His brow furrowed into lines deep enough to plant oats. “You know as well as I do where these relics belong.”
“Of course I do, Father.” She pulled out some fresh squares of cotton and began wrapping the game pieces. It was either that or flail her hands in the air. “But don’t be too hard on Mr. Price. He has good reason to sell to the highest bidder.”
“There can be no good reason.”
“Normally I’d agree with you, but in this instance, I’m afraid I must side with Mr. Price.”
Her father planted his fist on the tabletop, knocking his brush to the floor. “I taught you better than that.”
True. He had. But after all Edmund’s talk about Sanjay, she couldn’t bear the thought of his family plummeting into poverty, starvation, and ultimately death. She shook her head.“It’s not my place to share Mr. Price’s business, but trust me, there is a lot at stake if his cargo doesn’t bring in a fair amount of money.”
Her father snorted. “I never thought I’d see the day when you were more enamored with a man than with artifacts.”
She’d never thought so either, and yet here it was. Heart sold to a businessman of all things.
But that wasn’t the point.
She wrapped the last game piece, then shifted in her chair to meet her father’s gaze squarely. “It’s not a matter of being enamored. It’s about understanding the complexities of life and the hard choices we sometimes have to make. As much as I love history and these relics, I do believe that current life and relationships must be given priority. There has to be a balance between preserving the past while existing in the present, else are we truly living? Somehow, Father—and don’t ask me to explain this—but sometimes I feel my purpose is evolving and the relics are only a part of a much larger story. I just don’t know what that story is yet.”
Or if it involved a certain blue-eyed man.
His lips parted, several times, as if words would not come out.
Well. That was new. The great Professor Dalton at a loss for what to say? And was that, perhaps, a glimmer of admiration sparking in those hazel eyes of his?
He leaned back in his chair, a slight shake to his head. “Have you been studying philosophy in your spare time?”
“I hardly have time for such trifles.” She grinned.
“Speaking of time, how did you manage to talk Miss Grimbel into letting you take off so many days?”
“Oh. That.” She cleared her throat, stalling. She’d supposed the topic would come up sooner or later, but she’d dearly hoped for later ... as in never. “I, em, I’m not currently employed by her anymore.”
“Oh, Amisi.” A sigh deflated him. “I am running out of schools to recommend you to. First there was the live scarab fiasco at St. Winifred’s Academy.”
“That’s not fair,” she shot back. “How was I to know there was a hole in the box?”
“Then there was your Cleopatra Day in which henna and kohl stained half the school’s uniforms at Rosewood Hall.”
“I never should have trusted those girls. Delinquents. Every last one of them.”
“And Ivybrook Institute, that was just...” He shook his head, disgust pinching his lips.
“You have to admit that an archaeological dig in the school garden was a clever way to give the girls a hands-on experience.”
“The gardener was not amused, as I recall. Nor was the gas company when you nicked a pipe.”
“It was only a small explosion. No one got hurt.”
He plowed his hands through his hair, fluffing the wild ends into complete chaos. “I suppose that is water under the bridge at this point. Tell me what happened at Miss Grimbel’s.”
“All I did was bring in a mummified cat. For all the hubbub, you’d have thought I’d brought in a fresh corpse from a body snatcher. She dismissed me shortly after you left for your dig, and I didn’t want to ruin your trip with such news. I intended to tell you when you returned.”
“So if you haven’t been teaching, what have you been—no.” His eyes suddenly narrowed. “You’ve been restocking the Ashmolean with new items, haven’t you? I told you before I left there was to be no more shadow brokering!”
His voice bounced off the workroom walls.
Oh dear. This was going about as well as her meeting with Brudge last night. She stifled a cringe. “I know, Father, but I also know that had you been here, you would have wished for the relics Mr. Dandrae had come by to go to the museum.”
