[Victoria Alexander] The Virgin's Secret (Harringt(BookZZ.org) (17 page)

“It does seem to be recent,” Gabriella murmured. She couldn‟t very well deny it, as much as she might wish to. No, the lies and deceptions did seem to be piling up, although soon there would be no more need for them.

The rules of the Verification Committee were both clear and unyielding. Once an artifact had been presented and ruled on unfavorably, the presenter had only until the end of the next year‟s meeting to challenge that decision. Last year the committee had decided that Enrico‟s claim was not legitimate; that the seal he had was not the one for which he presented evidence was

considered irrelevant. Only extraordinary circumstances could prompt a reopening of a case after the time limit had passed, and Gabriella knew of few instances where that happened. The

committee did not like to reverse itself or admit mistake. No, she had a sure and certain

conviction, in her heart, that if the seal wasn‟t recovered this year for this meeting of the Verification Committee, it never would be. Her chance to restore her brother‟s good name would be lost forever.

“How do you think Mr. Harrington will respond when he learns of your deceptions?” Florence asked.

“He will understand the necessity of my actions,” Gabriella said with a confidence she didn‟t quite feel. What if he didn‟t understand? What if her actions disgusted him? Her stomach lurched at the thought that she might lose him. Not that she had him or wanted him or that he mattered at all.

Florence considered her in an assessing manner, as if she knew exactly what Gabriella was

thinking. It was—it always was—most unnerving.

Still, Gabriella should at least be honest with herself, if with no one else. In spite of Nathanial‟s arrogance, the way he seemed to have taken over her life, she had to admit he was indeed

beginning to matter. Quite a lot. She was not looking forward to telling him all the truths about herself, all her secrets. When he knew everything…She firmly set the thought aside. Now was not the time to dwell on what might—what would—happen then.

“As I was saying, I shall be at the ball as well.” Florence glanced at a large bouquet of roses in a vase on a side table that Gabriella had noted but to which she‟d paid no attention until now. “Mr.

Dennison has invited me to join his sister and her husband‟s party. They shall accompany me to the ball and I shall see him there.”

Gabriella raised a brow. “I gather the invitation came with flowers?”

“No. Mr. Dennison came with flowers.” Florence smiled in a decidedly smug manner.

“Yesterday evening.”

“Oh?”

“We had a lovely chat.” A dreamy look drifted across the older woman‟s face. Gabriella realized that Florence was really quite lovely. She wasn‟t sure why she‟d never noticed before. Florence shook her head as if to clear away thoughts of the dashing Mr. Dennison. “Now then, I will see you at the ball.”

“Yes, I suppose.” Gabriella sighed and again sank down beside Florence. “Still, the society, those people, treated my brother like—”

“Like a man who made claims he could not substantiate.” Florence‟s voice was surprisingly

hard. “Like a man who then behaved like a madman and blamed the very people he hoped to win over for his loss.”

“He wasn‟t mad,” Gabriella said quickly

“No dear, just obsessed.” Florence studied her closely. “Much as you are with finding the seal.”

“I‟m not obsessed. It‟s simply something that is left undone.” She drew a calming breath. “It seems to me when one dies, one‟s loose ends should be tied up.”

Florence shook her head. “Life is scarcely as tidy as that. Nor is death.”

“Pity it can‟t be more tidy. More certain, if you will.”

“The only thing certain about death is that it is inevitable. As for life…” Florence smiled. “I consider its very uncertainty one of the best things about life. One never knows what might happen.”

“For the worst, no doubt,” Gabriella said darkly.

Florence laughed. “Or for the best. Usually when one least expects it.”

“Are you talking about Mr. Dennison?”

“I don‟t know, Gabriella.” Again Florence‟s eyes took on a far off look. “I rather hope so.” Her gaze met Gabriella‟s. “But then, my dear girl, what would become of you?”

“Of me?” Gabriella laughed. “You needn‟t worry about me. I shall always have Xerxes and

Miriam.”

Regardless of her words, she couldn‟t help but wonder what indeed would become of her. With Enrico‟s death, any chance she had for the kind of life she‟d wanted to lead had vanished. And once the seal was found, she really had no more purpose to her life.

Would she spend the rest of her days poring over old books in the society‟s library, storing knowledge that she would never put to practical use? Would she grow old in this house, alone save for those who, while more family than servant, still had each other?

“Perhaps a husband,” Florence said under her breath.

Gabriella smiled. “I don‟t think I‟m suited for marriage.”

“We shall see. Regardless, you shall always have me,” Florence said firmly. “Unless of course your Mr. Harrington—”

“He‟s not my Mr. Harrington.” A firm note sounded in Gabriella‟s voice. “And he never can be.”

She ignored the persistent voice murmuring in the back of her head.

But oh, wouldn‟t she like him to be?

Eleven

They were plying her for information, that‟s what they were doing.

Nate gritted his teeth and resisted the urge to wring the neck of very nearly every member of his family. Oh, they were subtle enough, if one didn‟t know them. If one did, their intentions were obvious, and given the nature of their casual inquires, one might have thought they had a

coordinated plan of attack. They had attempted it before, but tonight, somehow, they seemed more determined. He ignored the inconvenient fact that only this afternoon he had employed a firm to do very much the same thing, to find out more about Gabriella Montini.

“And you have lived in London, then, for nine years now?” Sterling sipped his wine in an

offhand manner.

Gabriella nodded. “It was thought London would be best for my studies. Even though he was by birth Italian, Enrico preferred London, which was sensible given the Antiquities Society, the universities, and museums here.” She shrugged. “London had become home for him, as much as anyplace could.”

“London is the center of all things stolen,” Quint said with a wry smile. “We have been spiriting antiquities away from their countries of origin for generations.”

Sterling cast him a chastising look. “It has never bothered you before.”

“And it doesn‟t bother me now.” Quint lifted his glass to his brother. “In fact, I should drink most happily to the arrogance of those modern seats of civilization. And not just London, but Paris and Berlin and Vienna, as well as to all the museums and institutions and private collectors who believe the ancient treasures of any country are better off in our care than in their place of origin. And as they are all willing to pay nicely to acquire more, my dear sanctimonious brother, it doesn‟t bother me in the least.”

“That is a discussion for another time.” His mother‟s firm gaze slipped from Quinton to Sterling and then to Nate, no doubt simply for good measure, as he had yet to join in. “I do not wish to open that particular kettle of fish tonight.”

It was a ongoing debate within the Harrington household, as well as among scholars and, God help them all, politicians, and it was certainly not new. The continuing question as to whether the treasures of antiquity should be saved by foreigners spiriting away artifacts to institutions far from their point of origin or whether such activity constituted theft of a nation‟s heritage had been a topic in this house for as long as Nate could remember.

Influenced by intellectual scholarly articles or something as simple as a conversation on a train, current members of the family switched sides of the debate nearly as often as it lifted its head.

All except Reggie, of course, who thought it was dreadfully boring and couldn‟t they talk about something else for a change? Mother had often said the ease with which they all changed their

minds and the passion with which they then pursued their new positions had nothing to do with the issue itself, but with their love of a good argument.

Better to argue about something they could do little about, Nate thought, rather than Sterling‟s continuing failure to find a new wife, or Quint‟s disregard for anything that smacked of proper behavior, or his own…well, whichever flaw of his was uppermost in the others‟ minds at the moment.

Mother turned to Gabriella. “This particular discussion has been raging in this household for generations.”

“A philosophical matter of debate.” Regina rolled her gaze toward the ceiling. “That‟s what they call it.”

Mother cast her a chastising look, then continued. “My late husband, Charles, said even in his own childhood the question of Britain‟s possession of the Elgin marbles had been a subject of heated debate around this very table.”

“Said discussion no doubt prompted by our great-grandparents‟ search for lost gold in Egypt.”

Nate leaned toward Gabriella. “As we understand it, it was quite an adventure, with kidnappings and murderous suitors and that sort of thing.”

“It sounds most exciting,” she murmured.

Nate wasn‟t sure if she was bored by his family‟s less than perfectly proper demeanor at the dinner table or overwhelmed. It would not have surprised him. Aside from her brothers, she was apparently alone in the world.

“Regardless,” Quint continued, returning to the topic at hand, “one would think if countries were truly concerned about the loss of their artifacts, they would make it more difficult to spirit them across borders. Hire civil servants perhaps who did not see bribery as an expected portion of their incomes.”

Mother winced. “That is a problem.”

“It‟s simply the way things work in much of the world,” Nate said. “A necessary evil, if you will.”

Gabriella choked back what sounded like a gasp but was probably just a cough.

“But rest assured, Mother,” Quint said. “Nate is keeping me within the confines of legality as well as upright behavior.”

“And I am most grateful to him,” she replied. “It eases my mind to know that your brother is watching you.”

Nate scoffed. “I scarcely watch him, Mother.”

“Watch over him then,” she continued. “I know Quinton is the older brother and should be the one watching over you—”

Quint cast her his most unrepentant grin.

“—but his nature is not conducive to responsibility of that sort.”

Quinton laughed. “Or responsibility of any sort.”

She fixed her middle son with a firm look. “I am confident that will change someday.”

Reggie snorted in a most unladylike manner.

Mother sighed. “I had once thought my youngest sons would become scholars like their father.”

“Like Father?” Sterling smiled. “Father was scarcely more than an amateur scholar, Mother. And there was no one more delighted than he when Quinton first abandoned the path of scholarly pursuit to accompany Professor Ashworth on his journeys. And delighted too when Nathanial

joined him.”

“It was the adventure, you understand,” his mother said to Gabriella. “I suspect my husband always rather longed for adventure. It was different, you know, in the past. Charles grew up on stories of the Earls of Wyldewood and their exploits.” She glanced at Sterling in a speculative manner. “Today, the earl has little opportunity to chase smugglers or battle pirates or rescue fair maidens.”

“However, I keep myself busy,” Sterling said mildly.

His mother considered her two youngest sons. “At best, this is a questionable business you are engaged in. And, I suspect, often dangerous and certainly disreputable on occasion.”

“Can‟t be helped, Mother,” Nate said.

“It certainly has its moments.” Quint chuckled and turned toward Gabriella. “That‟s something your brother no doubt well understood, Miss Montini.”

Nate would have kicked him under the table if he could have reached. The last thing he wanted was a discussion of Enrico Montini.

“I beg your pardon?” she said.

“He understood that there was a fine line between a discovery and a theft. A lauded archeologist or a thief.” Quint shrugged. “Enrico Montini was certainly not above doing whatever was

necessary to acquire what he wanted. He understood that deceit, illegalities, ignoring moral standards, and so forth are often necessary to achieve the ultimate goal.”

“In that we all understand as much,” Nate said quickly, and cast his brother a warning glance,

“that‟s what he meant.”

“Yes.” Quint took a sip of his wine. “That‟s what I meant.”

“Has there been any word from your brother, Gabriella?” His mother turned to Gabriella,

thankfully changing the subject. “The one Nathanial met in Egypt. What was his name?”

“Antonio,” Gabriella said.

“Ah.” Mother nodded. “Named for your father then.”

“Yes and no, I have not heard from him. But he has never been good about that sort of thing.”

“Perhaps tomorrow we can talk about your mother.” Mother smiled. “And her family.”

“Lady Wyldewood, while I would like to know something of my mother, as I understand it, her family had no use for her, nor for me. Besides, I suspect we will be rather busy for the next few days.” Gabriella‟s tone was polite, but Nate had the distinct impression she wished to avoid that particular chat. “What with our plans and the ball.”

“I should have thought of that.” His mother looked at her youngest sons. “As you are in London this year, I shall expect you both to attend.”

“Wouldn‟t miss it,” Quint said under his breath.

“Come now, Quinton, it‟s quite exciting,” Sterling said in a wry manner. “Upward of six

hundred people all discussing the newly excavated ruins of somewhere or other. Most

enjoyable.”

“It‟s an obligation, Sterling, as you well know. As a board member and as benefactors of the society it is our duty to make an appearance,” Mother said firmly and directed her words to Gabriella. “My oldest son is not overly fond of events like this.”