Lucien smiled. “Yes, I’ve heard that. But it’s more the sense of possibility. The knowledge that you can be anything if you try hard enough. Social class doesn’t dictate one’s path the same way it does here.” He seemed to catch himself then and gave her a bashful look.
“Ah, but they have an aristocracy all their own,” Alex replied. “Have you heard of Mrs. Astor? The upper class all curry her favor as if she were the queen.”
Alex had been introduced to her at some stuffy soiree and they were both left mutually unimpressed.
“My aspirations are hardly so lofty as that,” Lucien said with a winsome smile.
“But you would like to go there and try your luck,” Alex offered. She couldn’t deny that New York didn’t seem as beholden to the old guard as London. The people there were more open to ideas and ingenuity, no matter where they might come from. And yet, the thought of Lucien in that bustling metropolis across an ocean made her strangely uneasy.
“Someday, perhaps,” Lucien replied, entirely unaware of her thoughts. Then he turned to her with that impish smile. “I suppose I should make a go of it in London first.”
Alex forced herself to look away and gazed into the granite eyes of the long-dead Egyptian king. “About that. How is your business proposal coming along?”
She needed to steer the conversation back to something she could control. Something that was safe. All the while she could almost feel his heavy gaze on her profile and warred against the urge to look back.
“I’ve been working on incorporating the suggestions you and your father made. It will be ready for our meeting tomorrow.”
“Excellent.” That foolish sense of excitement began to kindle in her belly once more and she moved on to a display of Egyptian jewelry in a desperate bid to snuff it out.
When she had finally looked over every single piece in the display case, she glanced up and found Lucien watching her once again.
“What is it?” she demanded.
The corner of his mouth tipped up. “Nothing. I… I like watching you observe things.”
“Oh,” she said, dumbfounded by this response. Then she forced her brow to relax. She had been practically glowering in her concentration.
Lucien stepped closer. “You sound surprised.”
“Well, yes.” Alex resisted the urge to step back. “Usually, I’m told I need to smile more.” Or people asked what was wrong when all Alex was doing was simplyexisting.
“You were concentrating on the display,” Lucien said easily. “It would look rather odd if you were smiling at it.”
Her eyes widened. “Yes, exactly.”
She couldn’t remember the last time someone had seen her so clearly. As they stared at each other, that unique kind of understanding seemed to pass between them once more and Alex was certain she wasn’t the only one who felt it.
Lucien offered her his arm. “Come. Let us look at the sarcophagi.”
The rest of the visit passed by in a bit of a blur. At one point Phoebe and Will slipped off into a darkened alcove to do God knew what but managed to reappear just before they were due to meet Aunt Winifred. Alex had pulled Phoebe aside and repinned the loose curl hanging down her back.
“Thank you,” her sister whispered with a sheepish smile.
Alex frowned. “Tell Will to be more discreet next time, unless you intend to be caught.”
“Oh, but that’s all part of the fun,” Phoebe responded with a cheeky wink and moved to greet their aunt.
Alex stared after her, completely unable to hide her shock. When Lucien approached her with a curious look, her cheeks flushed and she moved ahead.
“Let us see Lord Elgin’s spoils, shall we?”
And if he noticed her discomposure this time, he did not comment on it.
Lucien returned to the flat that afternoon in something of a muddle. He was so lost in thought that he didn’t even notice Alain until the man was practically under his nose.
“Where have you just come from? You look as if you were just released from the clutches of some fairy king.”
Lucien gave himself a shake. He did feel rather dazed. “The British Museum.”
