Ellen walked toward the window that looked out over the busy street. Just in time to see Hugh urging his team of horses out into the traffic. She shook her head. The poor man had clearly not been thinking. If he wanted to keep his visit a secret, he probably shouldn’t have left his curricle out for all to see. He was clearly growing used to being Viscount of Richmond rather than Hugh the secretive spy.
It wasn’t something she would complain about, though. Even if he had no interest in her, the suspicion that he might was likely to create a bit of gossip that could lead to other gentlemen being interested in her. She would accept the unintended gift. Hugh owed it to her after their shared past.
But still she couldn’t dismiss from her mind that she was concerned about him. In many ways, really. The poor man had lost his much loved father and brother only recently, as well as the unexpected new responsibilities that have now landed upon him along with his sudden loss. And as it turned out, he now had to give up a position she hadn’t known he had but that he seemed to really cherish.
Why would any gentleman wish to trade in espionage?
She hadn’t really reacted to it when he had first told her, but now the very thought gave Ellen a shiver of fear. But she would override that fear if it meant helping him stay safe. Even if he was an experienced agent, Ellen knew men didn’t always look at things in the most logical order. Take the events of that very afternoon. What had he been thinking to confront her like that if he actually didn’t want her to know that he was an agent? If he was making blunders like this, he clearly needed someone to look out for him. Perhaps his grief had turned his mind somehow.
She couldn’t, though, stand by and allow him to be in danger. Ellen wondered if she ought to send for her brother. Really, Jeffrey ought to be in Town seeing to her debut anyway, along with Father. If Jeffrey were there, she wouldn’t have to give Hugh the least thought. In her brother’s absence, she couldn’t help but think she ought to do something.
Not to say she would have the first idea of how to watch over a grown man like Hugh. But she was willing to learn. It was only for the sake of their long ago friendship, she tried to assure herself, but Ellen was afraid it might be more than that. The flutter in her midsection led her to believe that the feelings she had thought long dead might be trying to experience a resurrection. That could not be allowed to be true. No matter what, Ellen was determined to find the comfortable match she hoped for and to retire to her new country estate at the first possible opportunity. Helping Hugh would have to be just a minor little distraction. It could not be allowed to interfere with her own plans for her comfortable future.
That all being said, though, she couldn’t leave the man to his own devices.
With a decisive nod of her head, Ellen turned her back on the view to the street and headed to her bedchamber, calling for her maid as she went. She had some strategizing to do before that evening’s entertainments.
Some hours later, Ellen had the sensation as though she had donned a suit of armour when she examined her reflection while her maid put the finishing touches to her hair after her gown had been eased over her head. She wasn’t certain if it was the thrill of feeling involved in something important or just the excitement of having visited with Hugh again, but Ellen was in her looks that evening. Mother would be thrilled. She had been lamenting Ellen’s pallor the night before, claiming that gentlemen wouldn’t be interested in her if she appeared sickly. Examining her reflection more closely, though, made Ellen wonder if she might still appear sickly if her colour was too high and hectic.
Margery, her maid, interrupted her critical thoughts as Ellen was waving her hands in front of her face to cool off her heated cheeks.
“You are looking even lovelier than I’ve ever seen you, my lady. You will be sure to turn heads tonight.”
“Thank you, that’s so kind of you to say. I was worried I might look feverish.”
Margery laughed. “You are the most unnatural worrier, my lady. You don’t look the least bit feverish. Now get on with having the best time and be sure to remember all the details to tell me while I brush out your hair tonight.”
Ellen grinned at the maid who’d been a part of her life since she was a child. The young woman had been trained to be her lady’s maid after having cared for her so well when Ellen was a wee girl. Sometimes it felt to Ellen that the maid was more her sister or aunt or even mother than her actual family members, as she was always so actively involved in her life. And the servant was often far more encouraging than Ellen’s own mother with never a critical word on her tongue.
“I’ll have plenty to tell you tonight as I already have things I haven’t told you yet, but I think I need a little bit more information before I unburden myself.”
“Oh no, my lady, that’s right unfair of you to say. Now I’ll be wondering all night.”
Ellen laughed and jumped up from her vanity table to pull Margery into a quick hug before hurrying toward the door. “I’ll tell you everything tonight, I swear it to you.”
With those words and her maid’s laughter spurring her on, Ellen hurried from the room to join her mother on the drive to the famed Chorley ball. Theodora had met her husband at the Chorley Ball during her debut, and Ellen had always hoped that she would as well. Her excitement knew very few bounds. She just knew she was going to have an exciting night.
When they arrived at the ball, Ellen cringed once more at how she was announced, but she forced herself to ignore the reaction. It really mattered very little, she assured herself. Anyone who became a true friend would be able to soon learn her preferred way of being addressed.
She tried to be discreet as she looked around the room searching for Hugh. She shouldn't be searching for the man, as she knew he was not the one for her, besides the fact that he had assured her he was not in Society due to his mourning, but it couldn't be helped. She had given him her heart and even if they couldn't wed, she knew she had to ensure he was safe.
A part of her hated that he had become an agent. It seemed so underhanded. Hugh had always struck her as someone who was honest in all things. But that was foolish to think, considering how things had ended the last time they'd seen each other. Anyhow, whatever the case, she couldn't allow him to do it on his own.
If she could help, she would do everything in her power to do so. As he had asked her, was she loyal to the Crown? Of course she was. So if his investigation was of that sort of importance, who was she to turn her nose up at it?
Since Hugh wasn’t yet present, Ellen needed to get her focus back on the original matter at hand – the husband hunt. Tonight was supposed to be the night in which she found her match, she reminded herself as she tried to focus on the very important matter. She had her list of requirements always at the ready in her mind. She needed to weigh it against each gentleman she was introduced to.
Take Lord Adwell, for example, she thought as he bowed over her hand and swept her into the minuet that was just forming, carefully avoiding a spill of wax that had accumulated on the floor. It was good of him to ensure her safety. That was surely a note in his favour. She smiled at him in appreciation.
“Did you come up to Town well in advance of the Season or have you just arrived?”
Her puzzlement over his question must have been written across her features as he was quick to elaborate.
“When my sister made her debut, she and Mother came weeks in advance to arrange for Sarah’s wardrobe. Mother insisted that nowhere in the region of Adwell would have the quality materials they required.”
Ellen almost bit her lip to prevent its quiver of amusement but managed to swallow both the impulse and her laughter. It would seem Lord Adwell fit most of her criterion for a potential husband as he was clearly of good family and had sufficient wealth to keep her in a lifestyle she had grown up with. She didn’t need to marry someone with the very deepest pockets, but since she had always lived in comfortable circumstances, Ellen had no desire to learn how to pinch her pennies. Family was another important factor to her, but her family tree wasn’t terribly extensive. She would hate to not expand it through marriage.
With a nod, she acknowledged his words. “The shops near Hanley are sufficiently well stocked that we didn’t have to come to Town early. Perhaps it is because we are situated closer to London than Adwell.”
