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“Don’t tell him, will you? I don’t want him to think I’ve gone soft.”
Ellie giggled. “I won’t say a word.”
“Thank you.” North peered at her. “May I ask you something, Lady Drummond?”
“Erm, it depends on what you want to ask.”
“Why are you made up to look older than you are?”
Ellie stiffened. So he had guessed, after all. She tried to get her composure back.
“I… I don’t know what you mean.”
“It’s pretty clear that you’re making yourself to be something you’re not. I’m sure you’re no older than thirty, otherwise your parents would have been underage when you were born.”
“How do you know how old my parents are?”
“Because Cliveton-Smythe was just talking about how your father had just hit the wonderful age of fifty and was in such bad shape physically due to his illness. He was quite sad about it. It was only when you said you were his daughter that I realised who you were.” North arched an eyebrow. “I have a lot of explanations for why you’re dressing up to be older, but it would be better to come from you.”
Ellie sighed. “Cliveton-Smythe hasn’t noticed, has he?”
“He’s too polite to say anything if he has. I’m not quite the same.”
“I’ve noticed.”
“So,” he prompted, “what’s going on?”
Ellie felt like she had been put on a stage in front of a crowd of people. She wanted to sink through the floor and hide. She gulped, flexing her fingers as she tightened them together behind her back.
“Please, can you promise not to say anything? I don’t want my family to find out what we’re doing.”
“Will they get upset with you?”
“They will when they find out that we’ve done this more than once when they said we should stay home.”
Ellie glanced over at her sisters. Regina was sitting at the harpsichord, Dorothea at her side, while Copelton leaned an elbow on the instrument. He was staying something that made both girls giggle, Regina looking at him with a coquettish smile.
Ellie turned back to North, who was waiting patiently. “Last night was to be our first time out in London, and our cousin was meant to be chaperoning us. But she… she ended up having to go to something else that she couldn’t get out of. She told us to have an evening at home and we could go to another ball, but my sisters wanted to go.”
“Why didn’t you just make them stay at home?”
“I know them. They would have snuck out and gone to the ball on their own. I didn’t want them getting into trouble, but we had to find a chaperone quickly.”
“So, you decided that you would dress up to look older so you could go along and keep an eye on your sisters.”
Ellie nodded. It sounded silly hearing it from someone else. She shuffled from foot to foot.
“I think the only people in the house who don’t know what we did are the housekeeper, my aunt, and my cousin herself. I don’t think that’s going to last for much longer, however, and I feel like we’re digging ourselves into more trouble.”
“Then why do it again?” North asked.
“Once you meet my sisters, you’ll know why. They’re very persuasive.” Ellie hurried on: “Anyway, they should be the focus when they’re out, not me. I don’t mind being in the background. After all, it’s easier to look after them. I’d still be looking out for them even if I wasn’t dressed up like this.”
“A little wild, are they?”
“I wouldn’t say that…”
“But something along those lines.” His eyes twinkled and he took a sip of his sherry. “Sounds like they’re a handful.”
