Chapter 12 #2
A strange combination of anger and embarrassment began to spread through my chest at his words, and I turned away.
There was nothing more I could say to this man in front of my son.
But though I could not see Mr. Dorian, his presence was like a lodestone around my neck.
Heavy, stifling, and impossible to ignore.
I stared out the window, seeing nothing, while his words echoed in my head.
As the minutes ticked by, the coach seemed to become smaller and the air stuffier until I thought I would burst if I could not get out.
Then, all at once, the coach came to a stop.
“Here we are,” Mr. Dorian drawled, as if the last quarter hour had been nothing more than an amusing little diversion rather than a particular kind of torture.
“Mama, look!” Tommy gestured out the window.
I blinked. It felt as if I had just woken from a dream and noticed that we had arrived. I had forgotten how much the museum looked like a cathedral.
“Isn’t it marvelous?” Mr. Dorian said, as if he had read my thoughts. But he did not wait for my response and instead opened the door. Tommy practically leaped after him, and together they stood on the pavement waiting for me.
I forced a smile as I climbed out of the carriage. There was already a group of people out front waiting for the doors to open.
“Have you been here before?” Mr. Dorian asked as we ascended the steps that led to the grand entrance, where two towers flanked the arched doorway.
“Once. Not long after it first opened,” I said. “My brothers were a lot like Tommy as a boy. Jack, the MP, loved fossils, but Samuel was absolutely mad about all sorts of animals. Sea creatures in particular.”
I inadvertently smiled at the memory and Mr. Dorian returned it before his gaze followed Tommy racing just ahead of us. “What does he do now?”
“Samuel works for the Foreign Office. He joined at the same time as—as my husband. Only he was stationed at the embassy in Istanbul. But now he is in Bombay.”
I hoped Mr. Dorian hadn’t noticed my slight hesitation when speaking of Oliver. It remained something of a sore point between us, given the accusations he had made against my late husband.
Somewhere above our heads, a bell rang out the hour, and the doors to the museum were opened. We slowly moved through the entrance alongside the other visitors.
“Tommy,” I called out. “Stay with us, please.”
He reluctantly returned to my side, and together we made our way into the Great Hall.
I only had a vague memory of my last visit here of a cavernous space full of sunlight and oddities.
But as we entered the room, I saw that my memories were not so very far off.
The Great Hall was massive, with a ceiling that stretched towards the heavens and really did resemble a cathedral.
Only instead of an altar and religious relics, this was a monument to earthly creations.
A massive skeleton was displayed in the center, while glass cases containing all manner of flora and fauna surrounded it.
“There it is!” Tommy cried out, pointing to the skeleton. “Physeter macrocephalus!”
I cocked my head. “What?”
“It’s a sperm whale,” Tommy explained in a rush before he ran towards it.
“No running!” I called, after which he slowed down only marginally.
“So then,” Mr. Dorian continued as we trailed in Tommy’s wake. “You and Samuel have both lived abroad this whole time?”
His question caught me off guard. “Well, yes. We have. But that is not so uncommon,” I added, unable to keep the defensive note out of my voice.
“It isn’t,” he agreed. “I’m just surprised, is all. You seem to be very close with your sister.”
I shot him an incredulous look. “How could you possibly know that?” The man had seen us together for all of ten minutes, at most.
“I don’t,” he replied, meeting my eyes. “It was merely an assumption. Then I take it you’re not?”
I pointedly turned away and kept my gaze on the massive skeleton before us. I didn’t want to answer his question. Didn’t want to talk about myself with him at all. The man had seen me at my most vulnerable back on Corfu and then proceeded to suggest my husband had been both a liar and a traitor.
“I am close to a decade older than her and have been out of the country for even longer,” I said, by way of explanation.
He was silent for a moment as he considered this. “But you are here now. And determined to protect her.”
“Yes,” I agreed softly. “I am.”
“No matter the cost to yourself? Or your children?” He stopped short and turned his whole body towards me.
I stopped as well and let out a harsh sigh. “No, Mr. Dorian. I learned my lesson on that front quite thoroughly last time and am taking better care. You should be able to find comfort in that.”
He narrowed his eyes at my flippant remark. “I will not apologize for being concerned for your welfare.”
“Concern is not the same as control,” I shot back, and unfortunately, the words rang out in the large space.
A few heads turned in our direction, and I made sure to lower my voice when I spoke again: “You cannot truly expect me to just sit at home while my sister is in distress and simply hope the authorities do their job. Meanwhile, how many people have you interviewed?”
“That is not the issue—”
“No, that is the entire issue,” I hissed. “You don’t have any more confidence in the police than I do, or else you wouldn’t be making your own inquiries.”
“Mrs. Harper—”
“She is my sister,” I said, pressing a hand to my chest. “I know she is innocent. But I also know how this case must look to a man like your brother. And perhaps he really will conduct a thorough investigation, all in the name of justice. But I am not willing to bet her freedom—her life—on it. And I will not apologize for that.”
Then I turned on my heel and marched towards my son, who had reached the head of the great beast and was staring up at it like the marvel it was. I tamped down my anger as much as I could and focused my tattered attention on Tommy. “Wherever did they find this?”
He didn’t even tear his eyes away. “It washed ashore in Thurso, Scotland, in 1863,” he replied.
I raised an eyebrow. “I take it that was in the Baedeker as well?”
“No,” he said, finally looking at me. “I read about it in one of Aunt Agatha’s books.”
“Oh.” I could feel Mr. Dorian behind me, but I refused to look back at him.
“Was it the one about Sir Richard Owen?” he asked.
Tommy’s eyes lit up as he turned to him. “Yes! That’s it. He was a natural scientist, Mama, and it was his idea to open this museum. He even came up with the name for dinosaurs.”
“Fascinating,” I replied, though I was still distracted by my exchange with Mr. Dorian.
“I think I would like to be a natural scientist someday,” Tommy said quietly, his eyes on the skeleton once more. Well, that certainly got my full attention.
“An excellent idea,” Mr. Dorian said. “Lots of schooling ahead of you, though.”
Tommy nodded solemnly. “Do you remember our neighbor on Corfu? Mr. Papadopoulos?”
“I do,” Mr. Dorian said, and I could have sworn his shoulders stiffened at the mention of the man. He had never particularly taken to Mr. Papadopoulos, though I didn’t understand why.
“He said I should go to Cambridge if I want to be a scientist,” Tommy explained. “Because that is where Mr. Darwin went.”
“Did he now?” I said archly, for this was the first I had heard of this. Though my son had a seemingly insatiable interest in the animals and plants on Corfu, he had never discussed making a career out of it. And yet he had apparently come up with an entire educational plan with Mr. Papadopoulos.
Tommy frowned in thought. “But if I want to go to Cambridge, I would need to go to a school like Cleo is doing so she can go to Girton.” Then he turned to me. “Right, Mama?”
My heart vaulted to my throat, and I was unable to do more than a single short nod in response.
“Why don’t we move on?” Mr. Dorian stepped in. “I believe there is a mammoth skull around here somewhere.”
That immediately garnered Tommy’s attention, and he took Mr. Dorian’s offered hand. I followed a few steps behind them as my mind whirled.