Page 46 of As the Earl Likes
“Take all the time you need.” Ellis gave her a warm look but didn’t smile.
“I shouldn’t be gone long. People will be looking for me.” Jo would have liked to just leave. She’d done the receiving line, and she’d waltzed with her fake betrothed. What more could be expected of her?
One of Ellis’s shoulders rose. “Probably. Take your time anyway. It’s not as if you have to put up with this for very long. I do hope Sheff is paying you enough for your effort.”
Jo narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean?”
“I may be wrong, but I don’t believe for a moment that you plan to marry Sheff—for the sake of convenience or any other reason. Unless you need to marry him, which I don’t think you do. Sheff needs to wed. It’s his duty. You can enjoy your independence for as long as you like. Forever.” There was a wistful quality to her voice.
“Is that what you want?” Jo asked softly.
“Yes, but I don’t have reliable employment like you do. I’ve no idea how much revenue the Siren’s Call earns, but your mother seems to do well. Your future appears secure. Is that not the case?” She blinked at Jo. “Do you need to marry Sheff?”
“No, I do not. And you’re right—I am not going to.” Goodness, but it felt wonderful to be completely honest. “I’m so glad you guessed the truth. I’ve hated lying to all of you, but Sheff said it was necessary to keep his mother from learning the truth.”
Ellis gave her a knowing nod. “I completely understand. I am curious why you agreed to that when, as I pointed out, your future is secure.”
“Because I’m not sure I want that future.” Jo whispered the answer, her limbs quivering as she finally gave voice to her thoughts and hesitation.
Ellis touched her forearm, and a gentle smile lifted her mouth. “What is it you want?”
“I’m not entirely sure. I just don’t enjoy running the club the way my mother does. She works so much and so hard. She’s only recently begun to take time for herself. I was quite shocked when she told me she was going to Weston.” Jo cocked her head, curious about Ellis since she seemed to be so aware of Jo’s disquiet. “What do you want?”
“Security,” Ellis said almost before Jo finished asking the question.
“I don’t suppose you’re interested in running the Siren’s Call?” Jo asked with a laugh.
Ellis studied her a moment, and Jo thought she was perhaps actually considering it. “I don’t know that my talents lie in running a business of that nature, but I could probably do the accounting and management. I’d like to be a secretary. However, there are precious few positions of that nature available to women.”
“I know you sometimes dress as a man to walk about town on your own,” Jo said. “Have you considered doing that to work as a secretary?” Although, it might be difficult to convince an employer that she was a man, for Ellis was rather pretty.
“I have, actually.” Ellis chuckled. “But I daresay it wouldn’t work for long. The prospect of binding my breasts every day is fairly distasteful. Still, I may not have a choice. When Min marries, and, like her brother, she must, I must find my own way. The duchess will not allow me to stay in her household without Min as my excuse for being here.”
“How is Min your excuse? Because you’re her companion?”
Ellis nodded. “That is how the duke convinced the duchess to let me join the household. Once Min is gone, I will be too. I can’t expect Min to take me with her.” Her lips curled into a wry smile.
“That’s so unfair. Surely the duke won’t allow you to be on your own without support, not after he took you in. Sheff told me how he welcomed you after your parents died.” Jo hoped she hadn’t said too much in case Ellis didn’t know the truth of her parentage. Though they were exchanging confidences, Jo wouldn’t be the one to reveal a secret that wasn’t known—not one of that magnitude.
“Henlow might try to help me, but I’m not sure he’d set me up in a household or anything. That would generate gossip that would upset his wife, and he won’t do that. Furthermore, I don’t want that. Because of his reputation, people would assume I am his illegitimate daughter, and I am not.”
She wasn’t? Or she didn’t believe herself to be? Jo didn’t ask because she didn’t want to reveal what Sheff had told her. But now she was perplexed. Not that any of it was her business. “Well, I am here to support and help you if I can. Do think about working at the Siren’s Call. I will be taking over its management at some point, and I appreciate competent, intelligent employees.”
“I will keep that in mind,” Ellis said warmly. “I confess I wouldn’t want to join Min’s household after she wed. I’d much prefer to find my own way.”
Jo felt a strong affinity for Ellis in that moment. “I deeply understand that.”
Ellis gave Jo a quick survey. “You look as though you’re feeling better. Do you want to come back to the ball with me?”
“I think I’ll take just a few minutes alone,” Jo replied. “Thank you again.”
“Take your time,” she repeated before turning and leaving the sitting room, closing the door behind her so that Jo was truly alone.
How long could she linger before she would be missed?
Chapter 10
After dancing with Jo, Sheff had been stopped by a number of people wishing him well and asking him, now that he was betrothed, when he would assume his duty and take a seat in the House of Commons until he inherited the dukedom and moved into the House of Lords. It wasn’t as if that was his duty, just something that some people expected of him.
