Chapter 2

"Don't allow your mind to tell your heart what to do. The mind gives up easily." Paul Coelho

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Chapter Two

Olivia immediately cracked, a wide smile spreading across her face and a humorous laugh escaping her mouth. She placed her hands on the bars of her cell and pressed her face in between the gap while looking up at him.

"You are Kit Kensington. You boasted of your strength to me before promptly falling on your backside when trying to move my crate of books. You were an orphan before your father found you and you learned to read later in your life and were embarrassed by it. You find me odd, but you did call me extraordinary. I shall never forget that."

Olivia spoke in a hushed tone so that their company would not hear them. She stared at him, not breaking eye contact. Olivia had not forgotten a thing from their brief encounter. But had she recalled their ki –

"I even remember the exact shade of pink your cheeks turn when you are kissed," she added deviously.

Much to Kit's humiliation, his cheeks were undoubtedly rosy. "Alright, you remember," he murmured.

As a fourteen year old boy, Kit had had little to do with the opposite sex. Yes, there had been girls in the care of the reverend, but he had never conversed with a girl his own age, and he certainly had never been enchanted by a girl before, much less a girl like Olivia.

Olivia was rare. She had been extraordinary to him then, and she was still extraordinary to him now. Kit did not quite understand her, but it made him all the more curious.

"It is good to see you again, Olivia," Kit said, extending his hand through the bars of the cell. He remembered things, too.

Olivia smiled and shook his hand firmly.

"Like the men do it. A shake, respect. No spit transferring on to hands," he quoted. It had been odd, but Kit enjoyed Olivia's subtle rebelliousness. Clearly, she had grown less subtle.

Olivia smiled. "Exactly right."

Kit knew that he needed to apologise for breaking his promise to write her. He needed to explain. "Miss Pendleton," he addressed her formally, "or Lady?" he corrected. "You are the daughter of an earl, are you not?"

Olivia pursed her lips. "My father might disagree with you on that subject." She shook her head. "You may call me Olivia and I will call you Kit, just as we were," she decided.

"Olivia," began Kit, "I need to apologise to you for not keeping my promise. I never wrote you and I am sorry."

Olivia's face softened. "You did not injure me, Kit," she told him. "I assure you, it takes a lot more than a broken promise to injure me."

Kit believed her. Here she stood, in a prison cell, with a smile on her face and determination in her heart. Olivia would not be dissuaded nor would she be discouraged by such things as empty words.

"Sometimes it is healthy to be a little selfish. Clearly, others needed you more."

Kit looked back over his shoulder at his father. Cassian was sitting beside Finn, drinking something amber coloured, and chatting quietly. Finn was no longer writing. Perhaps he had ducked out to send the missive to Olivia's aunt without Kit noticing.

Kit had made a promise to himself, and to his family, many years ago, that he would do whatever he needed to in order to make his family happy.

Kit had kept that promise. He had gone to university, just as he was asked to, and he had returned home to help his father run the textile business. He looked after his sisters and helped his mother with her school and protected her however he could.

And now, when he returned home, he would keep his meeting with Olivia Pendleton a secret to keep his mother calm.

Kit did not think he had been selfish a day in his life. Certainly not since he had been a Kensington. He had always done whatever he could to make his family happy, and proud of him. Olivia, on the other hand ...

"Why are you here, Olivia?" Kit asked her, suddenly serious.

Olivia stood firmly, and did not recoil. "Good question," she replied. "I did nothing wrong."

"You broke the law," Kit said dryly.

Olivia's eyes narrowed. "Laws that exist to disadvantage people purely because they do not have a set of bollocks between their legs should not exist," she said icily.

Kit had never before heard such language from a woman's mouth. He grinned, enjoying it. "You are not exempt from the law because you do not agree with it, Olivia," he reminded her.

"I know," she sighed. "Sir John Strachan voted against bills on the improvement of housing, sewerage, the price of grain, the list goes on! All the while lining his own pockets. He governs me just as much as any man. Why do I not have the right to hold him accountable?" Olivia asked Kit seriously.

Olivia was talking of sewerage with an amount of conviction in her voice that Kit had never had. It unsettled him. Where had Olivia's passions come from? And why did Kit not have any of his own?

"I am sorry, I am lecturing you," Olivia apologised. She sunk to her knees and then sat down on the wooden floor. "I have a horrid habit of preaching to others about the things I believe in. I can be quite tiresome."

Kit followed her to the ground. "Never apologise for being passionate, Olivia," Kit said sincerely. "What must it be like to believe in something so whole-heartedly that you would be willing to risk your freedom for it?"

Olivia leaned her head against the bars, a tendril of her long, red hair passing between them temptingly. "Confining," she replied jokingly.

Kit laughed.

"Lonely," Olivia then said softly, her eyes darting nervously to his.

"Your parents?"

Olivia shook her head. "My mother and I always had a tumultuous relationship. She never understood me. Nobody ever has, really. I was not the sort of daughter she wanted. I was apprehended when I was sixteen years old for attending a university lecture. I was wearing something similar to this." Olivia gestured to her clothes. "It must not be very convincing," she commented. "My parents settled with the magistrate and I was sent to my Grandpapa Bernard and my Aunt Lorna."

Olivia did not speak with much emotion, but Kit could tell that her mother's rejection had hurt her. Olivia's eyes were quite easy to read.

"Are they good to you?"

Olivia smiled. "Oh, yes." She nodded. "My Grandpapa is a dear. He is eighty years old and quite deaf. He does not know of what I get up to. My Aunt Lorna is my mother's younger sister. She looks after Grandpapa, and she tries to care for me. I am not an easy ward, as you would have gathered. She will be receiving a note any minute informing her of her niece's imprisonment."

"You are not at all changed in these years past," replied Kit. "I am sure your aunt will not be surprised."

Olivia feigned offense. "I am not at all changed? I will have you know I am at least three inches taller," she teased. "You have changed, though," she observed. "You look ..."

What? Handsome? Debonair? Charming? Amiable?

"... actually, you look exactly the same," Olivia decided. "You are taller, if that is even possible, and you have grown into your limbs and features, but you look just as cautious as you once did."

"Cautious?" Kit frowned.

"As though you consistently walk through life on eggshells, eager to please and terrified of disappointing," replied Olivia simply.

Kit recoiled. "I am not eager to please, and I certainly am not terrified of disappointing people." Kit could not believe that Olivia had made such an assumption of his character. She had known him for a collective ninety minutes, if that. She knew nothing about him.

"Perhaps I am wrong then." Olivia shrugged her shoulders and moved away from the cell bars. "You ought to stop talking to me. I do not think your father approves and I should hate for you to displease him."

Kit shot her an angry glare. "You are the one in prison."

"Am I?" she countered.

Kit hissed as he climbed to his feet and marched across the room to re-join his father and Finn. He sat down in the spare chair and huffed angrily.

"Are you alright?" asked Cassian, concerned. "What did she say to you?"

"She is not as clever as she thinks she is," Kit mumbled angrily.

"There you are, Cassian. No attachment, whatsoever. Nothing to worry about," Finn said, pleased.

"What?" asked Kit.

Cassian placed a hand on Kit's shoulder. "I was worried that you were becoming quite enamoured with Olivia for a moment," he admitted. "You, of course, understand why such an attachment could never continue. But my worry was for nought. You were always a good boy, Kit. You always do what is right for our family. Once Olivia's aunt comes to collect her, we can put this behind us."

While his father's words were kind, they annoyed him. Kit shoved Olivia's assumptions aside and attempted to smile. There was nothing wrong with pleasing people.

"You, young man, need a good girl," said Finn. "Someone kind and caring, and lacking the criminal urge." He smirked.

"So do you," countered Cassian.

Finn's bachelor status was a constant topic of conversation. He was four and thirty years old and had not married, nor courted, in all the years that Kit had known him.

"At this point, if a pretty woman walked through that door and said that she wanted me, I would drop down on one knee immediately," replied Finn.

As if fate were listening, the door to the magistrate's office flew open, and a young, attractive, red-headed woman burst through the door. She held Finn's note in her right hand.

"Where is the magistrate?" she demanded to know. "I want him!"

Finn stared at her in awe as Cassian burst out laughing. "Go on then!" he urged. "Propose!"

The woman looked confused and utterly unamused. There was no question of the relation. This woman was Olivia's Aunt Lorna. Her hair was much the same shade of red as Olivia's, but she wore it in a braid atop her head, a few strands falling loose from the journey. Her skin had the same porcelain appearance as Olivia's, and her face was just as elegant and feminine. The only difference was that Lorna's eyes were brown, and she looked only a few years older.

Finn cleared his throat as he stood up. Cassian and Kit followed suit. "My name is Finnegan Kelly, ma'am. I am the magistrate."

Lorna huffed. "Lorna Murray," she replied. "Where is Olivia?"

"I am here, Aunt Lorna," Olivia called from her cell.

Lorna's head turned towards Olivia's voice, before her attention returned to Finn. "Mr Kelly, what is this I hear of you arresting my niece for voting?"

"Your hearing is perfectly fine. I did arrest your niece for voting."

Lorna did not at all look like she was in the mood for humour. Her brown eyes narrowed as she approached Finn's desk. She kept eye contact with Finn. Olivia had indeed inherited her courage. "I want her released this minute. My father would be terribly distressed if he learned of this." Lorna's words did not sound at all like emotional blackmail, but genuine worry for her father. Perhaps he was unwell, as well as almost deaf.

Finn had said that he would release Olivia in a few hours. He knew she was not a criminal. "Well, what is in it for me if I release her?" Finn was going to vex her, just as he did Faith quite frequently.

Lorna's eyes flared. "Are you asking for a bribe?" she asked, disgusted.

"Of sorts." Finn grinned. "What is your niece's release worth to you?"

Cassian and Kit exchanged a glance. Clearly Finn had immediately taken a fancy to Lorna and was doing his best to make her as flustered as possible.

Lorna folded her arms across her chest. "What do you want?"

"Just a kiss, right here." Finn tapped his cheek.

Lorna's cheeks nearly turned as crimson as her hair. "You are a pig," she hissed.

"A pig with the keys to your niece's cell," Finn teased.

Lorna balled her hands into fists and stomped around the desk to stand next to Finn. "You promise she will be released? I have your word?"

"My word as a gentleman," promised Finn.

"Something I would believe if you were one," snapped Lorna.

"Oh," feigned Finn. "You wound me, Miss Murray."

"Hush."

Kit could see what Finn was going to do before he did it. Just as Lorna stood up on her toes to kiss Finn's cheek, Finn turned his head and caught her lips. Lorna pulled away immediately in shock, and brought her hand up to smack his cheek. The sound was mighty, and Finn staggered away laughing.

Lorna seized Finn's set of keys from his desk and stormed over to Olivia's cell to unlock it. As soon as the door was open, Lorna grabbed Olivia's hand and pulled her towards the door. Lorna's cheeks were still incredibly flushed, and she dared not look up at the three men in the room.

Olivia, on the other hand, was very amused. "Until we meet again, Kit," she said in farewell as her aunt dragged her out of the magistrate's office and away from view.

"You are cruel," scolded Cassian, amused.

"Ah, yes, but now I get to grovel. I find that women enjoy it when men grovel," replied Finn as he sat back down in his chair. "She was very lovely, though, wasn't she?"

"I choose not to answer that." Cassian grinned and motioned for Kit to follow him as he went to leave the office. "We had best take our leave. Faith will expect you promptly at seven o'clock for dinner."

Finn waved them off as Cassian and Kit walked out onto the street.

Olivia and Lorna were nowhere to be seen. They must have left in a carriage.

"Not a word to your mother," reminded Cassian. "And promise me you will not go seeking that girl out. Nothing good can come from bringing any one of the Pendletons back into Faith's life."

Olivia's observations had angered him. He was still angered by them. But he could not deny that there was truth to them. He endeavoured to please his family. He would do anything to make them happy, even at the expense of his own wants.

Kit knew that he would move past his anger towards Olivia, and quickly, and when he did, he would want to see her again. What his family did not know could not hurt them, he supposed.

---

I love the name Lorna. If my name wasn't Laura, I would name my future daughter that. Apparently Lorna is the Scottish Laura anyway :P so technically it is a variation of my name haha. I've loved it ever since I read Lorna Doone. Apparently R.D Blackmore actually made up the name for his book in 1869 so TECHNICALLY this name didn't exist in 1813, but you know what, screw it, it's my book and I want the name ;)

I'm leaving for Europe in 74 days!! I highly doubt I will get this book finished before I go, but I will give it a crack! But the month of January will be lacking in updates, but if you follow me on Instagram (littlelowriter) then you'll see where my adventures take me!

I also realised today I'll be in a plane when the Boxing Day Test is on *cries* If you don't know what the Boxing Day Test is, it's the biggest cricket match of the year that takes place on December 26th. This year the Aussies are playing England in the Ashes and I'm gonna misss itttttttt. But I will be able to catch some of it hopefully in a pub in London so if you're in town, look out for the only person cheering on Australia in England :P

Alright, I'm off to bed. I hope wherever you are in the world that you are safe. So many horrible things have been happening, and I have been thinking of all of you who might be affected. I hope everyone is okay!

Love xx

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