Against Their Wishes

Chapter 11

When Gregory came home that night, the very last thing he expected to see was his cousin flying down the stairs towards him. He really was very happy to see her; he had always gotten along with her, and they always seemed to have a good time together. He was a little surprised by his parents’ quiet demeanor through the night, but other than a passing thought, he didn’t give it much more attention. It wasn’t long after Olivia left that he bid Vivien goodnight and retired to the study to relax with a glass of whiskey. He had barely picked up the bottle before his mother burst through the door.

“How could you do that?” she shouted at him. Gregory turned around, clearly surprised by her outburst.

“Pardon?” Gregory replied. His mother came to stand before him before continuing.

“How could you treat Olivia so horribly, Gregory?” she accused.

“Mother, what are you talking about? I didn’t do anything,” he denied while moving away from his mother.

“You ignored her, Gregory!” she shouted at him.

“What? No, I didn’t!” he defended.

“Yes, you did. You spent the entire evening speaking with Vivien, and I don’t think you even spoke three words to Olivia at dinner. How do you think that made her feel, Gregory?” she asked.

“Mother, Olivia is fine. I’m not expected to speak with her every minute of every day,” Gregory declared, moving to pour whiskey into his glass. His mother grabbed the glass and set it out of his reach before he could take a drink.

“Honey, you are her betrothed, and you barely acknowledged her during dinner!”

“We aren’t in a real relationship, Mother!” he yelled. “Olivia knows this! She wasn’t offended by Vivien. You are completely overreacting.”

“Honey, you know I love you, but you don’t have the smartest moments. A woman who is your betrothed is going to be bothered by you devoting all your time to another woman regardless of whether the marriage is arranged or not. Olivia is human, dear, and she no doubt felt the snub even though she will more than likely never say anything,” his mother tried to explain.

“Mother, I really don’t think Olivia was offended,” Gregory continued.

“Take it from a woman, Olivia certainly was not flattered by you ignoring her all night despite the fact that you two have your troubles with getting along well together. Just try to be a little more sensitive in the future, all right?” she asked softly.

“All right, I will try to be a little more considerate,” Gregory replied, still not completely convinced Olivia cared about where his attentions lie.

“While we are talking, maybe we should discuss what you are going to tell Vivien. Are you going to let her in on the fact that you are in an arranged marriage, or are you going to tell her what you told everyone else?” she asked while taking a seat in one of the armchairs. Gregory sat down across from her, considering her question.

“Well, maybe we should just tell her the truth? I’m sure she won’t judge us,” he assumed. A look of distaste crossed Lady Willington’s face, but it disappeared before Gregory could even take notice of it.

“Gregory, if you want to keep everyone from knowing, I think you should keep Vivien in the dark. You know she has a penchant for not being able to keep a secret,” she told him gently.

“I don’t know, Mother. She isn’t that bad, and it may be easy for her to decipher what is going on. After all, she will be living here until the wedding, and Olivia and I don’t really get along when we aren’t in the public eye,” Gregory declared.

“Maybe you could try and get along when you are together, even if you aren’t in front of society. You do realize that you will both have to give and take a bit after you are married, right? Maybe this would be good practice,” she reasoned.

“To be honest, I have never really considered what would happen after we were married.”

“What do you mean, dear?” she gently asked.

“Well, I have just focused on the here and now. I didn’t think about what we would do after we were married,” he said, running his hand through his hair.

“Gregory, you do realize that your father and I want grandchildren, do you not?” He hesitated before answering.

“I mean, I kind of assumed that, but I try not to think about it,” he admitted.

“What is it that you don’t like about, Olivia?” she asked.

“What,” he asked surprised. “What do you mean?” he stuttered.

“Well, you claim that you won’t be able to get along, but why is that?” she asked, smiling inside with the feeling that she was finally getting somewhere.

“We just don’t get along very well, Mother. Are thoughts and opinions are too different,” he said a little more harshly than he intended. His mother merely smiled.

“Alright honey, but I really don’t think you two are as different as you believe. Just think about it,” she told him before standing up and leaving the room.

Gregory walked over to the glass his mother had taken away and downed it in one quick gulp. He poured himself another large glass before walking over to sit in front of the fire. Mulling over his thoughts, he shut his eyes and leaned his head against the back of the chair. He was being honest when he told his mother that he doubted Olivia was hurt by his actions. They were not fond of each other! Why should she be offended? Although, he did get mad when she was dancing with another man. Maybe she was just mad because she might have seen him acting as a hypocrite? Yes, that had to be it!

When Gregory had arrived home, he was surprised to see that Olivia was still there. Part of his reasoning for being out all day was that he knew she was going to be at his home all day. If he was being honest with himself, the way Olivia had felt in his arms had affected him more than he would ever admit to anyone. He hadn’t expected her to fit as well as she did, and he certainly did not expect for her to smell as good as she did. It had been some flowery scent, but that scent had drove him to near intoxication. He had no idea as to why she affected him like that, but it could not happen again. He had to be stronger than falling to his knees because a woman’s hair smelled good. Developing a weakness towards her would merely give her the upper hand in their unconventional relationship. He was absolutely certain that she had no feelings for him and did not experience these sorts of reactions to him as he had seemed to do for her. No, letting her in would prove him to be weak, and Gregory Willington was not weak!