‘This...this is marvellous!’
‘I didn’t have room for them all, as you can see, but I could not bear not having them on display. A fine compromise, don’t you think, Lady Edward?’
‘A brilliant compromise. Oh, look at this one of the Parthenon...’
‘Ah, if you like that, then you will appreciate the one of Meteora by the same artist...’
Sam utterly forgot her discomfort as Mr Soane shared his treasures with her. When he was called away by another guest she remained in the room, happily imagining one of her sketches, perhaps of the Citadel of Cairo or the temples of Karnak, gracing these walls.
‘It is spectacular, isn’t it?’
Sam turned at the voice. A pretty young woman in a pale lavender gown, her unfashionably short hair dressed even more simply than Sam’s, stood in the doorway. ‘You are Lady Edward Edgerton, are you not?’
Sam’s nerves danced back into attendance and she wished Edge had come with her after all.
‘Yes. I’m afraid you have the advantage of me, Miss...?’
‘Miss Osbourne.’
Sam also wished she possessed Edge’s ability to keep his face an utter blank. She could feel her features vainly struggle not to reflect anything of what she was feeling. It was hopeless. The woman’s intelligent hazel eyes were fixed on her and she gave a little nod that Sam felt did not bode well for Edge’s plans to extract information from her about Rafe.
‘Are you here because of me?’
‘I beg your pardon?’
She sighed. ‘I knew the moment I saw Lord Edward that he must be closely related to Mr Grey. He did mention a brother and if that is the nature of their relation I conclude he did not see fit to share his true name with me. But that is hardly the point. If you are here by coincidence, I apologise, but if you are here on my account, pray tell him to stop interfering. I do not need to be watched like a newborn lamb. He has done enough already.’
Sam fingered the latch on the fantastical cupboard and counted out her breath, registering facts. The woman’s skin still had the warm colour of prolonged exposure to the sun and she looked to be Sam’s age or little older.
‘The Greybournes are a stubborn lot. They mean well, though,’ Sam said.
‘So I have noticed on both counts. Truly I am grateful for his help thus far, but there is nothing more to be done at this point. And if he is indeed that... Disappearing Duke everyone is gossiping about, clearly he has his own affairs to see to.’
A sour note entered her voice and her brows drew together and Sam gathered the soft-spoken Miss Osbourne had a temper. Good. Sam hoped Rafe had received a lashing from it. She very carefully stepped out on to the quivering ice.
‘I find that Edge... Lord Edward has a fixation with seeing things through. Perhaps his brother suffers from the same weakness?’
Miss Osbourne snorted indelicately.
‘That is putting it very mildly, but I made it clear to him I am not proceeding in my search. I am grateful for his help—I know I might not have succeeded in returning to England without him and I certainly would not have succeeded in convincing that unctuous Mr Pettifer to honour his debt to my father on my own. But I could have found a companion’s position without his interference. Mrs Phillips might have agreed to employ me as a favour to Mr Soane, but she might very well yet decide to find someone who is not accosted on the streets at night by a giant with no manners and a dubious sense of humour. She almost saw him speak to me in the square the other day.’
Sam took another careful step.
‘Are you quite certain there is nothing more to be done?’
‘Since I believe my brother suffered the same fate as my father and I do not believe in the occult, then, yes, dead is dead.’
Miss Osbourne’s gaze fell from hers for the first time. She was fiddling with the cupboard’s other latch and she set it swinging, like a little golden pendulum.
‘Would you or your husband please try to impress upon him that there is nothing more to be done? Now Papa’s debts are settled, any further digging into my brother’s activities risks doing more harm than good. Now I had best return to Mrs Phillips before her argument with Mr Thorpe regarding the true nature of Medusa comes to blows.’
Sam searched for something, anything that might yet keep her, but it was Miss Osbourne who stopped at the doorway.
‘I do hope he keeps out of trouble. He was very kind and helped me, though I was nothing but trouble for him. I hope to repay the favour some day, though I cannot see how.’ She hesitated and rushed forward again. ‘I dare say you will think it forward of me to say so, but I do hope you and Lord Edward are working on another book. I cannot tell you the pleasure they gave me while... Never mind. Thank you for listening to me, Lady Edward.’