Chapter20
A Conversation About a Brother
Earlier, in another hantour
By the time she was seated, Diana couldn’t see whether Tom had joined Helen in her hantour or not.
“What is it?”Randy asked, leaning forward in an attempt to discover the subject of her curiosity.
“Whois the more appropriate question,” she replied.
He removed his top hat and raked a hand over his sweat-dampened head.“All right.I’ll play along.Who?”
“Your brother.”
Randy stiffened.“What about him?”
“Is he in love with Lady Helen?”
The carriage suddenly jerked into motion, the Arabian following the line of other hantours as they headed south for the short trip past the Bent Pyramid.
“Not that I’m aware,” he answered carefully.“Whatever gave you that idea?”
Diana winced.“Has he ever made mention of Lady Helen?”
Randy shook his head.“Not directly.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
He sighed.“He doesn’t seem particularly happy about her being with a babe is all,” he commented.“Now that you bring it up, I do wonder if he wishes some of her attentions were on him instead of Master Bradley.”He paused before he asked, “Why did you ask?”
Moving closer on the bench so their thighs touched, Diana lowered her voice to a whisper, as if she feared the driver might overhear her.“Did you know Tom kissed Lady Helen at Morganfield’s ball?The night before you left London?”
Randy blinked twice.He straightened on the bench and directed his gaze straight ahead.The town of Dashur and the Nile beyond was already visible on the horizon.“Damnation,” he muttered.“He never said aword,” he added, turning to regard her with surprise.“The cur.He used to tell me everything.”
Diana gripped Randy’s hand in hers.“Have you formed an opinion of Lady Helen?”
He shrugged.“She seems a fine young lady.Good breeding?—”
“Even though she’s part Greek?”
He once again frowned.“Her grandmother was a duchess,” he commented, as if her ancestry didn’t matter.
“Is.She’s still alive,” Diana corrected him.
“Rather gorgeous, too, from what I remember, although I was just a boy when I last saw her,” he added, acknowledging her comment with a nod.“More than a decade ago.Westhaven was still alive, and they were at a garden party,” he explained, referring to Alexander, Duke of Westhaven.“Did you ever meet him?”
Diana nodded.“Of course.He and my father share the same avocation,” she reminded him.
The hantour halted suddenly, and Omar’s voice sounded from somewhere up ahead.“To your right, we have the Bent Pyramid.Built in twenty-five-sixty BC, its interior consists of two chambers.The burial chamber includes a sarcophagus, and there is a smaller chamber with three niches where statues once resided.”He appeared in their line of sight when he moved closer to the pyramid.“Much like what happened to other pyramids, the outer casing limestone was removed by treasure hunters.We go now to Dashur where your ship awaits,” he said.After a moment, the hantour once again jerked into motion as the driver touched the Arabian’s back with his crop.
“Well, as for Everly, he seems rather clever.He’s a member of the Royal Society,” Randy said, picking up their conversation where they had left off.
“And the son?Alexander?”she prompted.
“Have you everseenhim?”he countered.
She lifted a shoulder.“Once or twice.”
