Only Olivia

Chapter Twenty One

"Where have you been?" Miss Olivia Fairfax vehemently despised the tone that greeted her after a sojourn at the Linville home. Philip stood at the top of the stairs, hands braced upon the railing, staring down at her.

"If you expect me to answer such a question then you, too, shall answer the same." She spat back, handing off her bonnet to Hannah. The earl recoiled, tips of his ears reddening.

His lips parted to reply, but Olivia beat him. "Business?" She questioned, eyebrow raising. Philip's mouth set into an annoyed frown.

"Yes, Olivia, I am an earl. I have matters to which I must attend." He left his post at the top of the stairs, stomping heavily down each stair. His voice rose in volume and annoyance the closer he got. "I cannot spend all my free time cooped up in this house or wait for you to return from your attempts to teach the twins French!"

Olivia sucked in a sharp breath, bracing herself. She knew Miss Clearwater would fume at her next words. Their only purpose was to sting and Miss Clearwater frowned upon her dear lexicon being used for such reasons. But, even Miss Clearwater made allowances when needed. Such as now.

"Do correct me if I am wrong, Dryden. But does not Lord Linville own more land and properties than you?" She did not pause for even a second to allow him an answer. "He does and yet he is curiously available far more often than you. When he conducts business, it is during the usual hours and from his study or his club. The same goes for Lord Baynes. Yet, you, somehow, must be away at all hours, overnight, and remain in the city limits." She met his bright blue gaze. "So, my curiosity leads me to wonder if you are just far more inept than your contemporaries, or do you take me for a bloody fool?"

Olivia reached back for her bonnet and shoved it on her head. "Your other mistress stopped me in the street the other day. Not that I had not already had some clue of your wandering eye. What with the scraps of poetry and the obscene amount of absences."

Philip sputtered, eyes darting around the hallway. "I know not of what you speak, Olivia. I love you and I would never betray you in such a fashion. Kassandra is a lair and s—"

"Enough!" Olivia looped her arm through Hannah's. "Let's go."

"Olivia!" Philip called after them. "You cannot leave me! I love you! Please, let me explain!"

"He's pitching the gammon," muttered Hannah. "What sort of man needs three women in his life? He wants to support three women?"

"I do not know men at all. Especially not that one. Lord Baynes and Lord Linville make sense. Their decisions are rational and logical unlike Philip."

Miss Fairfax clutched her maid's arm tighter. "We shall walk a little and then return. I imagine he will not come around for some days. Weeks more like."

"Then what'll you do?"

Olivia slanted a glance at her maid, mouth pursed. "I do not know."

"MISS FAIRFAX! IS THAT YOU!?" The utterly unmistakable voice of a certain pair of twins exploded down the street. Olivia halted abruptly as Charlotte and Lizzy, without a thought to decorum rushed her. Cat hurried behind them, trying her best to look the barest minimum of respectful.

"Oh, Miss Fairfax! How we have missed you!" Lizzy muscled in between the women, firmly removing Hannah from Olivia's side. "Have we not, Charlotte?"

"We have, Miss Fairfax. Lord Linville has not been to visit us at all. You must come home soon!"

"It appears I must since you have not yet learned how to behave on a public street," teased Olivia. "Or to not shove people."

Lizzy grinned sheepishly at her maid. "Many apologies, Hannah."