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“What is this place? A storeroom?”
“An exhibit in the making. These artifacts will be on display in the coming months. For now, they are being curated as part of the planning for a new exhibition. As such, members of the public are kept strictly away.”
Alice reached tentatively towards the sarcophagus, hesitating before touching its hard, cold surface.
“Incredible. So old. To think this was touched once by…well, a Pharaoh? His high priests anyway. Thousands of years ago. It looks almost new.”
Harold moved to stand beside her, touching the stone inches from where Alice’s hand lay. Alice became very aware of their proximity. Part of her wanted him to move his hand to touch hers. Part of her wanted the courage to do that herself.
Her breath quickened as he brushed the surface and came even closer, his finger coming briefly into contact with her own. The touch was brief and accidental but sent a thrill through her that almost made her shudder with pleasure.
“I know. You should see the pyramid at Giza. To stand before one of the wonders of the ancient world. It is quite something.”
There was awe and wonder in his voice. As Alice turned to look at him, she saw light in his eyes that had nothing to do with the reflection of the lantern that sat on the floor next to him. It was the light of a man inspired, of a passion deep within. In that moment, Alice refused to believe that this was a wicked man who had purposefully driven another to his death. Not for the sheer malice of it.
In that same moment, she wanted to know the truth. And braced herself that it might be a truth that she did not like. While she couldn’t believe that Harold was a wicked man, she wanted to know the truth.
“My sister told me the story. Of your family and mine.”
Harold seemed to return to himself, as though for a moment he had been far from this place. He frowned and turned to her.
“And what story would that be?”
Alice took a breath. “She told me that your father and mine were partners. That the Duke of Redwood betrayed my father and drove him out of business.”
Harold nodded slowly and Alice began to feel a sinking sensation.
Please don’t let it all be true. Not the way Ruth told it.
“That has the sound of something my father would do. I do not know. I was never party to his business dealings. When I knew him I was a child. By the time I had reached the age where he might expect to begin grooming me to be his successor, I was in full-fledged rebellion against him. So, I was never initiated into his inner circle. But, it would not surprise me. It was his nature to be greedy and cruel when it came to money.”
“Simon believes it broke my father’s heart and shortened his life,” Alice said simply.
She saw a wince, quickly hidden. “He is dead then?” Harold asked.
“Yes. And so is my brother, Edward. Who was briefly Viscount Lindley himself.”
Alice was watching for a reaction, for a hint that Harold knew who Edward was, or had been. She saw it and felt despair.
“I cannot lie. I knew Edward Hathway. Had I been paying more attention to the invitation last night, I would have made the connection with the name. And stayed away. But, I was not paying attention. I had no idea I was attending the debut of Edward’s younger sister.”
“How did you know my brother?” Alice asked.
“We were members of the same club. The Shilling Club. And then we found ourselves competing for the affections of the same girl. A very lovely girl called…”
“Eloise,” Alice supplied in a dull voice.
The story was now being told but she knew how it ended. Her mysterious stranger was nothing more than a blackguard and a rake, just as Ruth and Simon had warned her. What’s more, he had been responsible for the death of Teddy, her brother.
“Yes. When I realized that she had eyes only for Edward though, I kept my distance. Until then, it had been an open competition between us to win her heart. I was outclassed. Edward was a charismatic man.”
Alice frowned. This was not what she had expected Harold to say.
“Simon told me that you seduced her. That you dishonored her and that she…she…”
“Dishonored her?” Harold said sharply. “Seduced her? Why that devil! Again he besmirches my good name and for what? Because of the actions of my devil of a father?”
His lips clamped shut tight, becoming a straight line in a face made implacable by anger. A fist thudded into the unyielding surface of the sarcophagus and Alice winced at the thought of the pain the blow must have caused.
