Only Olivia

Chapter Sixteen

The cool May air bit through her coverings, sending uncomfortable shivers through her body. She thanked the heavens the walk to the front door was brief. Once they stepped inside the town home of the Earl and Countess of Sheridan, the sticky, oppressive air greeted them with a vengeance.

"Good God," muttered Alex. "It is as humid as the Indies."

Cat gasped aloud, stripping off her cloak. She discarded the offensive garment into the arms of a waiting footman. She regretted her own gown, a heavy velvet, having anticipated a drafty home.

"I shall perish before I have my first dance," she declared. Cat retrieved a handkerchief from her reticule and dabbed at her neck.

Olivia removed her own cloak with less haste. They arrived only a quarter of an hour late, yet the Sheridan household was packed with the wealthiest London gentry. Olivia bumped elbows with many bachelors, unsurprised to find her maid correct once again. The only other ladies she spotted were matrons and wives though neither had any qualms with dancing with the handsome young men.

"Well, well, well, Miss Fairfax, that is quite a gown," teased the ever familiar Lord Linville. Ellis and she had become good friends after their adventures in Vauxhall Gardens. If possible, he had grown even more handsome, his cheeks dimpling in greeting, dark hair stark against his pale skin.

"Is it too much?" Olivia's hazel eyes darted about the crowded hallway. Some bodices dipped lower than her own with fabric so diaphanous, so flimsy, Olivia was certain she spotted the outlines of stays. She shook her head. "Perhaps not."

"Not one bit. May I say that you look as beautiful as always?"

"You always do," she replied.

"I find it difficult to not compliment beauty."

"I am sure your latest signora truly appreciates that."

Ellis chuckled and lifted his shoulders. "Perhaps not. I ended our entanglement just this evening."

Her jaw dropped open and she took his proffered arm. "Whyever did you do that? Is she not the most sought after soprano in London?"

La Bellissima she had named herself, this Lucrezia Rossi, lately of the blue canals of Venice. Ellis, as he loved to do, snatched her up right away. That had been only some weeks ago when snow still coated the streets of London.

"She is. But, and you will not believe this, she is a bit spoiled."

Olivia made a great show of gasping. "A spoiled opera star? I am shocked."

"And, she apparently sought the company of other men, which is not an arrangement to which I agree. I am devoted to my mistresses throughout the duration of our time together. To do so otherwise seems to cheapen the experience."

"You are a bachelor too, so it is not as if you go visit your wife's bed after visiting your mistress."

Ellis shook his head. "I encourage my married friends to find mistresses only because I know they are in unhappy marriages; otherwise, the arrangement only ends in pain. When I wed, I plan to love my wife."

She slanted a glance at the earl. Across the months, they had spoken more and she believed them to be friends. This, however, was the first time he broached such a serious topic. To think of Ellis married proved to require a great imagination. She had only known him as flitting from one opera singer to the next, practicing his own form of honour and chivalry.

"I fear I shall never marry..." she murmured. Ellis placed his hand over her own, offering a gentle squeeze.

"He speaks highly of you, but I do not think he ever will leave his wife, even if there is no love there." Ellis hesitated before continuing. "I fear he is too honourable and does not wish to disappoint their families or to reveal his marriage to be a failure." He stopped before a refreshment table, casting a concerned glance over her face.