It was good to be with his sister. To be home, if only becauseshe was here. And that was a sentiment he’d rarely let himself savor.
“What ever are you doing here? I thought you were in Norfolk.”
“I woke up there this morning, but our patrons wanted me to join them in London for a couple of days.”
He’d never told Tess that his youngest sister was also a historian like she was, having made a study of lady pirates. Now he was looking forward to gifting her one of Allie’s books.
“Come sit. Tell me everything. How is the excavation progressing?”
Dom settled into one of the room’s delicate-looking damask-covered chairs and found it shockingly comfortable. He waited until Allie had taken the matching one opposite him.
“You’ll no doubt read it in the papers soon, but we’ve found something extraordinary.”
She immediately leaned forward, her eyes blooming wide. “Tell me,” she breathed with the same eagerness he and all his siblings had when it came to finding historical treasures.
“It’s a ship burial, Allie.”
“That’s marvelous.” She clapped a hand over her mouth. “Do you have any idea who it is? Have you found remains?”
“No, but we’ve found beautifully crafted metalwork that would likely only be reserved for the very wealthy or royalty.” He swallowed as thoughts of Tess rushed in. God, how could he miss her so desperately after only a few hours apart? “The historian who’s helping us on the dig...”Was helping, dammit.“She believes it may be King Redwald or one of his sons.”
“Oh, Dom...” She shot up from her chair and rushedto the bookshelf along the pastel-papered room’s back wall. Running her finger along one row, she finally stopped and plucked out a volume. “Bede the Venerable wrote about them, of course. Thank heavens for Bede. What would we do without him?” she said as she came back to her chair.
Dom chuckled at Allie’s references to an English monk who’d died over a thousand years ago as if he was a dear friend who’d done them all a grand favor.
“What were his sons’ names?” she queried as she flipped pages.
Dom heard Tess’s voice in his head. “Eorpwald and... Sigeberht, I believe. Tess would be able to tell you all about them, no doubt.”
Allie’s head snapped up. “Tess?”
“Tess Hawthorne.” Dom shifted in his seat. “She’s the historian I hired to assist in Eve’s absence. She’s lives in the village.” He couldn’t help a chuckle. “She’s beloved there in Wiggenstow, though she thinks they see her as a scandal. She’s wrong, of course. Beautiful, stubborn, wrongheaded woman.”
He realized all of a sudden that Allie had stopped sifting pages, stopped moving, held still and stared at him, slack jawed. “It’s finally happened.”
Dom narrowed his gaze at his baby sister. “What’s finally happened?”
“You’ve found her.” She bit her lip and then beamed. “The woman who makes you ramble. Who makes you look”—she pointed at him—“like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like you’re madly and wildly in love.”
“It’s terrifying.”
Allie put her book aside and leaned toward him again. “Tell me everything.”
He let out a belly-deep laugh at that. “Some things I’ll keep to myself.”
She blushed and fussed with the ribbon at the front of her gown. “Very well. But do tell me about her. Does she know you adore her? Does she feel the same? Have you proposed?”
“Slow down.” He held up a hand but couldn’t keep the smile from his face.
“Then at least tell me why it’s terrifying.”
“She’s determined to run away from it, I think. What’s between us.”
Allie’s expression immediately crumpled, and she slumped against the back of her chair. “So she doesn’t feel the same? Heavens, I never thought you’d meet a woman who could resist your charms.”
