The Rumpled Gentleman: A Victorian Fairy Tale Retold by Sally Britton

Author:Sally Britton [Britton, Sally]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pink Citrus Books LLC
Published: 2025-02-24T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter

Nine

Leaning against the table where gold and weeping green stems had been but an hour before, Orion watched Elara’s rapid pacing on the other side of the room. The nearly unintelligible rush of words spilling out of Elara would have been humorous if her life wasn’t in danger. As it was, she told him everything about her deal with the mysterious stranger, who she thought might be Fey of some sort, and the same stranger’s assistance with her work.

She had no idea Orion and the masked man were the same person. His secret, and thus the safety of his mother, remained intact. Guilt stirred in his gut at the deception, but they were all in danger. And so much depended on him. If he failed Elara, he’d never forgive himself. The least he could do was keep his mother safe.

If they managed to succeed in their plans, if he created a means for his freedom, for prominence independent of the duke, he would have the influence he needed to save Elara and her father from their fate. Then, he’d tell her everything. Once they were safe.

When she stopped her pacing at last and stared up at him, wringing her hands together, Orion nodded his understanding. “It is a good beginning, and whatever else your benefactor is, it seems he wants to help you. I will keep your secret and continue to do whatever you need me to do.”

“I’m worried about my father.” She stepped nearer Orion. “Everything worked well today, but that was luck. What if next time he isn’t entirely lucid? What if he says something that reveals everything?”

Orion gathered her hands in his, stilling the way she kept twisting a ring around her finger. “He’s been content to work on the theoretics thus far, hasn’t he?”

She gave a hesitant nod. “He’s working out more formulas, right now, and researching everything he can about flax.”

“Your father has kept to your rooms so far, and with encouragement I believe he will continue there. And the duke hasn’t summoned him, because he believes your father is working on all of this.” Orion motioned to the disarray around them.

“That luck will not hold forever.” She lowered herself to one of the stools they’d drawn up near the table. Her forlorn expression bruised his heart. From their conversations, from observing her, he’d learned that she’d been responsible for her family’s upkeep for years. She’d been the one to sell their belongings off, one by one, until there’d been nothing left to sell. She’d been the one to find her sisters places to go when she couldn’t afford to feed and clothe them. She’d sacrificed her time, her abilities, to earn what little coin they had. Elara had carried a burden far larger than anyone should, all on her own, knowing the future stretched before her full of nothing but grim endurance and loneliness.

He couldn’t let her think she was alone now.

Orion knelt in front of her. He scooped up her hands from her lap and held them in his, drawing her gaze to him.

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