Page 10 of Married Off by the Duke
Emma blinked as if coming out of a daze. Her gaze dropped briefly to his lips, then back up to his eyes, then shyly away. Triumph surged through him. She would have let him kiss her, after all.
Let her initiate the next one. He could be patient. For a while. If he must.
He would win her heart. Max felt confident that this heady mix of hope and lust and fear affected her, too.
“If you cannot convince me that your affections are genuine, you’ll grant me my inheritance? And you’ll leave my mornings free of interference? I refuse to let you monopolize my time for two entire weeks. You’re rarely awake before mid-morning anyway.”
Max hesitated, then lifted his chin and agreed. He would do anything to win her trust.
CHAPTER 6
Max’s unexpected proposal made finding work Emma’s topmost priority. Under the pretext of shopping, she spent the morning inquiring after positions as a telegraph clerk and a bookkeeper. Finding no success with either—she was too inexperienced for the former and the latter wanted too many hours—her hopes were raised by the sight of a hand-written sign in the window of Kiefer’s Fine Books.
Perfect. If she could convince them to hire her, she could use the excuse that she was a bibliophile to an obsessive degree. Max would never get suspicious, despite there being a well-stocked library at his opulent townhouse for her to raid. In fact, Emma had deliberately chosen books she thought would irritate her guardian.
If Max noticed, he said nothing about her taste in reading. Defiance wasn’t as easy as she’d hoped, when he ignored her misbehavior.
“May I help you, Miss?”
“Emma Willis. I wish to inquire after employment.”
The clerk’s bushy eyebrows rose.
“There is a sign in the window offering a part-time position. I meet the listed qualifications. My facility with numbers is excellent. I am well-read in a variety of subjects. I can assist customers with appropriate literary recommendations. I am not above performing menial tasks such as light dusting and tidying up.”
She knew she was babbling. Emma had never tried to find a job before. The school had kept her on after matriculation, in exchange for board and pin money.
The shop clerk eyed her skeptically. “Does your husband know you’re looking for work?”
How grating, that she couldn’t sell her own labor for a fair price without the permission of a man.
“I have no husband, Mr…”
“Gill. I manage the shop for my uncle, who owns it.” The clerk rubbed his chin thoughtfully. There were streaks of gray threaded through his dark hair. She guessed he was in his mid-thirties. “I’ll have to speak with my uncle about hiring a woman. He won’t pay the full advertised wage.”
“Why not?” she demanded indignantly. Emma knew why. She wanted him to state the reason out loud.
“You’re not a man. I can’t pay you a man’s wage.”
“Twelve shillings a week is hardly a man’s wage.”
Don’t argue, Emma scolded herself. Her teeth clamped lightly on her tongue—an internal rebuke that came too late.
“True, which is why we haven’t been able to fill the position. If you’ll leave your contact details and references, Miss Willis, I shall send word if the owner approves.”
“Thank you.” Emma took her time, writing carefully so there could be no mistake. The address was far too grand, so she listed a vague description of her presence at a duke’s townhouse that one could interpret as her being a servant, instead of an unwanted guest.
If His Gracelessness ever found out what she was doing, he would undoubtedly force her to stop. Therefore, Max must never know.
Once she had her independence, she would no longer need to rely upon other people’s grudging generosity. She wouldn’t be a burden to anyone, ever again.
When she was done, she handed the sheet to the clerk and said, “I shall check back in a week if I haven’t heard from you.”
“There’s no need, Miss Willis. I’ll send word if we can offer you the position.”
Emma held her head high as she exited the shop, even as she imagined her application being deposited into the wastebin.
Max stood when she entered the dining room at Ardennes House for lunch. Her heart skipped a beat at the sight of him dressed in shirtsleeves and a waistcoat. No jacket.
