Page 26 of Enticed By an Earl
“Give it a try,” Dev said, shrugging, then lifting one hand to wipe away Kit’s tears for him. “If you find that a life as Kitty does not suit you after all, then you can give it up and go back to being the Earl of Castleton.”
“If I take this leap, I am not certain I could ever go back again,” Kit said quietly.
“Perhaps not,” Dev said, cupping Kit’s sweet face with onehand. “But could you live with yourself knowing you’d been given the opportunity and pushed it aside?”
Kit swallowed, then shook his head tightly.
“Then welcome to these rooms, Miss Kitty Dryden,” Dev said, sitting back slightly and gesturing around. “They are yours for as long as you would like them, and I will provide you with the same sort of allowance that I’ve given to my mistresses in the past.”
“Am I your mistress now?” Kit asked, barely above a whisper.
Dev winked at him. “We shall see.”
He knew what he wanted to answer to that question, but he also knew that Kit needed time to adjust to an entirely different life. But as soon as the opportunity arose, Dev was determined to woo and seduce his delightful Kitty with as much fervor as he would even the most celebrated courtesan in London.
Nine
Kit had never experienced anything as suddenly life-changing as being brought to Dev’s mistress rooms on Gilbert Street. If he had known that once he entered the ordinary building he would not leave its confines for three days, he might have attempted some sort of clandestine visit to his father’s house to fetch a few things. Then again, as the days passed, he was uncertain whether there was anything at his father’s house that he wanted.
Dev was good company in those first days, as was Mrs. Torrance. In one manner of speaking, there was not much for Kit to do. He had no business that he needed to attend to and no work that needed his attention. His every need in terms of sustenance, clothing, and entertainment was provided for. It felt strange at first to spend all day in little more than a dressing gown, but transforming from Christopher into Kitty required time and a bit of planning.
“I’ve sent a letter to Mr. Wilkes and Miss Jones,” Kit told Dev on his second full day in seclusion. “I was cryptic, lest the letter somehow go astray.”
“What did you say to them?” Dev asked with a slightfrown as he sorted through the small ledger he’d brought in to keep track of the account he had set up for Kit.
Kit was not entirely comfortable with that particular account, but he vowed he would repay Dev someday in whatever manner he could.
“I sent word that I would like more clothing of the sort they made for me last week and that I would explain why when I came to collect it,” Kit explained, flushing at the very thought of what he was attempting to do.
Dev hummed and nodded. “I trust Wilkes and Miss Jones are both clever enough to know what you mean and discreet enough to carry out the mission without revealing anything.”
“We can only hope,” Kit agreed with a sage nod.
That was the heart of the conundrum he found himself in. Dev had offered him a unique opportunity to try for a new and entirely different life from the one he had led for the past five-and-twenty years. If he was daring and clever enough, he could tuck the Earl of Castleton away, perhaps indefinitely, and live as Miss Kitty Dryden without anyone being the wiser.
Ifhe was daring enough. Three days hidden away in the mistress apartment did not inspire Kit with any unusual courage, they only confirmed in him that he could not go back to his father’s house.
For the first time in years, Kit slept well. His first night in his new life was unsettled as it was so new. He jumped at every strange sound and held his breath when he heard others moving about the house. But when morning came and he was still perfectly safe, when Mrs. Torrance visited him with his breakfast and chattered away about the lives and gossip of the other inhabitants of the building, Kit began to feel a sense of security.
That night and the night after, he slept as if sleep weresome shiny, new trinket that he wanted to cherish closely for as long as he could.
By the fourth day of his seclusion, not only was Kit beginning to grow restless and feel the need for exercise, he had started to miss the company of the few friends he had. That led him to the slightly harrowing decision to leave the mistress apartment so that he might go to Jermyn Street to see how Miss Jones was progressing with his requested new wardrobe.
“Please tell Lord Deveraux where I have gone and not to worry about me,” Kit told Mrs. Torrance as she handed him his hat and coat in the downstairs hallway. “With any luck, I will return before he finishes his business and comes to see me for the afternoon.”
“All will be well, my dear,” Mrs. Torrance said, patting his arm before opening the front door. “I’ve called a discreet hack for you and all. Your mission will be as secret as that of a spy.”
Kit could not help but grin at her, even though his heart beat in his throat at the prospect of leaving his hiding place.
He stepped out into the world anyhow, feeling awkward in the clothing he’d worn when he arrived the other day. The trousers and jacket no longer felt natural to him, but at least they afforded him a good deal of anonymity. He moved straight from the house into the waiting carriage, shutting the door quickly behind him before breathing a sigh of relief.
It did not take terribly long to drive to Jermyn Street. All the same, Kit stayed hunkered down in the carriage and well away from the windows. The chances of his father or anyone who knew him seeing him was slim, but his fear was so immense that he did not dare to show his face. Besides which, in a matter of only three days, the world of London seemed to be an entirely different and foreign place to him.Lord Castleton knew the city well, but it was as new as a babe to Miss Kitty Dryden.
Kit kept his head downturned and held his hat like a shield concealing his face once they reached Wilkes’s tailor shop, and he nearly ran from the carriage in through the shop door. Even once he was inside, he did not feel entirely safe.
“Lord Castleton,” Wilkes greeted him with a look of surprise and delight. “What a pleasure to see you.”
“And you, Mr. Wilkes, although I would rather not be seen at all,” Kit replied.
