Someone Irresistible (35 page)

“Professor Price,” she said again, gulping for air as she paced after him, clutching a scarf around her head with one hand, her skirts with the other. “Forgive me, sir,” she gasped, “for not catching you before you left. Standing in the rain is not the best place to converse, I realize, but I must speak with you.”

Nathan simply stared at her. This family was nothing, if not confounding.

He stood his ground without comment, on the sidewalk beneath a full budding tree, hands in his pockets, uncaring as sprinkling raindrops tapped his face.

Mary quickly walked up to him, ducking beneath the heavy branches.

“Nasty weather, isn’t it? I adore springtime, but it’s rained for a week now, and—”

“What can I do for you, Miss Marsh?” he cut in curtly.

She blinked. Then, realizing this was not a time for casual conversation, she drew herself up, still clinging to her scarf, and got directly to the point.

“I suppose my father explained to you what happened the night of the first Crystal Palace opening.”

He felt his body tense. “He did. In agonizing detail.” He hadn’t meant that to sound so sarcastic; frankly, he found it amazing that he could even talk to a Marsh right now. But she didn’t appear at all affronted by his tone.

Mary sighed, her shoulders drooping slightly as she glanced toward the busy street, her delicate features troubled. “I’m so very sorry all this has happened to you.”

Nathan had no idea what to say. She uttered common words he’d heard numerous times, but her voice held a note of sincerity that made him pause.

A large woman in heavy hoops bustled past them, and they both moved farther under the tree, near a wrought iron fence that paralleled the sidewalk.

“Did you come out here to offer condolences, Miss Marsh?” he asked pointedly.

She drew a long breath and shook her head, lowering her gaze to the wet ground, still clutching her scarf around her neck. “No. I—” She fidgeted. “Actually, I came to tell you I know how my sister feels about you.”

Nathan felt irritation bubble to the surface again. What was he supposed to say to that? Thank you? “I think at this point feelings are irrelevant. Let’s leave it at that, shall we?”

Her lips thinned to a straight line and her blue eyes sparked with displeasure of their own. “Don’t patronize me, Professor Price. I may be unmarried, but I am not naïve. I realize you and she have likely… been on friendly terms.”

“I see,” he replied after a moment’s hesitation, watching her fair cheeks pinken even as he felt his own heated response to the thought.

But she continued to stare at him with resolve, if not determination to get her point across.

“Are you planning on attending the new Palace opening in Sydenham?” she asked seconds later.

That she changed the subject so suddenly surprised him a little, but he didn’t comment on it.

“I’m not certain if I’ll even be available, or in the country four weeks from now,” he answered vaguely, shuffling from one foot to the other.

She shivered from the chill in the air, hugging herself even tighter.

“My sister loves you, Professor Price. I think it would be in your best interest to be there.”

That made him fiercely mad again, though he couldn’t be certain if it was because he’d grown tired of members of her family telling him what Mimi felt, or that she’d more or less ordered him to attend the opening.

But in the end, he realized, none of it mattered.

Standing rigidly, ignoring the buffeting rain on his skin and the biting wind whipping around his legs, he countered, “If your sister loved me, Miss Marsh, she would have told me what she’d done months ago.”

Mary’s eyes flashed hotly. “Perhaps she wants to know you love her, Professor, in spite of the fact that she didn’t.”

That said, she abruptly turned and made a quick departure, leaving him to stare after her as he stood in the driving downpour that he no longer noticed at all.

« ^ »

N
athan wasn’t entirely prepared for the onslaught of emotions, both painful and tender, that went through him the moment he stepped from his hired hansom cab and onto solid ground on Sydenham Hill in South London.

The newly built and soon to be officially opened Crystal Palace stood before him, a magnificent structure of glass and iron glittering in bright sunlight. The marvelous surrounding grounds of sculptured hedges, statues, and numerous water fountains fairly burst with activity as finely clad patrons awaited its dedication by Queen Victoria later in the day. This Palace would be much like the first temporary one, though already touted as having even greater exhibits to be viewed by those world-wide. It would display art and architecture from ancient Egypt, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance, examples of modern industry and the natural world, including, of course, life-size restorations of extinct animals, of which his Megalosaurus jawbone would be a stunning part. A substantial crowd had gathered already, mingling outside in the warm, sunny morning, curious onlookers and writers for society pages and journals alike, and even now he could hear a symphony of music coming from the Palace’s huge, arched Center Transept.

The party had begun.

Controlling the nervousness within him, Nathan inhaled deeply, stood erect, and walked with a controlled agility down the foot path toward the great front doors.

He hadn’t fully decided he would attend the magnificent celebration until just a few short days ago, when he realized the notion of what Mary had intimated on the rain drenched street intrigued him more than his desire to remain distant from Sir Harold’s lovely, infuriating daughter, and what she’d done to his life that had changed it irrevocably.

He’d thought about her constantly these last few weeks, or at least it seemed so to him. It had been difficult to work, to concentrate on the marvelous opportunity offered him by Professor Owen and his contemporaries, because somewhere deep inside his relationship with Mimi did not feel finished. But above it all, beyond every emotion he didn’t understand within himself, he didn’t want to be distant from her any longer. Or at least, he didn’t think so. He would have to see her one last time to know for sure. It would be the moment for a real good-bye, or the shaky beginning of a future together.

He wanted her—body and soul and mind—and forgiving her for what she’d done to him would be the most difficult part to come. He only hoped he would be able to do so, that when he laid eyes on her again after all these weeks, years of resentment would wash away. Yet he didn’t know if a cleansing like that was possible, which is what saddened him most of all.

Nathan didn’t see anyone he knew as he neared the building’s wide open doors, and for that he was thankful. And relieved. He didn’t need the distraction of casual conversation about the weather and his health.

No doubt Sir Richard Owen, Waterhouse Hawkins, Sir Harold, and Mimi would all be at the grand opening of the official Dinosauria exhibit, and he intended to make his way to it without delay, lest he change his mind and leave England to return to his simple life on the Continent post haste. Somehow sleeping on the ground and digging for scattered bones in France seemed more appealing at the moment, or at least his easiest option for avoidance.

Upon entrance into the massive structure, he first noticed the smothering heat, the echo of laughter, the music and rumbling voices, and the smell of people, plants, and cigar smoke mixed with vinegared glass, which combined to assault his senses and turn his stomach. He ignored the unpleasantness as he strolled with purpose down the great hall, now filling with elegantly dressed gentlemen and ladies, whose wide, brightly colored skirts vied for room on the cluttered, decorated floor.

At last it came into view—or rather, the magnificent Iguanodon, inside which he’d shared one of the most memorable evenings of his adult life, stood tall in the background, towering over the crowd.

Nathan hesitated for only the briefest moment as he realized this could very well be the most important day in recent memory. The day he hoped he’d be accepted as a renowned scientist by all in attendance. The day he would look his betrayer in the eye and tell her he loved her. Yes, even in spite of all she’d done.

Pushing his way into the actual dinosaur exhibit in the furthermost corner of the enormous building, he heard the distinct voice of Sir Richard Owen as the man spoke to the crowd on behalf of all England’s finest paleontologists and anatomists, dedicating the magnificent work on display in this section of the Palace to Her Majesty’s exhibition and all the world.

Then at last, as Nathan tunneled through guests applauding Owen’s broad pronouncements, his gaze fell upon the gathering host of scientists, distinguished statesmen and their wives, Waterhouse Hawkins, Owen, Sir Harold, and the lusciously stunning Mimi Sinclair.

Nathan stopped short to stare, his chest tightening, throat constricting, as he looked upon what had to be the most incredible sight he’d ever witnessed.

She looked like radiant sunshine, more intensely beautiful than he’d ever seen her, her glossy dark blond hair curled and pinned loosely atop her head, secured with a pearl comb to match a small chain of them around her neck, wrist, and the teardrops hanging from her ears. She wore a full day gown in luminous yellow, corseted tightly, with royal blue flounces and a scooped neckline revealing only a hint of bosom.

Smiling up to her father and Owen, she looked positively breathtaking, and… free. For the first time, free. That was the greatest, most spectacular change of all. No more black and gray. No more severe braiding of her hair. No more confining herself within the walls of her home. Mimi had officially come out of mourning.

It melted him to see her like this, as he’d seen her as a woman for the first time three years ago at the original Crystal Palace gala. Now she shined again, more mature, certainly, and possessing a confidence of character he’d not witnessed in her before. She had yet to observe him among the hordes of people crowding the display, and he held his ground, waiting for the perfect moment to go to her, to whisper in her ear, to make up for the months he’d missed her with an ache he would never forget, never wanted to experience again.

And then she turned and stepped aside so that all in the vicinity could see behind her.

Nathan stilled as a wisp of incredulity swept through him.

The great Megalosaurus, made from little more than steel rods, brown paint, and chiseled cement, stood before them, about six feet tall, hunched over like a bear in a four-legged crawl, its tail hanging low and thick, its long snout sticking straight out and snarling. It was his dinosaur, in flawless form, though likely reconstructed from meager evidence, indeed—some ribs, a toe bone, the hips and thigh bone, and of course, his jawbone—its large body in a line of perfect proportion, the now infamous teeth jutting out from its mouth as it stalked its prey.

Then his gaze shifted to the side as Marsh moved back from the sculpture a little for viewers to note the likeness. And suddenly before him, on a pedestal of bright red velvet, inside a clear glass case, sat his magnificent fossilized Megalosaurus jawbone.

He sucked in his breath.

It was here. His jawbone was here. Six feet from him. All of it, in one perfect piece, alongside her brilliant sculpture. Mimi had sculpted the whole bloody thing, and had brought her artwork, and the fossil, to the

Crystal Palace for him. She had done all this for him.

Nathan had never felt a moment like this in his turbulent career.

Time stalled around him suddenly as he gaped in wonder at his lost treasure next to a perfectly magnificent creation, made from gifted hands, that stood in the Crystal Palace for the nation, if not the world, to see and admire in the years to come. That’s why she’d wanted his jawbone returned to her. The swell of emotion inside of him now nearly incapacitated him and brought him to his knees.

“Professor Price, so glad you’ve joined us at last,” Owen announced from across the floor, lifting his champagne glass.

Nathan shook himself as reality struck, his senses returning enough to urge him to straighten with self-possession and move forward, even on awkward legs, spellbound by the vision as Mimi turned to gaze at him for the first time.

Her eyes widened in surprise, just a shade, and then she smiled hesitantly, unsure.

His heart nearly shattered.

Mimi. Do you know how beautiful you are?

It took every ounce of strength he possessed to direct his attention to Owen as he approached the group of mingling scientists and spectators.

“Sir Richard, thank you for that warm welcome,” he said, with far more calm than he felt.

A low murmur of voices began to rumble through the crowd, some no doubt remembering his showing of three years ago, perhaps embarrassed, mystified at his attendance.

Nathan remained dauntless. “Good day, Benjamin,” he added in greeting to Waterhouse Hawkins, then boldly, “Sir Harold.”

“Price,” the older man replied with a casual nod. “A pleasure to see you here.” He turned to Mimi. “You remember my daughter, Mrs.

Sinclair.”

He wanted to laugh at such absurd formality. Instead, with an instantly pounding heart, he bowed gently, hands behind his back, carefully probing her eyes with his. “Mrs. Sinclair,” he drawled, scanning her briefly up and down. “You look… well.”

She pressed her lips together, in what Nathan assumed to be amusement, or perhaps in a simple manner of holding her tongue from a biting comment. He hoped it was the former.

Reaching out with her hand, she returned politely, “As do you, Professor Price.”

He took her warm, supple fingers in his palm, brushing her knuckles

against his mouth, then reluctantly, for the sake of propriety, releasing them before he managed to disgrace both of them by sucking on the tips or licking her palm.

“Well,” Owen directed to the entire group, “now is as good of a time as any for my partner and me to make our formal announcement.” He cleared his throat and shot a quick glance toward Waterhouse Hawkins.