Ariana couldn’t resist. “Are there no youngmaleflibbertigibbets, ma’am?”
“Enough of this,” Lady Cawle said, moving off losing ground. “The fact is that the credulous masses believe every bit of nonsense they see in print, so something should be done.”
She left it at that, moving on to the nonsense of some theater plays, but her comment might shift some wondering minds. No one here would want to be seen as part of the credulous masses.
Talk soon moved to education for the poor, with some supporting the idea and others suspicious of it. Kynaston was in favor and Ariana noted that his drinking was moderate. It was something that he was able to behave correctly in public, but a marriage would involve a great deal of privacy. She must remember that, especially when she was fighting a powerful physical attraction that made him the focus of her attention. She hastily looked away and said something to Lady Lieven.
The discussion was unusually meaty for a supper party, but this was a gathering of intelligent people who took a keen interest in public affairs, and Lady Cawle was managing it to suit her purpose. As the supper drew toward its end, she raised the subject of Mr. Peake’s collection.
“Lady Ariana and Kynaston gave such an interesting report of Peake’s curiosities that I thought of visiting his house myself, and especially his cellars, but I was informed that the steps down are steep and narrow.”
Eyes sharpened. Everyone knew another act of the play had begun.
Ariana took up her part. “That’s true, and it’s a shame,for he has intriguing items stored down there. There’s a replica Egyptian mural and I glimpsed a statue of Anubis. Unfortunately I couldn’t get close enough to inspect it. I might have begun moving chests and bundles except that there was a talk about to begin in the drawing room and Kynaston had already gone ahead upstairs.”
He gave a slightly indulgent smile in return. “Finding eventually that I hadn’t been followed. I didn’t realize how difficult it would be to drag Lady Ariana away from anything Egyptian.”
People chuckled.
“Egypt is so fascinating,” said the Duchess of Leeds. “I, too, would like to see these items. Are there any mummies?”
Ariana knew she should say yes, but Cleo should not be crudely exposed to curiosity. Yet she didn’t wish to outright lie.
“Mr. Peake has a great many non-Egyptian items,” she said, “having traveled extensively in the East. There are some quite terrifying masks. All these are in the main part of the house, of course, but I saw many unpacked boxes as well.”
“A treasure trove!” said Ffoulks.
“It is,” Ariana agreed. “I’m sure Mr. Peake will welcome appreciative visitors once he has his house in order. He’s not been there long.”
“He purchased the lease on my house a bit over a month ago,” Kynaston said. “That was why Peake asked me to take Lady Ariana down to see his Egyptian treasures. I knew the way.”
Another useful drip of information.
“Surprised you were there at all,” Leeds said, and Ariana wondered why he gave it such weight.
“Curiosity,” Kynaston replied lightly, but others aroundthe table were treating the matter as significant. Why? Then she realized. No matter what Lady Cawle claimed, everyone knew the lease had been sold to pay crushing debts.
Lady Liverpool turned the conversation. “Have you visited the British Museum, Lady Ariana?”
Ariana replied that she hadn’t, but intended to, and talk moved on to other interesting London locations. Ariana settled to confirming her interest in ancient civilizations. It would be useful in the scandal to be seen as a bluestocking with no interest beyond the academic, and it could be paving the path to the future. She was even more sure that if she couldn’t marry Kynaston, she could marry no one. She might as well be an eccentric bluestocking.
Later, when she returned home, she gave Ethel a cheerful account. “I believe we’ve seen the last of the nasty business.”
The next day proved her wrong.
Chapter 10
Ariana was enjoying her morning chocolate when her mother came into her bedroom with such an expression that Ariana asked, “What’s wrong? Not... not Norris!”
Had he plunged into a duel? With Churston? Beenkilled?
“No, no, but, oh dear, Ariana...”
Ariana scrambled out of bed. “What is it? What’s happened?”
Her mother had a crumpled piece of paper in her hand and she thrust it forward. “I should burn it. But you have to see.”
It was cheap, rough paper with a printed picture on it. Ariana smoothed it out, her heart already pounding with trepidation. When she could make out the picture, she gasped. “How?Why?”
