“Ah, so you haven’t yet started your harem,” Gabe guessed.
Ertugrul shook his head. “Bennett-Jones and I have been overseeing some building projects that are finally finished, so we came for the Season.”
Gabe held up a finger before he approached a man who was standing next to a set of double-doors. After a moment, he returned at the same moment the guard opened one of the doors. “I must return to my office,” Gabe said, “but you can stay in there until the museum closes.”
Adeline and Ertugrul said their farewells and moved into the hall, both looking to their left. “Oh,” Ertugrul murmured in awe.
“Where would you like to start?” Adeline asked as a grin split her face.
He glanced about and then looked up. “It appears we’ll have daylight for a few more hours,” he said.
“It will close before it gets dark,” Adeline replied. “But we can always come back another day. We can start at this end and work our way to the end on this side of the hall,” she suggested. “Then move to the other side and continue.”
“Challenge accepted,” Ertugrul said with a grin.
Unlike the rest of the museum, they had this wing all to themselves. After a few minutes of perusing the exhibits, an awareness crept over Adeline. She was alone with a young man only two years older than she. Alone in a hall large enough to accommodate two or three townhouses. Despite the sheer size, the situation felt as intimate as if they had been locked into a bedchamber together. Their occasional comments were kept to near whispers, which only magnified the effect.
“Even if I started now, I do not believe I could collect as many books and whatnot as your king amassed in his lifetime,” Ertugrul murmured as he studied a clock.
“If you did, do you have someplace where it could all be displayed?” Adeline asked as she stared at an array of colorful butterflies.
“I suppose I could arrange to have something built,” he replied on a chuckle. “Turn it into a museum.”
With only the sounds of his boot heels and her skirts swishing as they rounded row after row of display cabinets, the two worked their way to the other end of the hall, marveling at the splendor of the exhibits.
“We should go,” Ertugrul said suddenly.
Adeline looked up from a display of small pistols. “What’s wrong?”
“There is a ball tonight?” he reminded her as he held up his pocket watch.
“Oh!” Adeline replied, immediately directing him to the nearest doors. “Thank you for noticing. Mother will wonder what’s become of us.”
The two left only a moment before a guard approached informing them the museum would be closing in a few minutes. Finding the Bostwick town coach among those lined up along Great Russell Street proved easy—it was the only one bearing a gold crest on the door.
A few minutes later, and they were safely ensconced inside as the driver did his best to return them to Bostwick House before six o’clock.
