Daughter of the God-King(85)
“I will tell you that I look forward to spending the day with you tomorrow,” he responded, turning the subject with a half smile as he drank his wine.
“I’m afraid Robbie is to accompany us,” she cautioned—it was nothing more than he deserved, maddening man.
“Is he?”
If she expected a show of disapproval she was to be disappointed. “I told Mr. Drummond of our plans about going to the worker’s village on the morrow—it seemed the least I could do—and Robbie offered to come.”
Something in her voice caught his attention, and he set down his glass and said gently, “Hattie, if you wish to tell them anything—anything at all—I will not prevent you. I only ask that you give me warning.”
Nodding, she added, “You see—I have decided I am English, after all.”
“It is a fine thing, to be English,” he agreed, his gaze back on his glass. “I have known many brave Englishmen.”
Deciding she’d rather speak of lighter subjects, she teased, “Speaking of which, Mr. Smithson spent the day with Bing.”
“That is rare courage, indeed.”
“That is not what I meant—I think perhaps you had the right of it.” It was on the tip of her tongue to suggest her companion and the vicar might make a match of it, but she decided not to raise such a sensitive subject—he had not reintroduced the topic of their mutual future and she wished to give him more time to be reconciled to the hard truth before it was raised again.
His long fingers played on the stem of his glass. “Will you wear your yellow dress tomorrow?”
Disproportionably pleased by the question, she smiled. “I will if you would like.”
“Yes, I would like.” His unreadable gaze rested upon her.
She shook her head at him with a small smile. “You are in a strange mood tonight, my friend.”
He continued to finger his glass, a gleam in his eye. “I visited the tomb today.”
Staring at him wide-eyed, she breathed, “Did you find it?”
Amused, he chided, “Come now, Hattie—in the daytime? But I did note there are three stars in the corner of the chamber’s ceiling.”
With an effort, she attempted to control her excitement. “Where?”
Taking a quick glance around, he sketched with a finger on the table, using a candle holder as a reference. “Here is the sarcophagus; here is the entrance; here are the stars.”
Frowning, Hattie thought about it. “Then the chamber is in this direction.” She laid a finger on the tablecloth. “We need only the exact measurements from Bing.”
“Very good,” he said, impressed. “You have a good mind for maps.”
“It is like chess.” She glanced up to catch a speculative look in his eye, quickly extinguished. Oh, she thought, a bit stricken—an inherited trait, apparently.
The light mood vanished and she could feel herself blush as he smoothly continued, “It is only a matter of finding the appropriate time to unearth the chamber.”
Entertaining an unthinkable thought, she cautioned, “I will accompany you, you know; do not even consider leaving me behind—not after all this.”
“Hattie.” He leaned forward. “Be reasonable.”
“I am past being reasonable,” she retorted. “It would be horrendously unfair.”
“I will think on it,” he temporized, in the tone of a parent who has no intention of giving in to the importunings of a child.
Before the argument became heated, they were interrupted by Robbie, who pulled up a chair beside Hattie and signaled to a servant to bring him something to eat. “Robbie,” asked Hattie in a pointed tone, “do you remember when we had to crawl down the abandoned tin mine at the Tor?”
“Couldn’t forget—we were filthy.” He turned to Berry to explain. “One of my sisters fell in.”
Hattie pressed her old playmate. “Was I afraid? Did I falter?”
“Pluck to the backbone,” Robbie pronounced, picking up her wine glass and drinking from it. “Why?”
She crossed her arms, annoyed. “Just to show I don’t scare easily.”
He considered. “Unless you’re closed in somewhere—that scares you.”
“That is neither here nor there,” she said hastily.
Berry brought the discussion back to the matter at hand. “I understand you will accompany us to the worker’s village tomorrow, Monsieur Tremaine.”
“Yes—I thought to support Hattie.” The two men exchanged a look by which she was given to understand any information discovered would not necessarily be good news. It didn’t matter; she wanted only to resolve all mysteries so that she could leave this place and move forward into her future, wherever it was. And prevent another war, for good measure.