Page 6 of An Orphan for the Broken Duke

“It is worse than I feared,” Miss Wilks sighed with exasperation as she sat down at her desk. “So much worse.”

“Oh?” Rhys Langford, the Duke of Ashmere, raised a questioning eyebrow as he sat across from Miss Wilks. “How so?”

“You remember what we spoke of yesterday?” the elderly carer said, pouting as she let the sadness pour from her. “Concerning the future of this orphanage.”

“I do,” Rhys said. “And as I told you, if money is a problem…”

“As I mentioned… if only it were that simple,” Miss Wilks said, and then she sniffed and wiped her eyes. “It is this entire place…” She gestured to the office and the warehouse in general. “It is falling apart. I fear that no amount of money will fix it. And that is not to mention the lack of help available, our diminished resources…” She sniffed again. “I fear the worst is coming.”

Rhys sat forward. “And what is the worst, exactly?”

“Is it not obvious? That we will have to close the orphanage entirely.”

The words were expected, but that did not mean they hit Rhys with any less intensity. He was a man who liked to show strength when he could, and who valued how others saw him, and what their opinions were. He was always the responsible one, always the one who other people relied on, and he believed it imperative that he present himself with an air of calm.

Nevertheless, hearing Miss Wilks’ foretelling of doom saw him reel back, wincing with sadness, his shoulders slumping and his posture shrinking.

“Are you certain?” he asked her, his voice wavering.

“Sadly, I am,” she said. “Oh, how I appreciate all you have offered, but to save this place…” She laughed weakly. “It might bankrupt you.”

Rhys very nearly said that such concerns did not matter. He very nearly announced that he would do whatever it took! He very nearly made a decision that while sounding right to his ears, would have made no real difference… and he knew it.

For years now, Rhys had been investing in the orphanage. Many thought him mad to waste such money, but they did not know the reason. Tragedy was what had brought Rhys here, paired with a search that he knew to be folly, but that he would never abandon for as long as he lived.

And while he had started such philanthropy out of guilt and desperation, he had not counted on how much he would come to love it. He had found joy in something so simple… a purpose discovered that he had not known he needed until he found it.

It does not make as big of a difference as I might have liked, but at least it is something.

“What does that mean for the children?” Rhys turned and looked out the window, which had a view of the main floor of the orphanage. The children laughed and played, living in perfect ignorance of what was to come.

“They will have to find new homes,” she said. “Other orphanages, mostly. It will be so hard for them. All this moving around. It is so much for such innocent souls to bear.”

“I will help where I can,” he said, still watching the children.

“And I appreciate it,” she sighed. “This will break Violet… not to mention Lucy. That poor dear; she clings to Violet as if she is her mother, and I do not relish seeing them separated. Oh, it breaks my heart.”

When Rhys heard Lucy’s name, his gaze immediately found her.

She was with Miss Beaumont, sitting on her lap as the cantankerous carer read a book to her. But Lucy did not seem to be paying the book any attention. Rather, she gazed up at Miss Beaumont as if she was the center of the world. Love rarely seen, and experienced even less.

Rhys felt a pang in his chest as he watched them. It was a similar feeling to that which first took him when he had seen Lucy yesterday. Indeed, he had not believed his eyes when he saw her, certain that he was imagining things.

Of course, he had been, because Lucy was not who he had thought. That was impossible…

Still, the young girl reminded him of her, and while Rhys did not know Lucy at all, he felt an instinctive need to protect her. If he could do that, maybe it would make all those wasted years… that argument which still haunted him… all worth it. Maybe it could save his soul.

“I will take Lucy,” he said before he could stop to think.

“What?” Miss Wilks blurted.

He turned around. “Lucy. I will take her. One so young should not be carted around like livestock. She needs a home, security and safety. I can offer her that.”

Miss Wilks looked dumbfounded. “Your Grace, that is… that is very generous.”

“It is the right thing to do.”

For a moment, he feared that Miss Wilks was going to press him on the reason. His offer was not just random, but unheard of! He was a duke. She was a street urchin, an orphan girl, and such things simply weren’t done.