AN AFTERNOON AT THE MUSEUM
An hour later
As the Bostwick town coach pulled onto Great Russell Street, Ertugrul stared out the window. “Is this really still the largest building project in all of Europe?” he asked in awe.
“That’s what they claim,” Adeline replied. “I am quite sure it’s paltry compared to your recent projects, though,” she added. They had dropped off David at Jeffrey Garth’s shop New Bond Street a half-hour earlier and had been enjoying a conversation about the young men’s involvement in the building of the new palace in Constantinople and the empire’s only two universities.
Although she had developed a sense of David’s role from his occasional letters to their father, Adeline hadn’t realized the sheer scale of the projects Ertugrul had under his charge until that morning. She had a thought that if he had overseen the museum’s expansion, and had the workforce available to him that had built the newest Ottoman palace, the museum would have been finished long ago. “These additional wings have been under construction since the year after I was born,” she complained.
When Ertugrul’s expression indicated he was unaware of how long that might be, she said, “One-and-twenty years for me. The East Wing was completed about twelve years ago, but it took some time to move in all the artifacts from King George the Fourth’s library.”
“That’s the wing that may not be open to us?” he asked as they pulled up in front of Montague House. “It was completed when I was last here, but...” He shook his head. “It’s all so different with this new wing.”
“The West Wing,” she agreed. “It’s coming along nicely.”
He gasped, which had Adeline following his line of sight to see what had him alarmed. “Oh, they are preparing to demolish the original museum next year,” she explained. “To make way for a new building and a colonnaded portico that Mr. Smirke has designed. I’m told it will make the museum look as if it’s a Greek temple. I’m sure there is a drawing of the plans inside if you’re interested.”
He grinned. “Oh, I am interested,” he murmured.
The coach slowed as it crossed the pavers that filled what had become a courtyard and pulled up to the stairs at the front of the main entrance.
“Is there any illumination now?” Ertugrul asked before the coach door opened. “As I recall, it was rather dark inside.” He stepped out and turned to help Adeline. “The galleries were lit by whatever light came in through the windows.”
“There is no gas lighting, and still no candle chandeliers,” she replied. “They fear the damage that would be caused by a fire, you see, so it is good that we are blessed with a sunny day.”
A quick glance up showed clear skies, and the spring air had already begun to warm. “Lord Weatherstone will be pleased by this fair weather. I understand his gardens are not to be missed,” Ertugrul commented as they made their way to the entry.
Adeline wondered how the sultan’s son had learned about the Weatherstone gardens and decided David must have told him. Perhaps her brother had even made recommendations regarding the plantings at the new palace based on what he knew of Lord Weatherstone’s back gardens. “They are quite remarkable,” she agreed.
“Are they lit at night?”
She inhaled softly. “His lordship usually has Japanese lanterns strung out across part of them,” she replied. “But there are areas that remain unlit.”
When Ertugrul noticed how color suffused her face, he chuckled. “Purposely, it would seem?”
“For couples. Like my parents,” she murmured before glancing around. “Where would you like to start?”
He regarded her with an odd expression for a moment. “Oldest exhibits first? Work our way forward in time?”
“Egypt,” she stated with a grin. “I admit I am fascinated by the stories of ancient civilizations.”
They hurried off to the Egyptian Hall, and the two marveled at the ancient artifacts, including a sarcophagus, a large vase, and a marble sculpture of a sphinx. Standing before a statue of Cleopatra, Adeline attempted to match the queen’s expression and giggled when Ertugrul did the same next to a bust of Julius Caesar.
They both sobered in front of the marble of Alexander the Great. “It’s amazing he was able to accomplish so much, and he only lived to age thirty-three,” Adeline commented. “How old are you?” she asked, her gaze turning from the bust to study Ertugrul’s olive-skinned complexion.
“I was twenty-three on the first day of spring,” he replied.
Adeline blinked. “Is that all?” she asked in alarm.
He turned to regard her with a look of uncertainty. “You think I look older?”
Blinking again, she shook her head. “No. Forgive me. It’s not that,” she replied. “It’s all the things you’ve managed to accomplish,” she said in awe. “What you’ve been responsible for. At such a young age.”
“Which is probably why I feel old,” he said with a grin.
She gave him a wan smile as she readjusted her shawl. “I admit I was a bit surprised you would come to England for your holiday. Of all the countries in the world, why you would choose ours—”
“Sultana Charlotte might have had something to do with it,” he said, pausing at the entrance to the hall containing the Townley Collection. “My father is a changed man because of her.”
