Chapter 21
It didn’t take long before the old man joined her. He knocked before entering his own laboratory. When he found her there, amongst his private books and diaries, he didn’t look surprised. No, Victoria thought the old man seemed relieved.
“Mary is quite upset,” he told her. Victoria didn’t look up.
“I’m afraid I might have come off as rude.”
Lord Reginald sighed. “She’s a forgiving woman, Mary is. She has to be, with Elias’s grumpy attitude to deal with.”
“I will be sure to apologize. I like Mary.”
“She likes you.”
Victoria’s eyes lifted from the page. “Are you going to be honest with me?”
“My goodness. You are so very clever, Victoria.”
“Am I? I think one would have to be stupid to not suspect…”
Lord Reginald smiled. “Suspect what?”
Victoria slammed the book shut. “You know exactly what I suspect. I demand you explain it to me this instant. How…I don’t understand how…”
“How the change comes about? Or how the story began?”
“Both. And…and with a secret like this…Lord Reginald, why did you allow my mother and I to come here?”
The old man shrugged helplessly. “There are so many things I feel confident about, Victoria. In politics, my beliefs are unshakable. When it comes to science, I see what others do not. But as I get older, I am forced to look at my home, at the remains of this family, and I ask myself—did I tend to it well?
“I don’t think that I have. I don’t think I know how.”
“And that is why you welcomed my mother and me here at Edenbridge Hall?”
“You must understand, Victoria. Elias is what he is, but I would have never opened my doors to you ladies if I thought you would be in any danger.”
“So, it’s true then? Elias…he is the troll?”
“Elias is part troll. His mother was my sister, Arabella, and his father was a beast from the woods.”
Victoria let out a small gasp. She couldn’t help but pace as she worked out her thoughts. “You spoke of her kindness and how she saw the good in everyone.”
“And everything, apparently.” Lord Reginald sighed. “No one was happy when she told the family of her love for Kaelan.
“She’d met the troll in the woods and a friendship formed. That friendship blossomed until she could keep it a secret no longer.
“It was a blasphemous affair—and dangerous. If the people of Winstonshire found out, what would they think of Arabella? I’ll tell you, they’d have called her a witch. They’d have wanted to see her burned at the stake. These simple townspeople, they don’t understand the magic of the wood. If it is different, then it is evil in their eyes.”
“That’s stupid.”
“I’m glad you think so.” The old man smiled wryly.
“So, Arabella and the troll, Kaelan, had a child? And Elias is that child. I don’t understand how he can change from one state to the other.”
“You saw him? In his true form?”
“The troll is Elias’s true form?”
“Well, Elias is a blend. Part Arabella, part Kaelan. A full-blooded troll is much more…intimidating than Elias.”
Victoria let out a shaky laugh.
“When my nephew was young, I found a way to hide the less human parts of him.”
“That’s what you do here in this lab. You create some sort of potion?”
Lord Reginald nodded. “Recently, it hasn’t been as reliable as it once was. Which is why Elias was so opposed to you and Charlotte coming here. But I thought, I hoped, having a family again would do him some good. With the exception of his accident last year in the village, he has never changed in front of anyone.”
“So he was the troll that was chased from the town?”
“You deduced that as well? You are clever, Victoria.”
“The scars. I’d wondered about Elias’s scars.”
“He could have died that night,” Lord Reginald said grimly. “The people of Winstonshire certainly meant to kill him.”
“Gods, how monstrous.”
“I’m afraid that the land of man will never accept the creatures of the wood.”
“What made him change that night? In a place that was so dangerous.”
“Well.” Lord Reginald blushed a little as he spoke. “I do believe it had to do with something called hormones. The Spring Bloom Festival is a time of courting and Elias, having the sharpened senses of a troll, was impacted by the scents and emotions surrounding him. He lost control.
“We changed the potion after that and things have been better…to some extent.” Lord Reginald didn’t seem exceptionally confident.
Victoria narrowed her eyes at him. “Why do you share this information so freely? Would you have done so with the farmers who chased Elias into the woods that night?”
The old man laughed. “Of course not! Elias is my nephew. I wish for nothing more than his protection and well-being—and that is why I speak so freely. Something in your eyes makes me trust you, Victoria. I think you care for Elias.
“And besides, I do believe you can handle the truth as you have guessed much of it already. Which is quite spectacular. I am impressed, young lady. Very impressed.”
Victoria considered everything Lord Reginald had told her. “I’ve no wish to share this with my mother yet.”
He nodded. “Not yet.”
“But she is a reasonable woman. I think she will come to understand.”
“What is it, exactly, that you wish her to understand?”
“That I am going to marry Elias, if it makes no difference to you, of course.”
The old man chuckled. “It makes quite the difference indeed! I would prefer to maintain my bachelorhood if at all possible.”
“Good. Then there will only be one problem.”
“Yes, but it is a big one.”
“How to convince Elias to marry me.”
“I am sure that he is fond of you, Victoria.”
“As I am of him.” Now more than ever, she saw the truth. Elias did care for her—he was fighting his feelings with all his might, trying to protect her from the truth. He was half-man, half-beast and he didn’t think anyone could fall in love with such a creature.
“But, as you have likely already noticed, Elias is stubborn. He sees the world the way he wishes to see it. If it were up to him, he would bar the doors and windows and live as a recluse.”
“That won’t do.”
“No, I don’t think it will. And that is the path he’d have been on if you and your mother hadn’t shown up. I had to say yes to Charlotte’s request—first and foremost because I’d have not stood by to see your mother come to ruin, but because your presence had the potential to turn things around for Elias.
“I’m an old man. I am family. He can ignore my words, my suggestions. But if there were women in the house, he would be forced to…to…get his head out of his ass.”
A smile spread slowly across Victoria’s face. She liked Lord Reginald a great deal. “It has come as a great shock to me, but I am in love with your nephew, Lord Reginald. This will be a marriage of love, not necessity.”
The old man startled happily. “That is shocking indeed. And far better an outcome than what I had hoped for when you first came.”
“I am just the woman for him. I’ve no fear nor concern over his origins. His looks intrigue rather than frighten me. And I think we are kindred in spirit. I never thought I’d choose anything over the sea, but I choose Elias. Happily so.”
“I must speak as an uncle, as Elias’s guardian.”
Victoria nodded and waited for Lord Reginald to go on.
“My nephew has a hard exterior, but if you can get past it, you will find only love. He is my sister’s son, and he’s a good man, whether he knows it or not. For that matter, he is Kaelan’s son, and I’ve never known anyone to love so deeply or to sacrifice so much.”
“What happened to Kaelan?”
“The same thing that could have happened to Elias on the night of the Spring Bloom Festival. He died protecting Arabella and he made sure no one learned of their secret marriage. My sister…she was never the same after Kaelan was killed. Not long after, pneumonia took her.”
Lord Reginald’s eyes were misty. “Elias is a product of them both, and nothing evil could come from a love so deep.”
“I am sure there is no evil in Elias’s heart. But there is fear and shame. Those are the enemies which I must overcome.”
“Everyone wants to be loved, Victoria. To be seen and understood. Give that to Elias and he will not be able to resist you.”
“I ask that you say nothing to him.”
“This is between the two of you,” Lord Reginald agreed.
“I thank you for your openness.”
“Victoria, young lady, you make it easy.”