Olivia Twist(86)

They reached the front door and Judge Perkins extended his hand. “Godspeed to you, Mr. MacCarron. I hope you don’t take offense when I say I hope to never see you again.”

Jack shook the judge’s hand with a wide smile. “No worries, Your Honor. I have a very good reason to stick to the straight and narrow.”

Walking out of Newgate, Jack stared up at a sky bursting with stars. He breathed in the fragrance of London—rot and coal smoke laced with a bit of clean frost—and knew he meant every word he’d just said. He wouldn’t so much as lift a lost coin from the gutter. After hearing everything Olivia had done to save him, he would never dare jeopardize her faith by falling back into his old ways.

Jack set off down the street at a jog. He had a lot to do before he could rest. His past life as a thief may be over, but one of his biggest heists loomed before him—to win the prize of one brave, beautiful girl’s heart.





CHAPTER 25


Olivia awoke to music, the sweet, sweeping notes of a song mixing with the remnants of her dreams. Soft sunlight slanted through her window and across her coverlet as she stretched an arm over her head and smiled. She’d been dreaming of Jack.

Jack!

Excitement propelled her out of bed. When they’d opened Monks’s safe box, Judge Perkins had assured her Jack’s conviction would be overturned and he’d be free before morning. Which had now arrived!

She was tugging her trousers on under her nightgown when a pinging sound drew her eyes to the window. The haunting strains of the song began again. In a daze, Olivia walked toward the sound, the music hauntingly familiar. It was a song from The Bohemian Girl, the opera she and Jack had attended.

Almost tripping over her pants as they fell around her ankles, she kicked her feet free, ran the rest of the way to the window, and threw open the curtains. Just below her, in the garden, she spied a familiar dark head tilted over a violin.

With a wordless cry of joy, Olivia pushed up the window and leaned out. “Jack!”

He stopped playing and lifted his head. White teeth contrasting against ruddy skin, he flashed the most beautiful grin she’d ever seen in her life. “Princess Olivia, please come down,” he called.

Olivia flew out of her room and down the stairs, not bothering with a wrap. She flung open the front door and there he was, leaning against the jamb, hands shoved in his pockets, as if he hadn’t a care in the world.

Her heart ready to explode, she forced herself to pause in the doorway and mirror his posture, quipping, “Where’s your trusty brolly this morning, Mr. MacCarron?”

His shimmering blue gaze caught hers, his voice low. “It doesn’t much look like rain, Miss Brownlow.”

No, it didn’t. In fact, the skies shone a dusty pink as the sun rose on the most perfect of days. Olivia had a feeling their storms were behind them.

Unable to take it a moment longer, she rushed out and threw her arms around Jack’s neck. She kissed his chin, his cheek, his hair, and breathed deep of his skin—the scents of spring rain and soap and that indescribable energy that was pure Jack. A fragrance she thought to never savor again.

He pulled back, the wicked grin she loved slanting his mouth. “I guess this means you’re happy to see me?”

“Yes, you dolt!” She pulled out of their embrace and smacked his arm.

He made a face. “Ow! That hurts me, it does.”

She shook her head. The sight of him stung her eyes. She couldn’t believe he was real. “How long have you been free?”

“Not long.” All humor gone, he took her face in his hands and lowered his head. “I came to you as soon as I could.”

Olivia blinked up at him, her next words a breathless rush. “I love you, Jack.”

His mouth took hers and she laced her fingers into the silk of his hair. As he kissed her, tingles skittered up and down her spine, settling low in her back.

Jack’s mouth slid to her cheek and then her ear. “How do you feel about marrying a traveling musician?”

A daze of joy and passion clouding her brain, Olivia leaned back in his arms. “What?”

He placed one more open-mouthed kiss on her neck, causing her brain to momentarily lapse. “’Tis how I plan to make an honest living.” He turned with her in his arms and gestured toward the fiddle leaning up against the banister.

Olivia blinked at the violin and then back at Jack’s tense expression. Was he serious?

“I would lower to one knee, but I can’t bear to let you go.” He met her gaze and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, brushing his knuckles along her cheek.

As his meaning began to sink in, Olivia trembled against him, every bone in her body melting.

“Olivia Brownlow, I would do anything for you. I love you more than my own life. Will you marry me?”

She gazed at him for several moments, letting his words fill her heart. “Yes, Jack. Yes, I’ll marry you!” Then she kissed him soundly on the mouth.

But he pulled back, concern clouding his gaze. “I can’t steal anymore, Olivia. You deserve better. Even though living off my music will be a struggle, if I can find a position with a theater company, I know I can provide for you.”

“Jack, I would follow you anywhere.” His face shone with such happiness, Olivia had to swallow before she could continue. “I would marry you if we had to live in a gypsy wagon and eat gruel for every meal. But . . .” She let a teasing grin flit across her lips. “That won’t be necessary.”