"Is that all of it?" Maddox asked, watching the bags and trunks and boxes pile up in the front hallway of the house he was borrowing from a friend.
Gills had come to stay, now Lady Julia had established herself in a room guarded by a dragon. It was rather impressive, how many belongings Gills had acquired since they docked in New York. He hoped he wouldn't have to advance another loan.
"That's all, but for a few suits yet to be delivered. Don't worry, Mad. I'm not at risk of leaving myself destitute and at your mercy."
Maddox steered Gills into a sitting room and motioned to the butler that came with the house that everything should make its way to Gills quarters upstairs.
"In fact, I will have you know, quite apart from the fact I've sent a request to my brother for access to my funds and a report on the legal situation, I am in possession of an offer for a job."
Maddox's mouth fell open. "A job? You?"
"I know! Is it not the most absurd thing you ever heard? It is as ludicrous as Lady Athol Soddenfeld acting the lady's maid, is it not?"
"What sort of establishment wishes to hire you?"
"It's Mr. Vandenberg. He wishes to teach me his business of making spectacles of things, and will pay me a fee for finding and producing such events in any locale where I should wish to travel, most especially London, when we decide to return. Can you imagine me planning spectacles for money in London, Mad? It's unimaginable. I'd be laughed out of Boodles."
"You are rather animated about a possibility you say is impossible."
"Only, it sounds so much fun, Mad. What he does, it's all about finding talented people and showcasing them, making money for everyone. He's got an eye for talent, and I can't say I would mind learning how he does it. It's a wholly different way to be a patron of the arts, which I have always been, from the time I had my first income."
"Wholly different than making mistresses of opera dancers, to be sure."
"No, I will not allow you to disdain me. I have roofed a theatre and half-built a symphony hall, both of which have afforded me a permanent box, and I keep no less than four boxes per season among various other entertainments. My dalliances with actresses and dancers may have been why I started on this path when I was young with a generous allowance, but I have long since surpassed dilettantish when it comes to the arts. I had heard of Emily Kilbrierry and Giancarlo Narcisso long before you."
Maddox conceded with a nod. "I stand corrected." With a curious tilt of his head, Maddox said, "I say, what is the story with you and Emily Kilbrierry? How do you know of her? You said she was a family connection of a sort?"
Gills blushed in a way that made Maddox sorry he'd asked. "You needn't answer me if the topic is unwelcome."
"No, it is bound to come out eventually. You know my father made so many scandals with Indian women that he ruined his family utterly. You have to know that much, as it is all anyone ever says about the Coventon marquisate."
"Yes, I have heard that," Maddox admitted.
"Well, the granddaddy of all the scandals, back in 1815 when I was still a baby, involved my father helping Emily and her aunt, who was my father's former mistress, and an English baron called Rookscombe, escape persecution in England, by selling him a plantation in Brazil. Emily was a very young child, as I understand it, only seven or eight. My father ruined an earl utterly—physically, mentally, and financially—to avenge his dark-skinned mistress, then packed the woman off on a ship to marry a different nobleman, with a young child in tow. My mother left our house after that and took up residence in Scotland. She was forever convinced the child was our father's."
"Was she?" Maddox asked, then added, "Not that it's my concern."
"No, he had conclusive proof she wasn't. She was the child of his mistress's sister. Not that it stopped my mother and the ton from assuming the worst. In a circuitous way not at all of her devising, Emily Kilbrierry is a large part of the reason I am all but unmarriageable, and the reason my mother left such a sizable trust for me. She said my brother had the title and the farming income, so he would be able to find a bride on that alone, should he need, but I would have nothing but my father's poor reputation to accompany me into the marriage mart."
"Does Miss Kilbrierry know any of this?"
"I have no idea what she knows or doesn't. As I said, she was young, and I was still a babe-in-arms; I certainly never met her. I only know what my mother told me when she deemed me 'old enough to understand who my father really is' and gossip I have heard across the years. I don't hold any of it against Miss Kilbrierry. Not in the least. Please don't think that. She is as little to blame as I am for what our parents did when we were but children. I should like to meet her, should the occasion arise."
"Ah, yes, as to that."
"Yes?" Gills bent an eyebrow.
"I've asked her to your box at the opera tonight."
"You've done what? Why would you do that?"
"I'm sorry, Gills, I didn't realize it would be a problem."
"Only Julia will never be seen in public with her employer. She won't think it at all the thing."
'First of all, you told me yourself Lady Julia refuses outright to come to the opera with you, so your box stands all but empty. Second, Emily—er, Miss Kilbrierry—intends to invite Julia as her companion. She was not willing to attend the opera with two men alone. My money is on Julia doing the bidding of her employer, regardless of what she told you."
"That's brilliant, Mad! Brilliant! Excellent!"
***
Julia took a deep breath as the lights dimmed in the theater. There was something about that moment of silence in the faint light, just before the music began, that spoke to her in a way the rest of the opera could only try to emulate.
She had hidden herself the best she could in the back of the box, allowing Maddox and Emily to be the center of attention, beside Lord Rookscombe and Benjamin and Sharada Kilbrierry, while she and Gills sat in the shadows—as it must be, if she were to stay out of the newspapers.
Not that she would be able to do that. She was certain her attendance with Lord Joseph Gildeforte would be marked, as would Emily on the arm of Lord Maddox. She could only hope no one would know who she was. "Companion to Miss Emily Kilbrierry" in the fine print was the best she could hope for.
And wasn't that a piece of unwelcome news? She supposed she should be pleased to be made Emily's companion. The work was much the same, but with more authority among Lord Rookscombe's staff, a higher salary, and a higher standard for working attire. She had been forced to buy enough dresses to get rid of the grey and brown entirely, which had been a good day's work, not that she would say so to Gills.
But she immediately lost the anonymity of being Miss Kilbrierry's maid. Now, instead of just doing the mending and taking in seams, she was expected to join family functions, to attend public events with Emily, to visit with her and her friends, among them Lords Joseph and Maddox. She even acted as chaperone on occasion, as little store as Emily set by propriety, for as a female performer of a darker complexion, Emily's companionship with men was too often scrutinized. No chaperone was required tonight, however, with Lord Rookscombe himself in attendance, as well as her sister and brother.
So, Julia might as well put the newspapers out of her mind and enjoy the music.
Gills leaned over, his pinky finger tracing her shoulder, his hand landing on the back of her chair. "The soprano is exceptional."
"I can hear that." She arched a brow at his transparent maneuver.
He chuckled and sat back, but he didn't remove his hand from her chair, just tapped his finger to the rhythm of the libretto.
"I am thinking of taking a job," he said beneath his breath. "I believe you must be a good influence on me, my lady."
"Do stop calling me that."
"Of course, my darling."
"Not that either. Who have you found to hire you, my lord?"
At that, Emily turned and shushed them. One did not disdain musicians in her presence.
Gills continued looking straight ahead, but tugged at a strand of Julia's hair falling to her shoulder, twisting it around his finger until she took it between her fingers and pulled it away. He simply dropped his hand back to its resting place on the back of her chair.
"You. Are. Infuriating," she said, leaning toward him and speaking softly enough to avoid detection. He chuckled, equally softly, and touched her cheek, making her blush.
"You look beautiful in that color. It perfectly matches the pink in your cheeks."
Emily just glared when she turned this time.
They made it to the interval without further incident, and as soon as the lights came up, while the others rose from their seats to socialize, Julia demanded to know what job he thought he was taking, and he explained his plan to apprentice to Mr Vandenburg.
"You'll be shunned if you go into theatrics for a living, Gills." Far from disapproving, however, Julia only offered, "If you want to do it, you should stay here. Americans are much more susceptible to showmanship than Britons."
"It seems as though perhaps we should both stay here a while."
"Do not ask it again, Joseph Gildeforte."
Gills laughed. "I wouldn't think of it, my lady. Now, would you like me to fetch you a glass of champagne before the interval is over?"
"Thank you, Lord Joseph. That would be very kind." And Julia would stay here, where she could continue to avoid public notice.