“He’ll be our guide down into one of the larger caverns.”
“Down?” Her brow lifted. “Into the earth? Will we be able to walk upright?”
“Certainly.”
The glance she cut him held no small amount of skepticism.
Soon, they were exchanging greetings with their guide, Mr. Morris, who handed them each a small lantern in exchange for the agreed-upon ten shillings. Passage was usually one shilling per tourist, but Lucas had arranged for himself and Miss Tait to have the cavern to themselves, which came at a price. Half a guinea, to be exact.
For her part, Miss Tait stood back, head tipped to one side, regarding the dark, gaping mouth of the entry tunnel with a healthy amount of wariness.
“This mine here was known as Nestor’s,” said Mr. Morris as he ducked his head and led them through the entrance, his voice bouncing off rough stone to all sides, darkness enveloping them.
It wasn’t long before they were entirely dependent on the lanterns for light. With the dark came damp, too, moisture weeping down the walls of the narrow passage that was only wide enough to allow Lucas’s shoulders through and making the clay beneath their feet slick. Judging by Miss Tait’s careful steps, she’d noticed.
Mr. Morris continued, “But we don’t call it by that name no more. Great Rutland Cavern, it’s now known by. Or Royal Rutland, as nobs journey here from time to time, even foreign ones.”
“When did it open to tourists?” asked Miss Tait. Her leeriness, thankfully, was giving way to natural curiosity.
“Near about twenty years ago.”
“And how do you know the way so well?”
“Ah, that be an easy one. I were a miner here, weren’t I? In me youth. And I’ll tell you one thing for free. Showing the likes of you around is a sight easier on the old lungs.”
Of a sudden, the passage widened and opened into a massive, cavernous space. Rough and rugged, it held its own sort of hard beauty. “This room is Nestus Grotto, and if you sit right here”—Mr. Morris indicated a flat stretch of rock that could serve as a bench—“you’ll be able to see something.”
Before Miss Tait could take the proffered seat, Lucas held up a hand to stop her. She watched him quizzically while he removed a handkerchief from his interior coat pocket, shook it open, and spread the linen flat on the stone. “If you please,” he said with a flourish.
Miss Tait emitted one of her nervous, little laughs. It was clear to Lucas that she was rarely treated so—with gallantry. No one considered her, and his doing so flummoxed and possibly unsettled her. Still, she took a seat on the protective white square, and he sat beside her, his thigh just brushing hers, provoking a decidedlyungallant feeling within him.
“Now,” said Mr. Morris, “turn your lanterns down to a flicker, then look straight up.”
“What are we searching for?” asked Miss Tait, her head tipped back, gaze already scanning the high ceiling which appeared to be naught more than a deep black void.
“Give it a minute,” said Mr. Morris. “Your eyes will get there.”
An instant later, Miss Tait gasped. “Ah.”
Lucas tore his eyes away from the exposed length of her throat and followed her wide, amazed gaze up. Then he saw it, too. High above their heads, through pitch black, appeared tiny pinpoints of light, dozens of them—perhaps hundreds—like stars in the sky.
“Are my eyes deceiving me?” asked Miss Tait. “Where is the light coming from?”
Mr. Morris laughed. “The sun, of course.”
“How is that possible?”
“Well, there be holes in the rock, and on a bright day like the one we got today, the light shines through, don’t it. Some folks got a name for what you’re looking at. Call it the Devil’s face.”
Miss Tait shook her head. “It’s too marvelous to be the work of the Devil.”
“Now, if you’ll be excusing me, I’ll meet you outside.” Mr. Morris tipped his flat cap at Lucas and took himself off. Had the man winked?
Miss Tait didn’t notice. “How wondrous is this planet of ours.”
Low lantern light flickered golden against her skin, and Lucas hadn’t a care for any wonders of the earth, save the one before him—the unexpected, unforeseen wonder of this woman.
How lovely… how delicate she was.
