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So why did the suggestion bother me so much?
“Of course.” I responded, breaking our eye contact and focusing on my toast again.
Friends. Of course.
A silence stretched between us for some moments, the only noises the sound of our chewing.
“So…” She began, her voice back to the familiar playfulness of the day before. “What are your plans for the day?”
I sighed, trying to remember the correspondences my butler had given me this morning. The steward from Rosehill had written with a brief update after our talk a few days previously, and Lord Arlington had written regarding settling his gambling debts… but neither of those inquiries were pressing.
The last letter had been from the East India Company. That, unfortunately, was something I had to deal with.
“I have some business to settle at the ports.”
She cocked her head in curiosity.
“The ports?Youhave business? And in such a place?”
I laughed darkly, leaning back in my chair. It was a fair question. Gentlemen, and especially Viscounts, usually didn’t sully their hands with business of any kind, not to mention business at London’s ports. That was the domain of the merchants and sailors, of working-class men. Men like Nicholas and Richard Allen.
But I was no ordinary Viscount. Once you’d established yourself as the worst rake of the ton, proper social etiquette sort of went out the window.
“I do indeed.”
“What sort of… business?”
I sighed. I had no desire to discuss it, but I didn’t want to cut the conversation off abruptly. I wanted to talk to her, even if it was about… this.
“My father was an investor in the East India Company. I inherited his stake. From time to time, there are things that I need to ensure are being done… properly.”
Amelia nodded, her eyes wide.
“That’s interesting. You might have more in common with my uncle Nicholas than you think. He is an importer, after all.”
“Perhaps.”
“When do we leave?” She responded, her voice perky.
I stared at her, my eyebrows raising to new heights.
“We?Wewill not be going anywhere. You will stay here, as a proper lady such as yourself does, and I will go to the Thames. I’m sure you’ll have plenty to occupy you here… sewing, or something of the sort.”
Amelia glared at me.
“Need I remind you, Will, that my reputation has most certainlyalreadybeen compromised? As much as I enjoy your fine lodgings…” She trailed off, eyeing the expensive wallpaper with some dislike, “My source of employment is most certainly gone forever, and my marriageability has plummeted to a new low. This was all my choice, of course.”
I waited for her to continue.
“But, all that being said, I refuse to sit around in your grand townhouse while you are off experiencing the town. I have nothing to lose now. In only a few days’ time, I will be destitute, perhaps forced to become a governess in the most freezing northern reaches of this kingdom. Before that doom settles upon me, I plan to enjoy my freedom. Or what little freedom I have, anyways.”
I stared at her. She was heated, the words marked by clear resolve and passion. I could tell that there would be no convincing her otherwise. Part of me wanted to shield her from the doom she spoke of… and another part wanted to show her all the wonders of London that she had never seen.
“Fine.” I finally said, feeling as if it might be the death of me.
“Oh,” she interjected quickly, “We must also stop by my uncle’s residence. If that is okay.” She tacked the end on, perhaps remembering she was talking to a Viscount, after all.
I nodded.
