Page 27 of Enticed By an Earl
Wilkes’s open smile changed to a confused frown, and from there to a look of understanding. “Come through this way,” he said, holding out an arm for Kit to go with him into the back of the shop.
Kit felt some measure of relief in the workshop part of Wilkes’s business. It consisted of a large workspace with two large tables and shelves and piles of raw fabric and haberdashery. A young man of about eighteen sat at one of the tables, intently stitching the hem of a shirt. He glanced up with a look of mild interest when Kit came through, but did not seem particularly fussed about the interruption.
“Jonty, could you fetch Miss Jones and tell her to join me in my rooms?” Wilkes asked the young man as he steered Kit toward a set of stairs off to the side of the room.
“Right away, sir,” the young man said, leaving his work and dashing toward a door at the back of the workshop.
“Clary, that is, Miss Jones, only recently opened her own shop in the building across the back,” Wilkes explained as they went up the stairs. “Our businesses share a workspace and stitchers, but her modiste’s shopfront is located on Piccadilly. She has already built quite an impressive clientele. I am endlessly proud of her.”
Kit smiled, feeling even more at ease once they were inWilkes’s modest rooms on the first floor. It was clear that Wilkes considered Miss Jones as close as a sister, and from his previous visits, Kit knew that Miss Jones felt the same about Wilkes. Being around such a friendship made Kit feel as though there were hope in the world.
Wilkes offered Kit a seat at the small table in his rooms and set about making tea. They chatted about inconsequential things while waiting for Miss Jones to arrive, which she did right away.
“Jonty says that Lord Castleton has arrived,” she said as she burst into the room. “I left a particularly fussy Lady Waterstone for Ivy to deal with so that I could see with my own two eyes.”
“Good morning, Miss Jones,” Kit said, rising from his seat to greet the woman. “You are looking well.”
“As are you,” Miss Jones said, stepping right up to him and blinking at him, like she could not believe her eyes. “Particularly as whispers about town say that you are missing.”
Kit was surprised for only a few seconds. Of course there would be rumors that he was missing. Hewasmissing, as far as his family and the people who knew him were concerned. That only made him worry for Lady Everly, Georgiana, and Alice. He should have sent them all letters explaining the unusual situation. They would be so worried for him. But with any luck, once his mission with Wilkes and Miss Jones was complete, he might be able to see them soon.
“Did you receive my letter the other day?” Kit asked once the three of them were all seated around the table with tea.
“We did,” Wilkes said, glancing at Miss Jones, “but we could not quite make it out.”
Kit’s face flushed. “I apologize for being cryptic,” he said. “As you might imagine, I am in an extraordinarily delicate position at the moment.”
His insides roiled with uncertainty. He knew in his heartthat he could trust the two people seated with him, but his mind was still cautious and afraid. Ironically, those emotions made his voice and his mannerisms even gentler and softer.
“I understood the message to mean that you wished for me to construct another gown for you,” Miss Jones said, peeking at Wilkes but mostly watching Kit.
Kit cleared his throat, hardly believing what he was doing. “Not just a single gown, Miss Jones,” he said, his hands beginning to shake. “I should like for you to construct an entire wardrobe of gowns for me. And underthings. And whatever else a woman of fashion might need to navigate the world.”
He met Miss Jones’s eyes, praying that she would understand so that he would not have to spell out the terrifying and important thing he was about to embark upon.
“The Earl of Castletonismissing,” Wilkes said, his eyes going round. “Would I be correct in assuming he has been…replaced?”
Kit reached for his tea and raised the cup to his lips with trembling hands. He managed to take a fortifying gulp before setting the cup on the table once more and saying, “I no longer wish to live as Castleton. Henceforth, I should like to exist only as Miss Kitty Dryden. IamMiss Kitty Dryden. That is who I wish to be.”
A sizzling silence filled the air for a moment before Miss Jones and Wilkes exchanged smiles.
“This is brilliant,” Miss Jones said, clasping her hands over her heart. “This is just the sort of exciting wickedness that I hoped to be a part of when I came here to London. You do not find daring like this in the country.”
“I would wager that you do not find daring like this much of anywhere,” Wilkes said. Kit could not make out whether he approved or not.
“There are more circumstances than I have revealed as ofyet,” Kit said. He hesitated for a moment, wondering just how deeply he could trust the two people sitting with him, but decided they were true friends. “My father despises me. He wishes my younger brother, George, to be his heir. He has…begun to take measures to ensure that that happens.”
Miss Jones looked horrified and pressed a hand to her chest. “Poor thing.”
Wilkes turned strangely stoney. “I know what it is like to have one’s life in danger,” he said. “I swear to you, Lord, er, Miss Dryden, I will do whatever you need of me to ensure your continued safety and happiness.”
Kit did not know whether he wanted to laugh or weep, he was so relieved. A lightness came over him that hinted perhaps he might be done with tears forever, if all went well. What he was asking Wilkes and Miss Jones to do could end up with them arrested for aiding and abetting indecency, or some other equally frustrating and frivolous charge, but they were willing to stand by him as true friends. At the same time, if anyone was able to be discreet enough to make his transformation a success, it would be them.
“I did understand your message the other day,” Miss Jones said several minutes later, when they made their way down to the workroom. “I still have your measurements from the first gown, so I used those to begin construction on another. It is another ball gown, however. I understood that to be what you needed. I see now you will need a few more practical items.”
Wilkes left Kit in Miss Jones’s care. The two of them made their way across the open space between the two buildings and into the part of the two businesses’ working areas that was designated for ladies’ finery. Kit found everything exciting and daunting as Miss Jones showed him the gown she’d begun work on, then whisked him through the rest of her workshop, taking out bolts of fabric and bits ofpatterns. Kit was fascinated by the intensity of her focus and the things she said as she spoke aloud while planning out his complete transformation.
“You will not leave our shops dressed as you are,” she informed Kit once she had a spread of different fabrics and haberdashery laid out on one of the tables in the back of her shop. “I have a gown that is nearly finished that I was constructing to go in the window of my shop. As luck would have it, you are close to the right shape and size for it. Come into the back room here and I will try it on you and make adjustments. With a little luck, you will be able to wear it as you leave here today.
