Marrying Winterborne (The Ravenels #2) - Lisa Kleypas Page 0,92
Winterborne before the day is out.”
“I won’t refuse,” Helen said, thinking grimly that she would tell Rhys the truth at a time she chose, on her own terms.
“I’ll send word for him to meet us on neutral territory. It won’t do to have him call at Ravenel House again.”
Helen thought for a moment. “The British Museum,” she suggested. “The twins have been asking to see the Zoological Galleries. He and I could exchange a few words there without anyone noticing.”
“Yes, I think that would do. What should I suggest as a meeting-place?”
Helen paused in the act of lifting the glass to her lips. “The poisonous serpents exhibit,” she said, and took another sip.
Lady Berwick smiled slightly, and then looked grim. “I already know the way Vance will present the situation to you, as I am all too familiar with the way his mind works. He won’t like the word blackmail; he’ll frame it as something like an annual tax, in return for allowing you to find happiness with Mr. Winterborne.”
“There’s no such thing as a tax on happiness,” Helen said, rubbing her forehead.
The countess regarded her with rueful sympathy. “My poor girl . . . it certainly can’t be had for free.”
Chapter 24
“HELEN, ARE YOU CERTAIN there’s nothing wrong?” Cassandra asked, after they had descended from the family carriage. “You’ve been so quiet, and your eyes are glazed.”
“My head aches a little, that’s all.”
“Oh I’m sorry. Should we go to the museum another day?”
“No, I won’t feel any better for being at home. Perhaps some walking will set me to rights.”
They linked arms and proceeded together, while far ahead of them, Pandora hurried toward the imposing stone portico of the British Museum.
Lady Berwick puffed impatiently as she hastened after the girl. “Pandora, do not gallop like a chaise-horse!”
The British Museum, a Grecian-styled quadrangle with a two-acre courtyard, was so large that despite a half-dozen visits in the past, they still had seen only a third of its exhibits. Last night, when Lady Berwick had casually suggested a jaunt to the museum, the twins had been overjoyed. Helen, knowing the real reason for the visit, had been far more subdued.
After purchasing tickets and collecting printed maps in the Hall, the group proceeded toward the principal staircase that led to the upper floors. A trio of towering giraffes had been artfully arranged at the top of the staircase, at the entrance of the Zoological Galleries. The front legs of the largest animal were even taller than Lady Berwick. A little wooden railing had been erected in front of the giraffes to keep the public at bay.
The women paused to regard the taxidermied creatures with awe.
Predictably, Pandora went forward with her hand outstretched.
“Pandora,” Lady Berwick snapped, “if you molest the exhibits, we will not be returning to the museum.”
Turning, Pandora gave her a pleading glance. “A giraffe is right there—it once roamed the African savannah—don’t you want to know how it feels?”
“Indeed not.”
“There’s no sign that says we can’t.”
“The railing implies it.”
“But the giraffe is so close,” Pandora said woefully. “If you would look the other way for five seconds, I could reach out and touch it so easily . . . and then I wouldn’t have to wonder anymore.”
Sighing and scowling, Lady Berwick glanced at their surroundings to make certain they were unobserved. “Be quick about it,” she said tersely.
Pandora darted forward, reached over the railing to feel the creature’s limb and furrowed knee, and scurried back to the group. “It’s like a horse’s coat,” she reported with satisfaction. “The hairs are no longer than a half-inch. Cassandra, do you want to feel it?”
“No, thank you.”
Pandora took her twin’s hand. “Come on, then—shall we go to the hoofed beasts, or the ones with claws?”
“Claws.”
Lady Berwick began to follow the girls, but she paused to take another glance at the giraffe. In a few hasty strides, she went to the exhibit, furtively touched its leg, and glanced guiltily at Helen.
Biting back a smile, Helen looked down at her map, pretending not to have seen.
After the countess joined the twins in the southern gallery, Helen headed to the northern one, consisting of five vast rooms filled with exhibits contained in enormous glass cases. Finding the second room, she walked past displays of reptiles. She paused at the sight of a lizard with a large frill around its neck, which reminded her of Queen Elizabeth’s ruff. According to the placard beside it, the lizard could expand the frill to make itself look threatening.