Olivia narrowed her eyes as a sound suspiciously like a laugh emanated from her older sister.
Why would Jane suddenly decide that Alexander Stratford was friend rather than foe?
It can only be that she’s developed a tendre for the cad.
The sudden twist in her stomach at the idea of Jane and Lord Fincham forming an attachment to each other took Olivia by surprise.
It must be sisterly concern for Jane that had her feeling so – so uneasy about the idea.
After all, Jane’s memory might have been befuddled by a pair of emerald eyes, but Olivia’s certainly wouldn’t be.
She needed to keep her focus. She needed to get Jane to forget this foolish endeavour to be friends with Fincham’s set. To forget this troubling tendency to throw caution to the wind and risk her good name just because of a little mishap with father’s finances. Well, a ratherlargemishap to be frank.
Yes, Jane needed to forget all this nonsense.
And Olivia needed to forget this odd feeling in her stomach when she thought of the earl and his eyes…
Jane came to a halt while Olivia was still having stern words with herself, and they both stared up at the imposing white stucco building before them.
The sisters were unlikely to know anyone here.
What little friends they had retained since father’s embarrassing demise at the end of the Season when his debts were no longer secret had already retired to their country seats for the Yuletide.
For the first time in Olivia’s memory, they hadn’t received an invitation anywhere, not even for a dinner or a card evening at a country neighbour’s house.
Both Mama and Jane had found that hard and humiliating enough. But it was when Papa had announced that they wouldn’t return to their seat in Essex at all and would in fact remain in Town until he “set things right” that Mama had taken to her rooms and Jane had started to become rather wild.
Both were protesting their circumstances in their own ways, it seemed. And neither way was exactly helpful.
For the first few weeks, Olivia had tried to rally their spirits with talk of how magical London would be during Christmastide. But it was no use and eventually she’d given up entirely since all her efforts were now spent on acting as a nanny to her sister.
Her life had become utterly ridiculous. Thanks in no small part to Alexander Stratford.
Olivia cast a critical eye over the people sweeping towards the steps of the earl’s townhouse.
Not quite thedemi mondeshe feared but not much better. She didn’t recognise most of the faces and the ones she did weren’t exactly in the same circle of the Darington family. At least, they hadn’t been until their fall from grace.
Olivia glanced toward her sister, noting Jane’s flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes.
Well, she conceded wryly,shewas falling from grace. Jane seemed to be leaping enthusiastically from it.
“Ready?” whispered Jane.
No, I most certainly amnotready to see that blackguard Fincham again,Olivia thought.
“Yes,” was the only answer she gave.
It was one house party after all. How much could possibly happen in such a short space of time?
“Didyou invite the delectable darington girl?” Alexander scowled at Elliot’s lascivious tone.
Yes, he’d invited Jane Darington. Elliot did mean Jane. He hadn’t yet met the irritating little termagant, Olivia. And Alexander absolutely didn’t want him to.
Loathe as he was to admit it, Alex knew that the description of delectable applied to Olivia Darington in spades. Something that annoyed the hell out of him, frankly. She should look like a withered old hag to match that personality of hers.
Granted, he hadn’t seen her in years. She’d never been ‘at home’ when he’d made the obligatory house calls in deference to their parents’ friendship and their being neighbours whilst at Fincham Hall. Not to him, in any case. And while Jane Darington had happily accepted every invitation thrown her way since Sir Alfred’s disgrace, Olivia hadn’t ventured outside the door of their townhouse. Not that Alexander had been watching out for her.
Of course, since the Darington’s demise his mother had disassociated herself from the family faster than Alexander could blink. But that didn’t surprise him. In the grand tradition of theton,nobody cared about men’s vices if the façade remained intact. Once they could all pretend not to know about gambling, whoring, and hell-raising in their glittering ballrooms they could do as they pleased.
