The Lamplighter's Love

By Delphine Dryden

Mary has trained for years to become the next Lamplighter of London. When her chance comes, however, she realizes the massive difference engines of the Lampworkers' guild would be a cold substitute indeed for the passion she's begun to explore with the current Lamplighter, Nicholas.

But Fate, it seems, is determined to separate them. A rival threatens to upset all Mary's hopes and dreams within the guild, and with her newfound love. Even as snow blankets London in readiness for Christmas, intrigue blazes in the secret labyrinths of the Lampworkers’ guild below.

Through bitter deception and scorching erotic discovery, Mary and Nicholas must find a way to shine a light on a new future—one they can spend together.

The Lamplighter's Love is a 20,000 word erotic romance novella.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Delphine Dryden
• Release date: Dec 7, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311879509

Delphine Dryden

After earning two graduate degrees, practicing law awhile, and then working for the public school system for over ten years, I finally got a clue. I tossed all that aside and started doing what I should have been doing all along, writing novels! In hindsight I could see the decision was a no-brainer.Because which sounds like more fun? Being a lawyer/special educator/reading specialist/educational diagnostician...or writing spicy romances?I'm fortunate to have two wonderful, absurdly precocious children and two delightful if occasionally disobedient mutts. My family and I are all Texas natives, and reside in unapologetic suburban bliss near Houston.

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The Lamplighter’s Love

By Delphine Dryden

Delphine Dryden

http://www.delphinedryden.com

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

The Lamplighter’s Love

Copyright © 2011 by Delphine Dryden

Editor: Kelli Collins

Cover art by Delphine Dryden

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher, and where permitted by law. Reviewers may quote brief passages in a review. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact the author at www.delphinedryden.com/contact.

Second edition

December, 2014

(This book was previously published by Ellora’s Cave in September 2011).

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About The Lamplighter’s Love

Mary has trained for years to become the next Lamplighter of London. When her chance comes, however, she realizes the massive difference engines of the Lampworkers' guild would be a cold substitute indeed for the passion she's begun to explore with the current Lamplighter, Nicholas.

But Fate, it seems, is determined to separate them. A rival threatens to upset all Mary's hopes and dreams within the guild, and with her newfound love. Even as snow blankets London in readiness for Christmas, intrigue blazes in the secret labyrinths of the Lampworkers’ guild below.

Through bitter deception and scorching erotic discovery, Mary and Nicholas must find a way to shine a light on a new future—one they can spend together.

Chapter One

It was not quite cold enough at the bottom of the shaft for her breath to show as vapor, and that was the best Mary could say for the climate in the Lamplighter’s domain. But it had to be cold. That was the point, why it must be buried so deep below the streets of London. Because the engines ran so hot, down in the cavern where the Lamplighter plied his trade.

So familiar, after so many years. The chatter of keys and gears, the constant motion of rods moving up and down over the exposed workings of the four great engines. The soft hiss of steam and hydraulics as the machines dispersed their printed messages up the tubes that ran throughout the Lampworks. The crisp, acrid odor of lubricant.

And in the center of it all there stood the Chair, and in it sat the Lamplighter. Both of his hands were secured in a framework of leather and metal, fingers extended to multiple tiny, felted hammers that stayed in constant motion, tapping over a dizzying array of ivory keys more rapidly than any mere human could ever do unaided. She had seen the Lamplighter work so fast those hammers blurred into invisibility.

I’m here, she announced, knowing he could not see her from within the framework of mirrored viewing panels surrounding his head.

Two minutes, he replied softly, haltingly. The bridge is up at Northampton. He was still distracted by the work around him, all the various calculations for which he was responsible. Not just the lamps, although initially the post was created for that purpose. The first engine had run the city’s gas lamps, but had worked strictly on a timing mechanism.

The first true Lamplighter had been needed when the traffic lights were added, when it became clear that more precise calculations and oversight were needed throughout the course of each day to avoid accidents between carriages and the new steamcars.

I’ll just set out the food.

It’ll only get cold. Leave it covered.

Now there were the street and traffic lights, the synchronized chiming of the city’s great clock towers, the drawbridges and factory whistles and endless other systems. And all this was overseen by the Lamplighter. There were others who performed similar tasks throughout the country, of course. But only the one in London was the Lamplighter.

Nicholas, she reminded herself. He liked to be called by his name. So few used it, so few even knew it.

And with that, the noontide is upon us, Mary.

She grinned, flushing with anticipation as she rushed to his side. The sound continued all around them, the engines still ran and marked time and did impossible calculations at inhuman speed and sent missives that would be relayed to the farthest reaches of the city within minutes. But for this hour, the Lamplighter took his ease. It would be one of only two rest periods for him between dawn and midnight, one of his few chances to speak with another human being in person. For years, Mary had been that person. And what had started as a relationship between master and apprentice had transformed, over the years, into a rare friendship.

Are you sore? she asked. She had already started on the straps that held his arms in place, whipping the tails free of their buckles with practiced efficiency. She could do this part blindfolded, if she had to.

Not today. It must not be too cold outside. Even as deep as they were, the

Lamplighter often found himself reacting to the weather outside, particularly finding that his joints ached more readily during the winter months.

Mary laughed, the sound quickly lost among the machinery. It’s freezing. It snowed yesterday.

Snow, really? I can’t remember the last time I saw snow.

Probably close to the last time he’d seen the sun, Mary thought. The Lamplighter’s skin was almost as white as the snow he couldn’t recall. His schedule, over the years of his tenure, hadn’t even allowed him time to see the sun. He worked all through the daylight hours, each and every day. For almost a third of his life, he

Reviews for The Lamplighter's Love

[america0505 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

couldn't get in to the story, the Sci Fi aspects of it are not something I'm interested.