Fenbridge leaned forward, resting his hands on his desk. “Explain,” he said, finally revealing a bit of interest in what the mound held.
Dominic fixed his gaze on Tess and arched one dark brow as if seeking her assent.
She nodded at him. If they could take anyone into their confidence, it was Fenbridge.
“This is likely a ship burial,” Dominic said with such a low voice that it sparked memories of the previous night, of him whispering in her ear, against her skin. A little shiver ran down Tess’s spine.
Dom was almost painfully aware of Tess now. In order to think clearly, he first had to stop focusing on her sweet floral scent, her nearness, the desire to touch her.
The news that Van Arsdale had descended on Wiggenstow with no forewarning set him on edge. He and Eve had patrons in the past who’d attempted to keep them under thumb and manage every aspect of their efforts. It always hampered their progress, and those were inevitably the least successful expeditions.
Though excavation was more a science than an art, the freedom to make decisions on the fly always improved theiroutcomes. Thus, a large part of Van Arsdale’s appeal had been his distance. Indeed, they had more correspondence with his men of business in New York and London than with the American steel magnate himself.
After staring at him a moment with a perplexed frown, Fenbridge glanced once at Tess and asked, “And what am I to make of that?”
“That it’s a unique find,” Tess put in. “It means we’ve most likely found the resting place of a nobleman. Perhaps even a king.”
Fenbridge’s eyes finally registered a bit of the excitement Dom had been feeling since they’d identified the ship’s rivets. Until that excitement had been overtaken, of course, by his time spent with Tess.
“Van Arsdale will be ridiculously pleased with that,” Fenbridge surmised.
Dom heard Tess make a little sound of distress, and she shot him a worried look. They hadn’t talked much about the dig for the last two days. They’d been too caught up in each other to focus on anything else.
“This find could be an extraordinary discovery, my lord. And the historical value of these artifacts,” she said, speaking a bit more loudly and forcefully, “may be so great that it would be a travesty to let them leave England.” She took a breath after that impassioned declaration.
Dom wasn’t at all surprised by her vehemence. She’d made her feelings clear before they’d sank a single trowel into the ground.
“So,” he said, locking eyes with first Fenbridge and then Tess, “what should we tell Van Arsdale now, before we know exactly what we’ll find?”
Fenbridge’s face slowly softened into a mischievous grin. “That seems a very good question indeed.”
“I’m going to make the same argument to him,” Tess told Dom, as if he might have forgotten her thoughts on the matter. “If it’s a significant hoard, some of what we find should remain in England.”
“I know,” he told her with a smile. “We can show him what we’ve found and tell him what it could mean.” The American hoped for the grandest treasure they could unearth, but they didn’t yet know what had already been plundered.
“Then let’s go and speak to him,” Tess said decidedly. Then she dug something out of the pocket of her skirt. A tiny box. Dom knew instantly what it contained. “Show him this if he needs proof of what we’ve accomplished.”
Dom took the box, as small as a ring box, and closed his fingers over it. “Are you coming, Fenbridge?”
The old man waved them off as if eager to be rid of them. “To be frank, I’ve had enough of the Americans to last me a good long while.”
Dom and Tess walked side by side, and he barely resisted reaching for her. She was all but vibrating with nervous energy.
“He’s gregarious and rather loud,” Dom told her by way of warning.
“That’s just how I imagined him.”
“Don’t let him rattle you.”
“I don’t rattle easily, Mr. Prince.” Her saucy expression heated his blood.
Dom wanted to stop her, brace her against the wall, and remind her how he could make her come apart in his arms.
Instead, he grinned and told her, “I’m well aware.”
A housemaid directed them to the dining room, thoughthe lively conversation emanating from the room served as a kind of beacon.
The first thing Dom noticed when they stepped inside was that the table was all but bursting with dishes, far too much for two people to consume. The second thing he noticed was that Van Arsdale’s heir was not a son but a daughter.
