Apparently so. She approved the messages he sent both to the Cookes and her brother, then left him to his conversation with Oliver.
She ordered a late lunch because she had become unfortunately quite familiar with the room service menu. She accepted compliments on her last movie role from the room service girl on the other end of the phone, then hung up and looked at Derrick.
“They think I’m a famous actress.”
“So they do.”
“They think you’re my famous actress self’s equally famous boyfriend.”
“The burden of celebrity,” he said with a light sigh. “We do what we can, I suppose.”
She laughed a little in spite of herself, then looked at him and felt her smile fade. “Thank you for the adventure.”
“Hmmm,” he agreed. “Calling you names, chasing you all over the island, dragging you to places you didn’t want to go. Thrilling, no doubt.”
“It beats being stuck in a musty old museum.”
“Well, if you’re going to put it that way, then you’re welcome.”
She had the most unreasonable wish that it could go on a bit longer. She found herself rather more interested than she should have been in Derrick Cameron. She wondered what his favorite treasure had been, how in the world he had ever gotten involved in the whole antiquities business, how long he intended to keep up the craziness.
She was also tempted to tell him that out of all the colors she’d seen his eyes, she liked green the best.
But that was crazy. She had things to do, her life to get back to. Her trip to England, no matter how brief, had allowed her to test her wings. To her surprise, they were sturdier than she would have thought. But that testing was over for the moment. She would happily accompany Derrick up to York and deliver the lace, but then she was going to have to turn and look life squarely in the eye and get on with it.
She could only hope she might make something of it that would be worthy of a sketchbook.
Chapter 16
Derrick walked up the steps to the castle, wondering how many staff he would have to go through before he encountered the earl himself. At least he was coming in the front door this time instead of picking a lock on one of the side doors, disarming the alarm system, then breaking into Epworth’s inner sanctum. This was, he had to admit, much more pleasant.
He glanced at Samantha walking next to him and suppressed a smile. She definitely needed to get out more. He wasn’t sure she was going to be able to wipe the look of astonishment off her face anytime soon.
“Weren’t you here recently?” he asked politely.
“I was,” she managed, still gaping at the house in front of her. “Not that you’d know.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because it was Oliver who followed me.” She looked at him then. “I can’t imagine you own green shoes.”
He started to speak, then laughed a little. “You’re very observant.”
“Occupational hazard.” She looked up at the palatial country house in front of them. “And last time I didn’t get in the house. Just the gardens.”
“Well, if we have time, we’ll do both. I’m sure Lord Epworth will be so pleased, he’ll give us access to anything we want.”
She took a deep breath, then looked at him. He was slightly surprised to find she wasn’t so much gobsmacked as she was uneasy.
“What is it?” he asked.
“Are you sure he won’t throw me in jail?”
“You are directly responsible for rescuing his lace from under a planter,” Derrick said easily. “We’ll just spare him the details of where that planter was or how the lace got under it in the first place. You’re safe.”
She looked up at him. “You don’t really believe in time travel, do you?”
He smiled and paused in front of the door. “We’re here. Let’s see if they let us in.”
“I think it was all just a big delusion,” she said. “Maybe those mushrooms were giving off hallucinatory vapors we didn’t notice.”
“Believe that, if it makes you feel better,” he said cheerfully, then lifted his hand to knock. Before he could, the door was opened and Lord Epworth’s social secretary stood there.
“Oh, Mr. Cameron,” he said, looking as nervous as if he fully expected the axe to fall on his neck at any moment. “I hope you have news. His Lordship is beside himself.”
“Not to worry, Mr. Stevens,” Derrick said. “I think we