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Elle frowned "Are you certain?"

Elided to Elle’s chair She took her hand and tugged on it

"Alright I’ her crutches beneath her before she hobbled to her chair She barely had tie her skirts before the foot her yelp at their sudden movement

They trooped out of Elle’s room and down the hallway at a hasty pace Elle clutched the arms of her chair as the footmen carried her Her heart stopped when one of them tripped, but the other footmen corrected him, and in a much shorter span of time than Elle would have liked the footmen set her down in front of an iht elbow as Elle shifted her weight on her crutches Elle set her shoulders and inspected her skirts, settling them into place

She was shocked when Emele knocked on the door before Elle was ready The ladiesher clasped hands beneath her chin

Elle frowned at her friend, but returned her attention to the task before her when she heard a coh the door

Elle sed as E aside so she could hobble through

Elle cautiously entered, her eyes taking in the sth mirror on one side of the study, which was flanked by a wall covered in thy as covered with bookshelves--which housed an inch of dust and enough paper to run a printing press for a year

Prince Severin was seated behind autensils, a coh, a vase of roses

Prince Severin looked up for a moaze to his work as Emele closed the study door

"I was told you wished to speak toa notation on a hness," Elle said

"State your business, Intruder," the prince said

Elle eyed the prince for aas she considered the proble for an audience with Severin, because really there was no elegant way to tell the prince that her petticoatstrouble using my crutches," Elle started

"Tell Duval and he will have a new pairhimself away from his desk

"No, the crutches aren’t the problem," Elle said