"You have no finesse," a gambler at the Silver Garter once said to him. "No technique."
"Sure I do," Kaz had responded. "I practice the art of 'pull his shirt over his head and punch till you see blood." Leigh Bardugo, Six of Crows
----
IX.
Despite her lesson in the kitchen the previous evening, Lily still felt an awful mixture of emotions as she prepared herself to return to Mr McCarthy's office that morning. What state she would find it in, she had no idea. She also was completely unaware of what state she would find her employer in, and that made her feel even more apprehensive.
Lily knew that being out in the world was what she wanted. She wondered if she would not feel so foolish after a little more experience. Would Mr McCarthy have the patience to wait for Lily's experience? Seeing as he had not the tolerance for eejits, Lily was not entirely optimistic that her employment would last until the Season began as she had originally intended.
"Good morning, Lily," Jackie greeted in a musical tone. Her cousin smiled at Lily as she passed her on the way to the staircase, but she paused when she saw that Lily was quite lost in thought. "Are you well?" Jackie cocked her head.
Lily looked upon her cousin, who was dressed for the day as she was, only Jackie was wearing a short, tailored coat over the top of a white shirt, which was tucked into a sensible pair of dark breeches. To complete her ensemble, instead of dainty, heeled slippers, Jackie wore a sturdy pair of leather boots that reached her knees.
Lily had never seen women's shoes like that before, and they certainly had to have been especially made seeing as Jackie's feet were about half the size of an average man.
As Jackie had cocked her head, her braid of long, blonde hair, slipped over her shoulder.
"Do you like working, Jackie?" Lily asked her quietly.
Jackie's interest was garnered immediately as Lily had not responded to her question in a jovial sort of way, dismissing the initial question entirely. "You aren't going to tell Grandmamma, are you?"
Lily shook her head profusely. "No, I would never." Not that Lily would ever betray her cousin's confidence, but to tell would make her entirely hypocritical.
Jackie smiled, satisfied with Lily's answer. "I love it," she confirmed. "Papa started taking me when I was young. Maria, too, but she is not so interested. All the time, he would tell me that 'this will all be yours one day, Jackie'," Jackie attempted to imitate her father's voice. "It seems a little greedy not to earn it, does it not?"
"That is what you are doing then. Earning your inheritance?"
Jackie pursed her lips. "Yes and no. Perhaps it began that way, but I enjoy having somewhere to go in the morning, and to feel like what I am doing is important. What we do, what Papa started, it contributes to culture, and is that not vital for a well-informed society?
"Do not mistake me in thinking that what my mama does, or what yours does, or what any woman does, is not important. But I have not been told 'no' when I asked to do something else, and I am grateful for that." Jackie then laughed quietly to herself. "And breeches. Wearing breeches might be the secret reason behind it all. I shall not know myself when the Season starts, and I will have to pull my petticoats out of the drawer again."
Lily joined in her cousin's laughter, but what she could not tell Jackie in that moment was that she saw in her cousin the exact determination that Lily, herself, yearned for. Though Jackie just seemed so much farther ahead, and so much more self-assured.
Lily craved just a trickle of Jackie's confidence.
"But surely it has not always been so simple for you," Lily fished. "Did you ever make any mistakes? Even silly ones?"
Jackie's green eyes widened as she gushed, "Oh, yes. Do not remind Papa of them, please. I never thought I would hear the end of it from several of the men at the publishing house." She rolled her eyes at the memory. "The first time Papa ever let me at the printing press I accidentally wound up printing a run of books backwards," she confessed sheepishly. "Papa was not exactly pleased."
Lily clapped her hand over her mouth in shock as Jackie continued.
"In my defence, they were not entirely wasted. They made excellent kindling the following winter."
Lily stifled a laugh as Jackie smiled.
"It is alright. You can laugh. I felt like a right and utter fool and don't you think that those men did not make me feel it every time Papa was not near."
"I am sorry for that," Lily said once she had composed herself. "For your mistake, and for what followed after."
Jackie shook her head. "I learned from it. That is all you can do when you make a mistake. That, and learn to stand your ground when a man thinks he can call you an 'idiot' and get away with it."
"I feel I have much to learn from you, Jackie. How is it that I am your elder?"
"Barely my elder." Jackie's brows furrowed as she put and arm around Lily. "We both learned how to boil water last night," she reminded Lily with a grin. "I do not pretend to be an expert on anything except for giving back as good as I get to men who think I don't belong. Besides, come the Season, it is I who will be learning from you. I am only grateful that I am to debut alongside you."
"It will be nice to have one another," Lily agreed.
"Yes," confirmed Jackie, "that is one reason. The other is that who on earth would be looking at me when Lily Beresford is in the ballroom. I shall be a perfect wallflower and return to work in the autumn."
***
"Lily! In here now!" Callan barked. The door to his office was open, and so his voice could be heard. Callan had taken to calling Lily by her first name. He had not asked permission, but it had come naturally to him. It felt rather impersonal to be calling someone 'Miss Bennett' after he had gone to the effort of saving her from her own fiery mess.
It had been a week since the fire, and the smell of smoke was only just starting to dissipate. It was a wonder that none of them had caught their deaths from having the windows open continuously in late January. In the end, all that had been destroyed was one of the armchairs, the other having only been damaged a little. The integrity of the floor seemed strong enough, though the smoke staining on the walls and ceiling warranted fresh wallpaper when Callan had the time and money to commit to it.
Lily bounded into his office like an obedient puppy, and he could see through the glass wall that she had immediately abandoned her task. She had been charged with organising Callan's chaos. It was an impossible task, really. One that she was meant to fail at.
Callan had not been optimistic when Lily had returned the day after the fire. He had not exactly been a personable employer, but then he'd never possessed a warm reputation. But he had assumed that Lily was a little too delicate to possess any sort of determination. He had set her up to fail, essentially, just so that he would have an excuse to be rid of her.
Not that Lily setting his building on fire was not already excuse enough.
But Lily had returned with a quiet sort of dedication. He was not heartless in the way that he could see Lily was embarrassed by her mistake, and he was not too unfeeling not to recognise when someone was making a considered effort.
Of course, Callan would contently think these thoughts, and would never dream of saying them out loud. If he attempted to, he would probably, in some roundabout way, manage to insult her mother or something. Tact was not a gift he possessed.
"Did you need something?" Lily asked.
"I didn't call you in here to ask about your day," Callan replied grumpily.
"My day is going charmingly, though," Lily replied. "Thank you."
Callan's eyes narrowed as he looked upon his secretary, just at the same moment as her lips upturned ever so slightly. That wasn't the first time that she'd said something like that. The first time had been when she had challenged him after the fire, commenting on the fact that he had not paid her anything yet.
Lily Bennett had a tongue.
"I need you to make six copies of this letter," Callan said, ignoring her response. He held out a letter that he had drafted and Lily immediately came to take it from him.
Lily cast her eyes over the letter that Callan and written, and her brows furrowed. "You have still had no luck in finding a buyer for your cotton, then?"
"You ought to be a detective," Callan retorted facetiously.
"Who ought to be a detective?"
Fionn swanned into Callan's office carrying his own set of papers and looked between Callan and Lily with a quizzical expression.
"I missed my calling apparently," Lily said dryly.
"Lily's a master of bleedin' obvious," Callan muttered as he eyed the papers in his cousin's hands. He then winced. As stressed as he was, he could feel the slap of his mother's hand around his ears. "Sorry. Cursing's not appropriate."
"Thank you, Callan. I was terribly offended. My ears, they are innocent, after all." Fionn bowed his head which provoked a giggle from Lily. "Anyway, I've found six ships that are all either listed, or going to be listed, for sale, and that are within our price range." Fionn stepped forward to place the documents on Callan's desk.
"You are buying another ship?" Lily asked.
"No, I want one for a pet," snapped Callan as he looked down at the first ship that was available. These plans had been put into motion when he'd first made his original sale. After he'd unloaded that shipment, he would have had the funds to make such a purchase and to considerably widen his business.
"Callan," Fionn said firmly.
Callan took a breath and looked up at Lily. "I'm sorry." He then looked at Fionn. "These are no use to me without a buyer. Unless Sir Richard stops stonewalling me, I've gone nary a pot to p –" Callan stopped himself. "P-I-S-S in."
"Can you spell, Lily?" Fionn asked her. Fionn had quickly taken up Callan's habit of calling Lily by her first name as well.
"Not a word," Lily confirmed, shaking her head, before she pressed her lips together.
Her response provoked an unexpected smile from Callan.
"I am perhaps the furthest thing from an expert in business, but I do happen to know someone who is quite talented at managing things, particularly matters of finance. I know he would not be bullied. Could you not perhaps take out a loan and use the value of the cotton as collateral? Buy your ship or use the money to give yourself more time to find a buyer. Certainly, there will be someone."
Callan wanted to dismiss the idea. Going into more debt was certainly not his plan. But he had debts to pay, and those payments would be due before he knew it. He had asked Lily to make copies of that letter of offer as he was going to write to six other manufacturers and offer them a reduced price. It was not what the cotton was worth, but he hoped it would be what they would pay an Irishman.
That, or he could sign his name Callan Smith. Charles Smith more like.
Lily's idea was certainly a gamble. But Callan was left with few other options. If he didn't give himself time to find a buyer, then he would be ruined. He would be forced to return to Ireland a failure, and his poor father would roll over in his grave with what Callan would be forced to do next.
It was simply unthinkable.
"Make those copies," Callan instructed Lily.
Lily held onto Callan's letter with both of her hands as she nodded.
"You and I are going to say a Hail Mary," Callan then told Fionn, "and then we are going to the bank."
----
Random mid-week update!
I've been off sick from work the last two days and wanted to have a bit of a jot while in bed.
I hope you enjoyed it!
I need to get back onto my work computer now and do some work lol, you can see how I procrastinate!! Hahahaha
Vote and comment xxx