Olivia Twist by Lorie Langdon

Author:Lorie Langdon
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Blink
Published: 2018-01-31T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 13

It occurred to me, Miss Brownlow,” Maxwell said as he led Olivia to her seat in the second-tier balcony, “that I have been neglectful in my courtship duties.” He spoke the words as if rehearsed. Or, more likely, prompted by his mother.

“Tonight qualifies as a courtship outing, does it not?” Olivia placed her gloved fingers on Max’s dark coat sleeve and met his eyes.

He blinked down at her hand, his cheeks darkening. “Perhaps this courtship business isn’t so bad after all.” His solicitous comment made Olivia’s throat constrict with guilt as she removed her hand from his arm and sat, fingering the small knot of string beneath the fabric of her glove, a reminder that her heart was divided.

Flustered, she raised her opera glasses to glance around the packed theater. They were seated in the Grimwigs’ private box with his parents. The perch gave them an optimal view of not only the stage but the colorful crowd as well.

Movement in the box directly across the theater caught her eye, and she swung the glasses around until she landed on a couple, just in time to see the dark-haired man leaning over to kiss the extended hand of a petite brunette. As the glasses brought the couple into focus, the blood drained from Olivia’s head and landed with a lump in her stomach. It was none other than Jack MacCarron and her blasted cousin Francesca. Lowering the glasses, she sucked air in gulps, the stricture of her stays stifling.

“What is it, Miss Brownlow?” Max lifted his glasses to follow the direction of her gaze. “Is that MacCarron?”

“Why, yes,” Martha Grimwig commented from the other side of Maxwell. “And Miss Lancaster. What a lovely couple they make. Don’t you agree, Miss Brownlow?”

Olivia couldn’t open her mouth for fear she might vomit. What was he doing here with her? Fran knew she was going to the theater this evening and hadn’t mentioned a word of her plans to attend. It must have been a last-minute invitation following her meeting with Jack on the street that morning. What was it Fran had said? Those evocative blue eyes didn’t leave my face the entire conversation. Olivia had dismissed it as her cousin’s over-inflated opinion of herself. Apparently, she’d been wrong.

Like a spectator unable to resist the macabre pull of a bloody accident, Olivia lifted her glasses and watched Jack and Fran’s dark heads tilt together in intimate conversation. She couldn’t make out their expressions in the dim light, but it was clear by their body language that they were enjoying each other’s company.

“Whyever did you ask me not to invite him to the ball?” Mrs. Grimwig asked Max in an annoyed tone.

“Mother, please. Let’s not discuss this here,” Max replied in a hiss.

Olivia forced herself to lower her glasses and focus on the conversation.

“He is always perfectly charming, and if Miss Lancaster deems him suitable then I shan’t exclude him.”

“Mother, you don’t—”

The orchestra’s discordant tuning swelled into organization, the smooth woodwinds melding with soaring strings and a roll of percussion, cutting off further conversation.

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