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His remarkable light-green eyes shot to his sister Clara, and the brief glimmer of pain there caught Helen’s breath before he shuttered it.
Sirena introduced Helen to Clara, and the woman’s graceful and considerate greeting reassured her. Until the moment came and went, she couldn’t have been sure how it would go. Would the Siderises’s devoted and aristocratic family friend look upon her with suspicion? Jealousy? Or ignore her as insignificant?
After her marriage to Robbie, Helen had received all those reactions from the social set surrounding the Grays, after all.
“I hope we find a quiet moment to speak today! I should like to hear about America andallabout your brave sea voyage to England,” said Clara in her crisp accent.
Vassilis stepped over. “Yes, yes, my friends and family, we shall speak to each other—but save all that forafterthe revelation!” He positioned himself to address everyone. “Thank you for joining me on this grand mystery visit today! As you can see”—his arm swept in a semi-circle and his brown eyes sparkled—“we are at Kew Gardens! But some of you must still be wondering what this has to do with the Great Exhibition, eh?”
“Aren’t you still set on Hyde Park as the venue?” James Robertson asked.
“Indeed!Indeed!”
Murmurs rippled through the small group.
“Onwards! Follow me to behold the very future of England and the world!”
Vassilis marched away, arms swinging.
After a moment of exchanging bemused glances, the rest of them moved forward in waves. Pen and Sirena bustled arm-in-arm after Vassilis, followed by the Robertsons—James’s arm around his wife’s waist—then the proper earl.
Nicholas offered his elbow. “Will you do me the honor?”
His formal words and gesture were genuine, she knew, but so too was the blaze of heat in his tiger eyes. With everyone else focused on Vassilis’s theatrics, they indulged in this brief opportunity to gaze upon each other with all the intimacy of two people who’d spent the previous night as they had—awake and writhing, then asleep, entwined.
“Yes, thank you, sir.” Helen slipped her arm through his, and they trailed the rest of the group. She sped up their leisurely pace when she caught sight of the spectacular structure. “My God! Look at that!”
Nicholas ran alongside her, smiling indulgently when she threw a look of frustration at him as soon as they caught up with the others. It would be too unseemly to run around them as she wished.
As thirsty as she was to see it up close, however, astonishment brought her to a stop. She covered her mouth and examined the massive conservatory with intense interest. The glorious early April sun glinted off the green-tinted glass and white wrought-iron skeleton supporting what looked to be thousands of panes of glass. Eyes flitting over each part of the extensive structure, she gasped as she took in the tall, oblong, nave-like glass ceiling at the center.
“All one structure…but various chambers…” she murmured to herself. Taller and larger than she could have believed possible for a glass-and-iron structure, her eyes moved over every visible curve. “Oh!” Her breath caught in her throat and her eyes widened.
“What is it?” Nicholas asked quietly.
“I—” She forced her attention to him while answering, and his expression was like a shock of cold water thrown in her face. She realized he had been watching her the entire time she was sputtering and muttering, overwhelmed at the sight of the staggering building. Deep embarrassment flooded her; lost in her reaction, she had forgotten herself and placed on inadvertent display all the unladylike spirit that had brought her so much scorn over the years.
She frowned. While Nicholas’s gaze was intent, it was, as ever, full of appreciation rather than disdain or horror. He didn’t even look amused. Her shoulders relaxed.
He stepped as close as he could in public, and his voice was low and intimate—for her ears only. “How I delight in your delight.”
“You—you do?”
“Never have I seen anything or anyone more magnificent than you. The ferocity of your inquisitiveness. The exquisiteness of your face when my fingers are between your thighs. The brilliance of your mind when you discover something new. Tell me. What made you gasp just now, Helen?”
Caught between the instinct to deny his words but answer his question, she looked back at the building.It is magnificent, not I. She smiled as she took in the overall shape of it. “It’s a hull! They built it as if it’s a ship turned upside down.”
“Yes,” said Nicholas, his quiet voice resonant with satisfaction. “The first thing I imagined about today your reaction when you noticed that very fact. God, how I wanted you to see this.”
Blinking, she stared at him, forgetting about their surroundings. “That’swhy we’re here today. For me to see this? It’s not about the Exhibition?”
“That’s my father’s concern, and he takes it seriously. Mine is your enjoyment.”
“Which you do take very seriously,” she said, her tone at once playful but sincere. She wished they were alone, for she wished to slide her arms around him. Words would have to suffice for now. “I thank you. I’ve already enjoyed it immensely—before setting foot inside!”
His smile was sweet and sensuous. “Come, let us delay no further.”
As soon as she looked at the building again, it fascinated her anew. They passed Sirena, Pen, and Clara, who had stopped to admire the manicured flower beds bursting with color. Ordinarily, such pretty blooms would captivate Helen, too, but today she was immune. She and Nicholas stopped at the base of the steps leading up to the main entrance, where David clasped his top hat to his head as he stared up at something James was pointing out.
