Only Olivia

Chapter Seventeen

"Miss Leinter," ventured Ellis, unable to keep the venom from his tone. She turned towards him, sea-blue eyes widening in the barest semblance of shock.

"Lord Linville, what a fortuitous turn."

Eyes narrowed, he forced a polite smile. "Is it?"

"I cannot believe I have been in the country for months and our paths have never before crossed."

"You ran into Philip right away." He never forgot spying her at Vauxhall Gardens. He had mentioned it to no one, not even Philip.

She smiled sweetly. "How did you know?"

"He has had business with you these past months, has he not?"

Her eyes turned into slits. Ellis expected her tongue to dart out of her mouth. Maybe she would even unhinge her jaw and swallow him whole. "You are quick as a whip." She fingered the dark green fabric of her gown. She glittered with hints of gold at her neck, her wrists, interwoven in her trim.

"I take it you have made the acquaintance of Miss Fairfax."

At last, he got a visceral reaction. Her perfect pout twisted into a sneer as her eyes rolled back until he saw white. Miss Leitner stood, shoulders back. She held out her hand to Ellis.

"Let us speak about Miss Fairfax."

He heaved a defeated sigh and escorted her away from the dancers. Her nails dug into the woolen sleeve of his evening jacket.

"All I hear about is Miss Fairfax. When one reunites with a former lover, she does not expect to hear him speak endlessly of his mistress."

"He loves her," supplied Ellis.

"Very well, but he loves us all, does he not?" Miss Leitner wrinkled her nose at the stench that built as they strolled through the ballroom. The smell began to grow worse as the hour grew late.

"He is too nice to do so otherwise."

"Lady Dryden and this Miss Fairfax may be content to share, but I shall not. I want him to myself. I want to marry him as promised when we met in Vienna."

"Miss Fairfax is not quite as content to do so as you may think." Once Ellis understood what drew her to his friend, but the reasons dwindled with every tardy arrival and flimsy excuse. "Oli-Miss Fairfax is not a fool. She knows a bit of your entanglement with Philip, which is why they are shooting daggers at one another when there should be laughter. I suppose it should not matter how or when their relationship ends, for she will become a woman of great means."

She whipped her head around. Ellis smirked. "Yes, Philip wrote a detailed contract listing her monthly allowance, allowing her to keep any gifts, plus a hefty sum upon the end of their relationship. Olivia spends little of her own money, which means she has amassed a decent fortune."

Miss Leitner fumed. "Philip never told me that."

"It is not your concern. It is his own money and he may do with it as he wishes."

Miss Leitner snatched away her hand. "I am his confidante. He has told me all since we first met." Her hands tightened into fists. "That woman..."

She stomped away, tossing her head as she went. Ellis never liked the woman. From their first meeting, she acted too possessive of Philip. She wanted him all to herself, but she had been quick to cut off communication with him in Vienna. She played with him, turning hot and cold. Ellis knew it drove the man crazy and also intrigued him.

What of Olivia? She worried over his absences as did the Baynes'. None of them dared mention that he may have found himself another lover. What did a man need with three women in his life?