out, we are married now."
Olympia blushed. "Yes, of course. Jared."
"Why did you marry me, Olympia?"
"I beg your pardon?"
He watched her face in the candlelight. "I asked why you married me. Was it solely because you have found me somewhat useful about the place?"
"Jared."
"I believe that was what you implied when you accepted my offer yesterday. You made it clear that you valued me primarily because I could keep your household in order."
Olympia was horrified. "I only said that because I had the headache and I was very overset by that scene in the parlor with Lady Beaumont and Lady Kirkdale and Mr. Seaton. There are many other reasons why I was pleased to accept your offer."
"Are you quite certain?" Jared tapped his fingertips together. "I should point out that I am not quite so useful as you might have once believed me to be. I almost lost Robert for you tonight."
"You did not lose Robert, he got himself lost." Olympia was growing desperate. "You rescued him, Jared. And I shall never forget it."
"Is that the reason you have come down here tonight? Did you wish to thank me for rescuing Robert after I lost him?"
"That is quite enough." Olympia stormed the rest of the way across the room to stand directly in front of the desk. "I believe you are being deliberately difficult, sir."
"Quite possibly. I am in a difficult mood."
Olympia narrowed her eyes. "What's more, I begin to believe that you have instigated this quarrel merely to cause me distress."
"I did not start this quarrel." Jared abruptly took his boots down off her desk and got to his feet. He towered over her. "You did."
"I did not." Olympia refused to draw back.
"Yes, you did. I was sitting alone down here, minding my own affairs, when you came traipsing through that door a moment ago."
"This is our wedding night," Olympia said through her teeth. "You should have been upstairs with me. I should not have had to come down here to look for you."
Jared flattened his hands on the desk and leaned closer. "Tell me why you agreed to marry me, Olympia."
"You know the answer to that." Passionate outrage swept through Olympia. "I married you because you are the only man I have ever wanted. The only man whose touch fills me with desire. The only man who understands me. The only man who does not think me odd. Jared, you have given life to my very dreams. How could I not want to marry you, you bloody pirate?"
A thundering hush settled on the room. Olympia felt as though she had just stepped off a very high bridge above a roaring, fathomless torrent.
"Ah," Jared said softly. "Well, there is that, I suppose." He reached for her.
And caught her just as she plummeted into the sea of passion that cascaded over them both.
Chapter 14