“Thus the single-rider airship he tested a few months ago,” Alice said.
Bits couldn’t help rolling her eyes. “And that obviously went so very well. Eventually, Her Majesty will realize he has nothing else to offer her, and she’ll move on. Hopefully to find a more skilled and trustworthy Ironworker.”
“Do you really think Ware is going to let that happen?” Henrick asked. “He’s grown drunk on the power and privilege your design has brought him. He wants more, and he knows the only way to get it, is through you.”
“As if I would ever let him near my workshop again.”
“Not willingly, no. But if you were his wife, you wouldn’t have a choice in the matter. In the eyes of England, you would be his property. Anything you made, would rightly be his.”
Bits laughed. “Me? Marry Ware? Because I am so desperate I would agree to marry a man whose character is as weak as his chin? No, thank you. I would rather live my days as a lonely spinster than to so much as have tea with that despicable man.”
“I don’t think he is going to give you a choice, my lady.” This was from Driscoll, whose temper had cooled considerably.
“So he was going to force me into marriage, like you?”
“Nothing like me. True, I came to an agreement with your brother without your input, but I would never harm a lady or take her virtue by force.” His eyes were wide and surrounded by the palest of lashes. He couldn’t hide anything with eyes like those, including his sincerity. “I was being truthful before. I will do everything in my power to keep you safe. You won’t have to worry about Ware, the Touched, or the truth of what you are getting out. You will have all the pin money and material things you could possibly want. I will be kind and courteous always, and never ask anything from you that you are not willing to give. I won’t even expect an heir. The only thing that is non-negotiable is that I have a wife before the year is out, and thanks to your brother’s promise, I have lost too many months to secure another bride. So, I’m afraid, it must be you.”
It was a generous offer. If he would have stood in Henrick’s study and delivered the same speech all those months ago, she would have accepted the offer without hesitation. But now…
Now she didn’t know what to do. It was still a good offer. It wasn’t the offer she wanted, but Ezra had already made his position very clear. Driscoll’s proposal was most likely the best she could hope for. And he had been made a promise. Even though she wasn’t the one to issue it, she was the one who had run away, leaving things unsettled for so long.
“Why do you require a bride?” she asked. Perhaps if the reason was compelling enough, she would relent. At least it would save her brother from whatever mess he’d managed to get himself into, for she felt certain there was something Driscoll was holding over him other than Ware and the threat of exposing her.
Driscoll shifted uneasily from one foot to the other. “That is rather beside the point. Suffice to say, it is imperative that I have a wife of gentle breeding before the year is out or my life will become quite unpleasant.”
“You simply require a wife,” Alice said. “It does not matter to you who it is?”
“As long as she comes from an impeccable bloodline, no.”
“Would, let’s say, the daughter of the Duke of Sidhe be acceptable?”
Driscoll laughed. “While I’m sure the girl is quite lovely, I’m under the impression she is an infant.”
“Not that daughter,” Alice said, standing. “This one.” She dipped into a curtsy. “Lord Driscoll, I would be honored to be your bride.”
“Alice, no!” Bits tugged on her friends’ skirts, trying to get her to sit back down.
Alice smiled down at her. “You once saved my life. Now I’m giving you yours back. Mo chop do miss.” Bits felt something deep within her snap taunt as Alice turned back to Driscoll, shoulders squared like a general marching into battle. “So, what say you, Lord Driscoll? Shall we seek out a special license?”
“I assume she is your sister,” he said to Sidhe.
“She is.”
“And you will consent to her marrying me?”
Sidhe locked Alice in a stare. The Duke of Sidhe was an imposing man, and when he stared at you, you felt it to your core. Even Demir and Bricky, who were by far the most terrifying men Bits had ever encountered, couldn’t hold his gaze for long.
Alice didn’t so much as blink.
“I will need time to consider,” Sidhe finally said. “I assume you require the details of her dowry?”
Driscoll waved away the matter. “I’m sure it’s sufficient. I am more concerned as to how quickly we can have the papers drawn up and the arrangement finalized.”
“That, I am afraid, will have to wait until tomorrow.” Sidhe pulled out a silver pocket watch and checked the time. “It is nearly midnight, and I am to present my daughter. Please, feel free to join us, as you may soon become her uncle.”
Driscoll looked to Henrick for guidance, but his friend only shrugged.
“I would be delighted, Your Grace.”
“Come along, then. We can begin our discussion regarding your future as we make our way to the Great Hall.” Sidhe said, walking towards the door. “Mr. Nash, I do believe I will require your services since Garroway is otherwise occupied at the moment. Providing you’re feeling up to it, of course.”
“I am quite well,” Ezra said, although it would have been more believable if his voice hadn’t come out so raspy. From her vantage, Bits could see where bruises were beginning to form on the underside of his jaw. While she studied his neck, trying not to cry, he lifted her hand to his lips. “Are you recovered, Lady Elizabeth?”
“Quite.” She felt as if she could sleep for a week, but the world was once again in focus, the room no longer spun around her, and the vice around her heart and lungs was blissfully absent. With a final squeeze of her fingers, Ezra released her and joined Sidhe.
“I must admit,” Henrick said once the three men had left, “I am a bit confused. Are we still being held against our will here? Or can I just leave now?”
Bricky crossed his arms over his impressive chest. “You are special guests of the Duke of Sidhe,” he said, his voice as roughly hewn as the rest of him. “The maids have prepared you rooms in the east wing of the house. You may stay there, or attend the ball. Should you wish to leave the manor, I will escort you.”
“So we are prisoners with privileges,” Henrick said with a sarcastic smile. “Splendid.”
“You did sneak into Corrigan,” Bits reminded him. “Men have died for less.”
Henrick studied the remaining liquor in his glass before draining it in one giant gulp. “So they have,” he said, sitting the glass on Sidhe’s desk. “So they have.”
She didn’t mention they might still be denied the privilege of returning to their old lives. That discussion could wait until the morning when they had all properly rested. Henrick’s eyes were bloodshot and his clothes wrinkled and stained. Nellie’s chin stayed high, but dark circles were shadowing her eyes and her touch was as cold as ice. They’d both been through a great deal in their misguided attempt to save her.
“Thank you.” In Ezra’s absence, Nellie joined Bits on the couch. Bits took her friend’s hands in her own, remembering all the times they’d clung to one another for support over the years. “Both of you. Thank you for coming. For risking everything for me.”
Nellie rested her head on Bits’s shoulder. “Of course we came, you silly girl,” she said. “We love you.”
“Even Sarah,” Henrick added. “Although she’d be loathe to tell you, she’s been completely distraught since news of your supposed death reached us. I saw her the other day, and her dress and hat did not match in the least, and I’m fairly certain I saw scuff marks on her shoes.”
He was jesting, of course, but guilt wrapped its tendrils around her heart and squeezed with all its might. It wasn’t as though she hadn’t thought of her family since coming to Corrigan. She had. Often. Sh
e just never bothered to imagine that they grieved for her. She never pictured them in black mourning clothes or crying over the loss of a sister.
“I have been so selfish.” It wasn’t purposeful. She had not meant to cause them so much distress, but that was what selfishness was, wasn’t it? Being so focused on one’s own wants and needs that you ignore the needs and feelings of others? “I am so, so sorry.” She would never be able to make up for what she had done. They had every right to not forgive her.
“You’re alive and well. That is all that matters to us now,” Nellie said. “How did you end up here anyway?”
“She saved my life,” Alice answered for her. “Nearly got herself killed in the process. When my brother came to retrieve me from the wreckage, I refused to leave without her.”
It all seemed so very long ago. A lifetime had passed since Bits entered the train car where she first met Alice.
“I did only what anyone else would have done in my situation,” she said. She’d been trying to convince Alice she was no hero since the accident. “You do not owe me anything, and I certainly don’t want you throwing your own future away just to secure mine. Please, Alice, don’t marry him.”
Alice straightened her skirts and looked out the window on the opposite wall. From here the city wall was visible, a great stone barrier between the world of the Touched and the Untouched. “We are all searching for a way to escape our lives. Driscoll is mine.”
“But you don’t love him.”
“Not everyone gets to fall in love and live happily ever after,” Alice said, a small sad smile on her lips. “Not even in Faery Land.”
Bits had never considered that Alice might want out of Corrigan, but she’d been gone for years before the accident. Maybe she hadn’t been heading home at all that day. Maybe there were other places she longed to be. If so, Driscoll might indeed be her ticket to freedom. He seemed very willing to let her lead her own life, apart from him. It was a perfect opportunity, so why did Bits feel so sad for her friend?
“Does anyone?” she asked, afraid of the answer. “Does anyone get to fall in love and live happily ever after?” Falling in love was simple enough, but the happily ever after was the impossible dream. Sitting in Sidhe’s study where the duchess’s death still hung heavy in the air was testament enough to that.
“I’m certain it has to happen on occasion,” Alice said. “And if it’s possible for anyone, I’m placing all my bets on you.”
Chapter 40
At the sound of a scrape on the door, Bits looked up from…
Well, she wasn’t quite certain what. She’d been staring out into nothingness for who knew how long, trying to wrap her mind around the events of the evening. What few items she could count as her belongings were already packed and ready for tomorrow’s journey back to London.
Apparently Sidhe had changed his feelings on not allowing any Untouched to leave Corrigan when faced with the prospect of living within close proximity to her brother for the remainder of his life.
When Henrick asked her to return with him, she’d wanted to say no, but how could she stay? Was she to spend the rest of her life taking up a guest room in the duke’s home? He was nothing if not hospitable, and she had no doubt he’d allow her to stay, but how would staying with him be any different than staying in her sister’s home?
In the end, she and her brother made a deal. She would return with him to London, but only long enough for him to set her up with a cottage in the country. They would use her dowry, since she would not be requiring it for its intended purposes. She’d already begun to narrow down the location. Somewhere in Manchester or Yorkshire would be ideal so she might be able to visit her friends in Corrigan whenever she wished.
A little cabin to herself. She wouldn’t even have servants so she might be able to do her work without fear of exposure. It would be lovely. She wouldn’t have to worry over awkward social interactions or being in anyone’s way. Henrick was concerned about her comfort, but she didn’t require all the luxuries they’d been afforded in life.
Although, she would miss having tea brought round in the bleak hours between midnight and dawn on nights she could not sleep, like tonight
“Come in,” she called, hoping the girl had thought to bring some scones or biscuits. With all the excitement of the evening she hadn’t had a chance to eat anything.
The door opened, first revealing a tray laden with meats, cheeses, and breads. Despite her hunger, the food was forgotten the moment she saw who was carrying it.
“Ezra!” She bolted up from the settee where she’d been lounging, her hands tugging on her night rail, attempting to make it less clingy.
He set the tray on a table, his eyes never leaving her face. They were truly lovely eyes. The blue reminded her of a perfect summer day. “I hope you don’t mind. I saw the maid struggling with the tray and offered to carry it up for her.”
“N-n-no. Not at all.” She started to move forward, but then stopped, not sure where she was going or what she was doing. All the bits and pieces inside her were jumping about, demanding action, but unsure what that action should be. “Would you like a cup of tea?” she offered, unsure exactly what manners dictated one do when standing alone with the man one loved in a bedroom while wearing only the clothes one was meant to sleep in.
Ezra laughed. It was the kind of surprised, out-of-the-blue laugh that shattered all the tension and swept it neatly under the rug. That laugh said, “I am well aware of the uncharted situation in which we find ourselves, but I’m happy to be here in it.” If she had not already loved him, that laugh, and the way his entire face transformed when he did it, would have caused her to topple head first.
“Tea sounds lovely,” he said, a smile still folding his cheeks and causing tiny lines to fan out from his eyes. She poured, adding the sugar and cream he enjoyed so much, and handed him the cup. He waited until she had finished preparing her own before saying anything else. He seemed content to just stand around and watch her as she went about her task.
“I came to see how you are feeling,” he said once she was again seated on the settee. “You didn’t attend the ceremony, and I worried you were still feeling the effects of Garroway’s curse.”
Bits took a sip of her tea. It was an excellent blend. Sidhe certainly spared no expense when it came to refreshments. “I’ve a bit of a headache, but it is improving. I’m no expert on the after-effects of being cursed, but I would imagine that is quite normal. One cannot have a black mark placed on them and not come through the other side without a bit of discomfort.”
“Quite normal, indeed. However, if it persists until tomorrow, I do wish you would let me examine you again. Just as a precautionary measure, of course. I doubt there is any lasting damage, and I think it is highly unlikely he would have tried anything further after your friend’s display tonight. She really is quite terrifying.” He said the last with a hint of a smile, as if pleased with how frightening Nellie’s powers were.
“She is indeed,” Bits agreed. “I would certainly not want to be the one who crossed her. I once saw her raise a horse because she wanted one final ride before he was buried. She had so much control over the beast, it performed better in the field with her at the helm than it had when it was alive. After nearly an hour, she released it, not because she’d run out of power, but because she was ready to let him go. I asked her later how long she could have made him run, and she’d said, ‘Until he’d worn away his legs and had nothing left to go on.’ I don’t think she was exaggerating.”
Ezra paused with his cup halfway to his lips. “The two of you must have had quite the interesting childhood growing up together.”
Interesting. Yes, that was one way to put it. Bizarre was another, and it was undoubtedly the word Ezra had actually meant.
“It wasn’t the childhood most young girls have, but we had each other, and that made it normal and wonderful to us.” No one in Nellie’s household knew about her abilities. It had been one of the
maids at the Braxton’s Kent estate that first realized what Nellie was. Gemma had also come from the West Indies and grew up in a village where a Bokor had lived. She guided Nellie, and later, when Bits came into her own abilities, her as well. What she didn’t know about how to use their powers, she more than made up for in teaching them about the balance of life, how to remain in control of one’s actions at all times, and the importance of secrecy. “It was my father who taught me clockwork, but it was Nellie who taught me how to live with what I am. I like to think I did the same for her. We were only our true selves when we were with one another, even more so than when we were alone. We’ve not spent as much time with one another in recent years as I would like — she tends to stay in Dover the majority of the year, and I seldom leave London — but she is still my dearest friend.”
“I’m glad you had one another. She is fiercely protective of you.”
“Oh, she is.” She had stood between Bits and Sarah so many times the Duchess of Keaton eventually refused to be in a room with her. “She’s always been the brave one. I’ve spent much of my life hiding behind her skirts like some bashful child.”
Ezra grabbed a biscuit off the tray and sat down next to Bits on the settee. Bits’s heart banged itself against her chest. There were other seating options, but he’d very deliberately chosen the one that put him so close to her she could feel his heat.
“Then she must be a true Boudicca,” he said, “for you are one of the bravest women I’ve ever known.”
“Oh, but I’m not. Bravery and I have never kept good company, I’m afraid.” She was terrified of everything. Of people finding out what she was. Of being alone all her life. Of never being good enough. And mostly, of what she felt for Ezra. She knew it would never go away, this needing and wanting. She could only hope it would eventually quit growing with each breath.
A Dance Like Flame (Of Magic & Machine Book 1) Page 26
