The sun was still shining brightly and the air was dry when they met Adela’s friends by the Devonshire caves. They were near the sea, so Ambrose could hear the distant crash of waves against the rocky coast. “In which cave shall we dig first?”
Adela pointed to the central one that also happened to have the largest opening. “We must start here. It is the one with the most wall drawings and likely to be the one used by these ancient tribesmen as their communal dining hall.”
He noticed the ladies did not take their eyes off him as he rolled up his sleeves. They skittered into the cave after him and watched with grins on their faces as he began to dig where Adela instructed.
Their gawking was harmless.
Besides, Ambrose was used to being fawned over from an early age.
These ladies were more curious than predatory, unlike those in London’s elegant society who were out for blood and would not hesitate to ruin the reputation of anyone who got in their way. No, these amiable spinsters, Miss Appleby, Miss Lansing, and Miss Gootch, who appeared to range in age from mid-twenties to mid-thirties, were too awed by his rank and respectful of his marriage to Adela to make any untoward advances.
The men in their club, Mr. Hastings and Mr. Collins, were closer to forty years of age in his estimation, and were also awed by him.
Well, this is what came of being a duke.
At first, he thought to keep to formality and have them address him as Your Grace and do the same for Adela. But he quickly saw that wasn’t going to last. Adela and her friends giggled every time they referred to her by that title, so he relented somewhat and allowed them to call her Adela. As for him, he remained Your Grace, merely to remind them all who was in charge.
Once they returned to London, he would insist Adela be addressed by her title. She had to get used it and learn to wield her authority. Even though her Dartmouth friends appeared unaffected by her rank, the London elite certainly would take notice of it. She had to learn that most people would look upon her differently now that she was his duchess.
However, he resolved not to interfere with these old friendships, although he hoped an occasional word would put a little caution in Adela. Most of her companions would remain on good terms with her, but some might seek to take advantage because of her elevated status. Perhaps not in this group, for they were excited by old bones and not trappings of wealth.
In truth, he was surprised by how friendly and lacking in guile they all were.
It was altogether possible he was the one who had grown too cynical over time.
“Adela,” he said several hours later, resuming his digging after their merry group had enjoyed a picnic lunch in the nearby meadow, “I think I’ve struck something.”
She gasped and scurried over to him. “Is it a bone? Be careful. Stop digging. I’ll use the small spade to remove the dirt around it.”
The others also stopped their work and formed a circle around the hole he’d dug, which was the deepest. This was not surprising since he had more muscle to put into the task than the other men. Mr. Hastings and Mr. Collins were older gentlemen and scholars, neither of them used to performing physical work.
Ambrose now held the lantern over the hole while Adela carefully cleared dirt off the exposed part of the bone. But it was larger than imagined, so he and the men began to dig another hole beside it in order to reveal more of the bone. The ladies hovered at the edge with lanterns raised, the firelight casting a golden glow throughout the dank cave and seeming to bring the wall drawings to life.
Excitement sizzled through him, just as he knew it did with the others.
Adela’s eyes were wide and sparkling. When she was not grinning from ear to ear, her mouth was open in wonder, and he could hear her soft gasps as they dug deeper to expose more of this single bone.
Even his jaw gaped open as they began to understand just how enormous this discovery was. “Adela, this is no mere footnote,” he muttered. “You and your friends have uncovered what has to be the leg of an enormous creature no one has ever seen before. Some kind of giant lizard.”
“Or a dragon,” Miss Appleby remarked. “Just like those depicted on these cave walls. I knew they had to be real. Legends in myth often are. Besides, discovering the Devonshire Dragon sounds much better than discovering the Devonshire Lizard.”
Adela nodded enthusiastically. “Oh, yes! What a wonderful addition it will be to the Huntsford exhibits. Everyone will marvel as they enter the Hall of Dragons. What dreams the children will have after seeing such a display!”
“It is just one bone,” Ambrose reminded her.
“Oh, no,” she said, shaking her head. “We are about to find many more right here. This cave is our portal to an ancient world, an inspiration to all who have the ability to imagine impossible things and make them come true. This is the stuff of dreams, the discovery of life beyond our known existence. It is wonder and hope.”
“It is a miracle,” Mr. Collins said.
Ambrose conceded the point.
Adela and the members of her club were right. This discovery filled even him, a cynical duke, with an indescribable feeling of elation. It brought him back to his boyhood days and the excitement he and his brothers felt with every little find they made while exploring the grounds of their Huntsford estate with their father.
The Fellows in the Royal Society who had rudely dismissed Adela would now be green with envy. The Duke of Lotheil would not mince words when excoriating them for their failure to admit women into their membership. Of course, the Fellows would not be moved despite the enormity of this find. If anything, Adela’s accomplishments were likely to put them in greater fear of being outdone by a woman.
As for the British Museum, their curators had been more polite about ignoring Adela. He expected they would now clamor to purchase as many giant lizard bones as could be found. He and Adela would decide later whether any should be sold or all retained for the Huntsford collection.
Whatever happened, he would make certain Adela and her companions in their explorer’s club were properly acknowledged and rewarded for their find. This was perhaps the most important archeological discovery to date in England. Unearthing Roman ruins or shards of pottery left behind by the ancient Celtic tribes was one thing. Those were modern history compared to the truly ancient history this bone and the others to follow represented.
