Page 16 of The Rumpled Gentleman
Chapter
Sixteen
U nder cloak of night, Elara sat in the dimly lit workroom, her father beside her. Each tick of the clock echoed through the room like a heartbeat, marking the time until their departure. She glanced at her father, who, engrossed in his notes, remained oblivious to the tension that filled his daughter.
Bess had agreed to help conceal their absence from the duke’s servants as long as possible, a task that carried its own risks. Elara felt a surge of gratitude for the maid’s kindness and willingness to aid them.
The room, filled with the scent of drying herbs and the soft rustle of pages turning, hadn’t precisely become dear to her. Yet she couldn’t help gazing at it with a small sense of loss.
The room was arranged for their departure, though to anyone else, it might simply appear as a night’s work left unfinished. A few open books lay scattered about, alongside Elara’s notes and sketches. It was a scene she had meticulously planned to avoid arousing suspicion, giving no hint as to their impending flight.
She now awaited the arrival of her cloaked helper. Elara couldn’t explain how she knew, but she sensed he would come for them that night. Perhaps it was the whispered conversations with Bess, a slight shift in the air, or simply hope manifesting as intuition. Whatever the reason, she felt an unexplainable certainty that they would leave the duke behind.
Her father murmured something under his breath, a calculation or a musing, lost in the world of his research. Elara admired his ability to find solace in his work, even amidst the turmoil that surrounded them. She wished she could borrow some of that focus, to shield herself against the swirling fears that overwhelmed her.
A soft stirring of cloth against stone broke the silence, causing Elara’s heart to leap. She glanced at her father to find him undisturbed by the sound. She rose, her hands trembling, and faced the tapestry. Her father, ever absorbed in his work, barely registered the disruption.
She took a deep breath, steadying herself for what was to come.
The tapestry lifted and revealed a figure shrouded in a cloak, his face obscured by a mask. It was him , come to guide them into the unknown.
The masked man halted in surprise, then glanced toward her father, before coming further into the room. Raising his gloved hand toward her. “The illusion worked.”
“Yes.” She put her hand in his. “And we’re leaving now, aren’t we?”
Slowly, his head dipped in a nod. “I have a safe place for you both.” She saw his throat bob with a swallow. “But first, I must tell you?—”
She stepped closer, cutting him off by placing a hand along his jaw, beneath the edge of his mask. “I know. There must be a payment for that sort of magic. Mustn’t there?”
He started to shake his head, but Elara stopped him with a look. “In fairy stories, this is the moment when you ask for something grand. Something unexpected. And practically impossible to give.”
His eyes narrowed and he tipped his head slightly, settling his jaw against her palm. “It sounds as though you have something specific you wish to offer, Miss Millstone.”
She lowered her voice. “I do. But I wonder if you want it?” Her heart trembled, and she wanted to take off the mask. Wanted to kiss him. But what if the man who had risked everything for her didn’t feel the same? He had come so close to saying something before—she’d felt it. Surely, he had to know she’d guessed his identity. Discovered who he was when her heart spoke to his.
One corner of his mouth went upward. “I could ask that your firstborn child be mine. That seems impossible to give.”
“And yet, I would promise you that.”
His head pulled back and his eyes widened with shock. “You would?”
She shushed him after glancing over her shoulder, making certain her father still worked with his back to them. Then she glared up at her mysterious savior. “I am most willing for my firstborn to be yours. If the offer of fathering the child comes with an offer of marriage, of course.”
His lips parted in surprise. “ Fathering ? —? ”
She let her hand rest against his chest. “You said my firstborn had to be yours. Both of ours, really. And I accept your terms. If you’re asking me to marry you.” Then she lifted his mask as she whispered his name, “Orion Fitzmartin.”
His heart’s rhythm sped beneath her hand where it rested on his chest, and he did not wait another moment to bend and catch her lips with his. The kiss was all too brief, but when he glanced over her shoulder again, she couldn’t mind. They were still in the duke’s home, in danger, and in her father’s presence.
It was time to go.
“We can discuss acceptable forms of payment later,” she said with a smile. “For now, please. Will you take us from this place? The duke isn’t at home. He’s off showing all his associates the golden thread. I cannot stay here another minute. Neither of us can.”
He let her keep the mask. “Then we will be on our way. Get your father. Take his arm.” It did not take much to persuade her father to come for a walk with her and Orion, a man he’d deemed a “most excellent fellow.”
With one arm linked with her papa and the other with Orion, she let him guide her as they stepped through the stone wall and into a tunnel. Then, in another blink of her eyes, they stood beneath the moon, surrounded by trees.
“Hyde Park,” her father said at once, eyeing the grounds with intelligent interest. “A fascinating place. Did you know there are old druid stones in this part of the park? I studied them once, with a naturalist friend of mine.”
Orion chuckled. “I knew. One day, you will have to tell me what you made of them being here.” Orion released her arm to lead her through the trees and onto a moonlit walking path. In the distance, she heard a horse snort and the soft jingle of harnesses. They came to a coach, though it wasn’t Orion’s. He helped first her father and then Elara inside.
“Where are we going?” Elara dared ask once he’d joined them and closed the door.
“The house of a friend, outside of London. You will be safe there for another few days. The duke will be too busy to come looking for you.”
Elara, seated beside her father, shook her head. “I don’t understand. Why now?”
“Tomorrow, all the newspapers will print a story about a locomotive—a large one, too—powered without coal. Without creating smoke and dust. Eye-witnesses will share the wonder of it. And in the afternoon, I will make another demonstration before the Prime Minister and Her Royal Majesty, the Queen.”
Her papa’s gasp made her start with surprise. “Running an engine without coal? How can it be done? Alchemy?”
She felt Orion’s smile through the dark and heard it in his words. “No. Magic, and engineering. I will share all my research with you, Mr. Millstone. First thing in the morning, you have my word.”
“I suppose I will content myself with that.” Her father looked between them, the soft light of the carriage’s exterior lamp showing his expression of amusement well enough. “This whole straw into gold business has been quite bothersome, hasn’t it? I think it is time for me to turn my thoughts elsewhere. Perhaps to your work, Mr. Fitzmartin. Though I hope we will have more to speak of than work. Given the way my daughter smiles whenever in your presence, it seems there will plenty of time for us to come to understand one another.”
“Papa!” Elara laughed, but in the next moment she moved to sit next to Orion. “We haven’t known each other long at all. Poor Orion may soon wish to himself rid of me.”
His fingers slid through hers, and he held her hand near his heart. “Never, my Elara. Besides, we still have that debt to settle.”
Elara rested her head against his shoulder. Safe. Happy. Ready to face whatever came next, so long as she had Orion with her. Once they were safe, she would write to her sisters. Tell them everything. Perhaps even have them rejoin her. She doubted Orion would mind.
Then she intended to spend the rest of her life dividing her time between her love, her family, and a garden. A very grand garden, where she could practice her magic and learn how to wield it better for the benefit of others.
Whatever came next, as dawn broke and the carriage left London behind for the rolling hills of the country, she intended to live each day with hope and courage.
Orion kissed her temple as the carriage turned up a country lane. “I promise you one thing, my love. I will do all in my power to ensure that—for the rest of our days—we will live happily, ever after.”