Page 39 of Cocky August Rake

“It seems he’s seen only the worst of our profession,” Rose said. “And you’re right, Mari, he truly believes closing The Domus will save us from it.”

“By sending us where?” Marianne demanded. “Back onto the streets? Where a woman takes whichever man will pay, if he pays at all, and has no Boris waiting outside the door if something goes wrong?”

Violet’s fingers tightened around the blue ribbon in her lap.

Rose hated the fear in her eyes.

“He mentioned a pension,” Rose said. “And lodgings.”

Nell’s expression hardened. “Promises are easily made before a gentleman sails away.”

“I have savings,” Marianne said after a moment. Her anger had faded into something quieter. “But not enough to open the shop I’ve been dreaming of. And even if I found employment, how long would it last once someone learned where I had lived?”

No one answered.

Violet stared down at the ribbon.

“I had a position once,” she said.

Rose turned toward her.

“Before The Domus. I worked as a maid in a lodging house.” Violet twisted the ribbon around her fingers. “The mistress said I was fortunate to have a roof over my head. That I ought not to complain when the gentlemen touched me, because their money paid my keep.”

Marianne’s face went cold.

“But you left,” Rose said gently.

“I didn’t leave.” Violet looked up. The fear in her face made her seem painfully young. “I was dismissed. The mistress said I had become troublesome.”

Her voice thinned. “I slept in a doorway for three nights before Nell found me.”

Silence settled over the room.

Nell, who’d been mostly quiet, finally lifted her chin, narrowing her eyes. “Enough of this talk.”

She was right. Anything could happen in a month’s time.

Rose nodded, grateful to defer to anything Nell could come up with. And then Nell turned to her. “He is sweet on you.”

Hearing those words, Rose did something she hadn’t done in decades.

She blushed.

Which, of course, only caused Nell’s gaze to sharpen further. “He barely took his eyes off you.”

Rose tried for a laugh, recalling how she had challenged him in front of the entire staff. “I didn’t give him much choice, now did I?”

But Nell did not laugh.

“I have watched men look at women for longer than you’ve been alive, my girl.” She leaned back in her chair. “And I’d wager my best pair of boots that this seafaring captain—duke’s brother or not—is thoroughly entranced by you.”

Rose stiffened. “Nell.”

“No. Hear me out.” Nell lowered her voice, drawing all three women closer. “This man intends to sell the house, provide enough money to ease his conscience, and sail away believing he has done us a kindness.”

“He promised us time,” Rose said, though she didn’t know why she felt compelled to defend him.

“I know. And we must make use of it.” Nell held her gaze. “He needs a reason not to leave. At the very least, a reason to care what becomes of this place after he is gone.”