Page 71 of Boy of Chaotic Making

Owein thought the priorities of the matter quite stupid. There was a very real possibility that Lady Cora was going to be hurt in the future—shouldn’t they have taken the tram to the professor’s college and pled for help right there and then?

This isn’t America,Merritt had remarked when Owein asked about it. What nonsense. Why would—what was the word?—proprietytake precedence over the well-being of his friend?

Owein and Corawerefriends, sort of. Not the same way he, Kegan, and Fallon were friends, no. He couldn’t even speak to Cora, not directly, though when they did speak, she was polite. Kind. Not very open, but kind. She deserved to be protected, and to reiterate, Owein was not happy about the priorities.

He could hear Hulda’s vocabulary leaking into his thoughts.Good.He’d need to sound smart if he ever got a properly functioning mouth. He’d spent a lot of time with Hulda today, helping her check the stones and wards around the house just in case, though none so far had indicated the use of magic (which Lady Helen had strictly forbidden, save for Owein, who’d been granted permission to do so when he needed to use the bathroom, though there was usually a servant about to open the door for him).

Growing impatient, Owein tried to relay his frustrations to Lady Helen, to tell her where her daughter’s life was concerned, propriety could and should be set aside, but of course she couldn’t understand him. His inability to communicate became more and more frustrating with each passing day. So, determined to fetch his translator, Owein trotted into the sitting room to find him.

The room was more occupied than usual; the Leiningens had invited cousins to this party. Owein paused a moment, trying to recall who was who. The older couple was ... Earl. Earl and Earless—wait, no—Countessof ... North ... folk. Norfolk. That was it. Which meant the others, who were very plain-looking but sparkled with gemstones and other things Owein couldn’t name, were the Viscount and Viscountess of Leiningen. Essentially, if he called an English person a Leiningen, he had a very good chance of being correct. He knew the earl also had alteration spells, which was where Lady Helen and Cora had gotten theirs, but they hadn’t dove into the details of it. Lady Helen was too distracted, waiting for Professor Griffiths.

Titles were annoying.

Owein marched up to Merritt and asked,Will you translate for me?But Merritt was engaged in conversation with Baron von Gayl and Viscount Leiningen, something about deep-sea fishing, and didn’t seem to hear him.Merritt, Lady Helen is being—

“Miss Larkin!” came a new voice, and Owein turned to see an older man, well dressed without being overly so, entering the room with a very relieved-looking Lady Helen trailing behind. “Good to see you.”

Hulda came out of the crowd. “Professor, I’m so glad you could join us on short notice.”

“Anything for you,” he said, not seeming to notice Owein’s approach. He smelled like pipe smoke, newspaper, and gingerbread. Not a bad combination.

“We’ll start in just a moment,” Lady Helen announced, smiling for the first time since the tour yesterday.

Owein hesitated, wondering if he should stay with her or seek Merritt’s help again ... or perhaps it was better he stay with Cora. They weren’t engaged, not yet, but that seemed the chummy thing to do. And yet ... Briar and the baron were married and hardly spent time together. What did propriety call for, and where could he get a book on it? Better yet, he could ask Hulda to simply explain it to him, but everyone was sobusy.

Owein moved through the room, nearly getting stepped on once. He found Cora speaking to a girl a little older than her, a daughter or niece or something of the earl. In the back of the room, he caught Briar’s voice as she spoke to the viscountess: “—failed to persuade her. I’ve yet to determine what my next course of action will be.”

“I’m surprised you were able to get an audience with her at all,” the viscountess replied.

“Only a brief one.” She sighed. “She said she wouldconsiderif Cora reached twenty-five and a body had not yet been found. The ridiculousness of the situation—”

That was about him and Cora, Owein new. But he could hardly interrupt her and make his case, so he turned back around in time to catch Hulda introducing Merritt to the professor.

“Ah, Mr. Fernsby. I’ve heard so much about you,” Professor Griffiths said, shaking Merritt’s hand. His grip seemed tighter than necessary, but Merritt didn’t appear to notice.

“I must say the same. Hulda speaks very highly of you. We both appreciate the time you’ve put into her instruction. It’s certainly helped boost her confidence with augury.”

“I’m glad to hear it.” They still shook hands. This was a very long handshake. “You’re quite a character, Mr. Fernsby.”

They finally dropped hands. “Oh?”

“I’ve never seen a grown man with hair that long.”

That was a lie. Although it was not common, to be sure, Owein had seen plenty of men on the street with hair like that. Most usually wore it in a ponytail, but still.

Hulda rubbed the bridge of her nose.

“Well, it wouldn’t make sense to cut it until summer.” Merritt’s tone was easy.

“Pardon?” the professor asked.

“By means of the temperature.”

You wear your hair long in the summer, too, though,Owein insisted, and got a very subtleNot nowgesture from Merritt. Owein grumbled, which came out more like a growl.

Hulda interjected, “Merritt and I just discovered a poetry book by an author I’m not familiar with. Have you heard of Ronald Jonstone?”

Lady Helen called them in for dinner, forcing the cacophony of conversations to either break up or be carried inside. Owein was supposed to walk in with Cora, so he waited for her, earning his usual nod and smile when she approached. She didn’t say anything else as they walked into the dining room and she took her chair, while he found hiselegant doggy corner set up with the first course of soup. He approached and settled himself, bowing down to have a taste.

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