Eloise straightened her shoulders. “You saw what it was like trying to contain my braid. This will be easier and more convincing. And I couldn’t imagine White’s would allow me to keep my hat on.”
“Indeed.”
“Good. Now off with you both. I have people waiting.” Adrienne turned on her heels and marched into the shop, calling a greeting in a thick French accent as she went.
Robert watched her disappear behind the door, then heard Eloise clear her throat.
“I am sure that we do not look at—”
“Definitely not.”
“But I should probably avoid looking at you.”
“And I you.”
Her voice grew even quieter. “So how do two men look at each other? I mean—when they are not—when they are just old chums.”
“Mates from school.”
“Do men really act differently when they are alone—without the presence of women?”
“Why do you think there are so many clubs that cater only to men?” Robert finally turned to Eloise, still disconcerted that she looked so much like a man. He realized he stood too close and took another step away from her.
“So are you about to introduce me into some kind of secretive underworld? Should I expect arcane rituals and convoluted vows of silence?”
Robert chuckled. “The management at White’s would no doubt take umbrage being compared to Hades. No matter how apt that description would be some days.” He gestured toward the crossroads. “Walk with me.”
She fell in step with him. “Provided you will give me lessons.”
“On walking?”
She snickered. “On being a man. Are men really that different from women?”
“Indubitably, although I have never been asked to put it into words. Do you not think we are?”
She hesitated. “To be honest, I have never been around many men. My father, of course, although it’s not as if I have followed him around as he conducted his affairs. There are the men I’ve danced with, but I am well-aware they must have been on their best behavior. The servants, but they only act like servants around me. Timothy, but for all his posturing, he is not yet a man.”
Robert wondered if Eloise felt as aware as he was of the obvious exclusion from her statements. He craved to ask, but he also knew it was improper to the point of being beyond the pale. Instead, he focused on her question.
“When we are together, men primarily talk about business. What news is there of the world. Until recently, the war. Those things that help them provide for their estates. Gambling. Horses. Most of the women I know seemed focused on their homes. Family. Finding a husband. The clothes and behavior that help them do that.”
“Are we allowed to do anything other than simper and shop?”
He glanced at her. “Are you implying that you are an advocate of Miss Wollstonecraft?”
She gave a quick shrug. “I might have been, although I find some of her beliefs somewhat extreme.”
“Only somewhat?”
A smile flitted over her face but vanished quickly. “Remember that I hire myself out as a woman of business to Adrienne and her friends. I am fortunate that my father does not know all of the details of that enterprise or he would certainly put a halt to it. I intensely dislike the limitations placed on women of my social class. We are supposed to be proper and pliable until we can persuade a man to marry us, then we should run our homes and raise our daughters with the same goals. If we violate these precepts, we are shunned and abandoned to a life of utter dependence or shame. And one of those violations is the mere achievement of a certain age without marriage. I, for instance, have been asked to retire to my aunt’s home in the country. She is a widow, and I will be her companion for the rest of her days. When she is gone, if I am blessed by her son’s generosity and largesse, I will be able to stay in that house until I die. If not, if I have no money of my own, I will have to rely on the kindness of some other relative, such as one of my sisters. Since none of their husbands care for me much, that prospect is ghastlier than you can imagine. Is it any wonder that women pout and preen in an effort to be the brainless dolts so many men seem to prefer?”
Robert had no answer, oddly without words at the bitterness of her tone. It was the most she had said at any one time, but it explained a great deal about her actions over the past few days. She chaffed under the constraints holding her back from what she truly wanted to do. Whatwouldthis woman do if she were free to follow her heart?
“Have I shocked you? I admit I was under the impression that you were somewhat unconventional yourself.”
Robert shook his head. “I’m not shocked. I’m not even particularly surprised, given that you dressed in men’s clothes, invaded a gambling hall, and lured me to your bed, all with the goal of finding your brother.”
She grinned. “That last event was less about finding Timothy than unexpectedly discovering a man who attracted me in a way no one ever has. I was not entirely certain what I was meant to do with such feelings, other than squash them. And I realized I did not want to do that. If I am to be sequestered the rest of my life, I wanted to experience at least that much pleasure before departing for more bucolic endeavors.”
