Against Their Wishes

Chapter 12 part 2

The carriage to Olivia’s home was right on time as she helped her maid and butler bring down her bags. Gregory entered through the open front door while the driver stood by waiting to help load the bags onto the carriage. While the maid and butler proceeded outside, Olivia held up in the foyer where Gregory was waiting.

“I guess we had better get going,” Olivia suggested already moving towards the door, but Gregory grabbed her arm and pulled her back out of the line of sight of the servants.

“Why did you persuade my mother to let you come and stay at the house?” he accused. Olivia stared at him while gasping at his outlandish accusation.

“Excuse me? What are you getting at?” she angrily questioned. “I did not ask your mother to invite me over! She did it of her own accord. She merely asked me where my parents were, and I told her the truth. I did not think she would think anything of it!” Olivia defended.

“Well, she did, and now we are going to have to live under the same roof!” he complained.

“I am so sorry to inconvenience you, and I hate to be the one to tell you this, but it was going to happen sooner or later. Even I was not naïve enough to believe we could live in separate houses once married!” she cried.

“I just did not believe it would happen so soon!” he confessed.

“It had to be sooner or later, and I do not see what a difference a few weeks will make. We will merely keep out of each other’s way, and there should be no problems. You can spend your time with Vivien, and I will use my time to plan our wedding!” she shouted. Gregory’s eyes grew dark as he looked at her.

“What is wrong with Vivien?” he asked her accusingly. It was at that moment that Olivia realized she had spoken just a little too much.

“I did not mean anything by it,” She defended softly.

“Yes, you did! Are you telling me you do not like her?” he asked, sounding incredulous.

“No, that is not what I am saying. I just do not think she likes me very much. She is very off putting,” Olivia admitted.

“Olivia, she is just from a wealthy family in London. She is not used to living in the country,” he defended.

“So that gives her an excuse to be rude?” Olivia asked vehemently. Gregory rolled his eyes at her and ran his hand through his hair.

“She is not being rude, Olivia! Maybe it is you who is being rude to her! You are reading far too much into this, and please do not start anything with her when you come to live with us. She is important to me!” he proclaimed. Olivia stared at him with wide eyes while her insides were churning with anger. So it was her fault that Vivien treated her poorly?

“All right, Gregory,” his name laced with malice, “it is my fault for feeling like I was being insulted. It was my fault for merely trying to start a conversation with her and getting snubbed each time! It will never happen again, Gregory. I will keep out of everyone’s hair. You won’t see me until the day of our wedding since that is obviously what you want. And who knows? I might just disappear after the wedding to make both our lives so much better!” She angrily shouted at him. After her tirade, she spun around on the heel of her foot and angrily marched to the waiting carriage before flinging herself inside and slamming the door. Gregory sighed deeply as he watched her retreat. That was not at all how he was hoping their conversation would go, and now he had a forty five minute ride with an angry woman. ‘The gods must surely hate me,’ he thought.