Page 22

Two Young Ladies Converse

A n hour later

Helen was about to lift Bradley into the hantour she was sharing with Diana when her mother hurried over to take the boy into her arms. “He can ride with me, darling,” she said. “With all this fresh air he’s had today, I expect he’ll sleep most of the way to Dashur.”

Given the distance from the pyramids at Saqqara to those they would see near Dashur, Omar had said to expect the trip to take nearly an hour-and-a-half.

Helen watched as her father helped her mother into their hantour, the two disappearing from view behind the curtains that hung from the hood of the equipage.

The lightweight fabric did little to lessen the heat of midday, but it did help to keep out the red desert dust kicked up by the other hantours.

“You’re so good with him,” Diana remarked. “Might I ask, did his father not wish to come along on the trip?”

Helen blinked. “Bradley’s father?” she asked in confusion. “But... he did.” She suddenly scoffed but displayed a grin. “His father is my father. What I mean to say is, Bradley is my brother.”

It was Diana’s turn to blink. “Oh. Given his age and how he’s usually with you, I just assumed he was your son,” she replied. “Forgive me.”

“Oh, it’s all right,” Helen replied happily. “I rather like that I seem to be doing it correctly. Motherhood, I mean. I want children of my own so much, you see.”

Not surprised to hear the admission, Diana said, “From what I recall of our time at finishing school, you’re not much younger than I am.”

“Only a year’s difference,” Helen acknowledged.

“But being here means you’ll be missing the Season,” she reasoned. “Or did you leave a beau back in London?”

Helen stiffened. “Uh, no.”

When she looked as if she might say something more, Diana arched a brow. “But... you... have someone in mind?” she asked, arching a brow as if in a tease.

Her gaze darting about as if she was trying to decide how to respond, Helen finally nodded. “When I encouraged my father to arrange this trip to Egypt, it was because I hoped... well, it was because I knew when Lord and Lady Bellingham were expected to be here.”

Diana gave a start. “You wanted to be in Egypt at the same time as we were?”

Helen nodded.

“But why?”

Dipping her head, Helen seemed reluctant to to respond. “Because I knew the Forsters would be here.”

Diana blinked before her eyes rounded. “You came because...” She stopped, about to mention her husband’s name before she scoffed and suddenly inhaled. “Because Thomas is with us,” she whispered.

“Please, don’t tell anyone,” Helen begged.

Momentarily confused, Diana seemed to think for a moment before she reached out and took Helen’s gloved hand in hers. “Are you in love with him?”

A grimace passed over Helen’s face before she finally nodded. “I think so. I was more sure before we left London. Absolutely positive before he left London.”

Not having been in London in some time, Diana was momentarily confused. “You had reason to believe he might feel affection for you?”

Helen nodded. “He... he kissed me during a ball. In the gardens. The night before they departed London.”

“The Morganfield’s ball?” Diana asked.

“That’s the one. How is it you know of it?” Helen asked.

Although Diana had been in Girgenti on Sicily at the time, she had heard tales of the fête from Randy and his aunt.

Overheard David and Tom speak of it. It had been at that ball that David Slater had arranged a betrothal of convenience with Miss Jane Fitzsimmons as a means of providing her protection from unwanted suitors.

“In a round about manner, I acquired a sister because of that ball,” Diana replied.

When she noted Helen’s look of confusion, she explained what had happened.

“Penton’s pretend betrothal with Miss Jane worked perfectly until my brother Marcus met her.

He’s friends with her brother, Antonio—from school, you see.

When they arrived in Athens, my brother and I had only recently taken up residency in a house arranged for our family’s use while my father was to work on the Acropolis. ”

“Oh, how interesting,” Helen whispered.

“I was with Marcus when he met Jane. I could tell he felt affection for her. Or lust, at the very least. I often wonder if he wanted me there because he thought to introduce me to Antonio.” She rolled her eyes. “The future Lord Reardon.”

“I hear he is the most handsome heir in all of Bath,” Helen said, her brows waggling.

“His features are rather easy on the eyes—and you will not share what I just said with my husband.”

“Oh, I won’t,” Helen promised, tittering softly. “Do go on with how Jane became your sister., though”

Diana grinned. “Well, the day following their arrival in Athens, we were all up on the Acropolis when Lord Penton and the Forsters appeared. They were on the next leg of their Grand Tour... and when Marcus discovered Penton was supposedly betrothed to Jane?—”

“He challenged him to a duel?” Helen guessed, her eyes wide.

“They never actually came to blows,” Diana assured her. “But once David confirmed that Jane returned Marcus’ affections, he graciously stepped aside so Marcus was able to marry Jane.”

“Oh,” Helen breathed. “How romantic.”

It was Diana’s turn to display a grimace. “Penton never was going to marry her. He’s my age—far too young to be considering matrimony given he’ll eventually be a marquess,” she reasoned.

Helen angled her head to one side. “So is that when you and Lord Forster fell in love?” she asked, her voice nearly a whisper.

Diana dipped her head. “I suppose it was,” she admitted. “He was most insistent we should be together...” She swallowed, remembering how he had already accepted her desire to be a spinster and had offered instead to be her lover. “Or married,” she murmured before allowing a wan smile.

“You don’t regret marrying him,” Helen stated.

Diana giggled. “No, I do not,” she admitted.

“The way Randy speaks of matrimony with his brother, well, I suppose it should come as no surprise that Thomas would be amenable to marriage earlier than his age would indicate.” She sighed.

“I admit I have noticed Thomas watching you. When you haven’t been looking. ”

Helen inhaled softly. “When I catch him staring at me, he turns away,” she countered. “I was sure...” She stopped speaking and sighed. “I think I’ve made a mistake in talking my father into bringing us on this tour,” she said quietly.

“You have not,” Diana countered, reaching out with a hand to place it on Helen’s arm. “Lord Everly seems quite engaged with it all. He and Lord Bellingham are getting on as if they are long lost friends,” she added. “And he’s certainly enthralled by those flowers he’s been studying.”

“Hibiscus,” Helen stated. “They are used to make tea here, but he wants some for his conservatory back in Mayfair. He’s quite the botanist. A naturalist.”

“Ah,” Diana replied thoughtfully. She regarded the younger girl for a moment before she said, “Do you still feel affection for Thomas?”

“I think so. I would like to know that he returns my affections, though. Before I would ever do anything like... kiss him again.”

“I concur,” Diana replied. “Which has me wondering if Randy knows what happened at that ball.” She paused, her expression thoughtful. “Would you like me to ask him what he knows? Mayhap mention how I’ve noticed Tom’s regard for you?”

“You won’t tell him why?” Helen countered.

Diana furrowed a brow. “I won’t,” she assured her. She chuckled softly before her eyes rounded. “If you end up married to Tom, we’ll be sisters.”

Helen grinned. “I’d like that,” she admitted.

“And the sooner you’re wed, the sooner you can become a real mother.”

Helen beamed in delight. “I once told Mother I might have to take Bradley off her hands.”

“She wouldn’t allow you to, though,” Diana said, although there was a hint of a question in her voice.

“Oh, there are days when she simply hands him to me,” Helen said without a hint of amusement. Her sudden grin betrayed her words. “My parents were not expecting to have another child after me, and although we had a nurse when we left London, we... lost her in Malta.”

“Oh, dear,” Diana replied. “How awful.”

“Oh, not like that,” Helen said, waving a gloved hand as if to erase her initial words. “She met a man there, you see. Love at first sight, I think, and they decided to marry, and she stayed behind on the island of Gozo.”

Diana dipped her head. “Still, it must be a challenge to travel with a baby.”

Helen lifted a shoulder. “It’s not so difficult. Well, unless he runs off and almost gets eaten by a crocodile, or manages to escape from his bed in the middle of the night, takes off his nappy, and pees all over the floor.”

“Oh, dear,” Diana replied. Laughing, she settled back in the squabs. “I cannot imagine having a babe,” she said. “But I’ll have to, of course. At least two if I’m to do my duty as a future countess.”

“You’ll have a nurse to help,” Helen reasoned. “And given Lord Forster’s brothers and sister Grace, I expect he’ll do fine with having children of his own.”

“He has said as much,” Diana admitted. “He seems to think I’ll simply pack up a babe much like I do my satchel when I’m off to do some digging.”

Helen lifted a shoulder. “That will work until the baby starts to crawl,” she commented. “Once he starts walking, though...” She shook her head from side to side. “You’ll be chasing him more than you will be digging. That’s when you’ll leave him with his nurse.”

Diana didn’t reply, her attention on the scene directly ahead of them. She inhaled softly.

“What is it?” Helen asked, her gaze following Diana’s.

“The Red Pyramid,” Diana said in awe. She glanced to the left, searching the horizon for signs of another pyramid.

An odd shape protruded from the ground, darker in appearance than the red sandstone that made up the Red Pyramid.

“That’s the Black Pyramid,” she murmured.

“Or what’s left of it,” she added sadly. “It’s in worse shape than I thought.”

“Are we going to stop there?”

Diana shook her head. “We will at the Red Pyramid, and if you look off beyond it, you can just make out the last one we’ll see today,” she explained, referring to a distant bump on the otherwise flat horizon.

“I can’t imagine how they built these out in the middle of... nowhere,” Helen commented, leaning forward to gaze out beyond the side curtains.

“The Nile has changed course over the centuries,” Diana commented, sniffing the air. “It’s closer than you think, and I would bet money they cut a canal into the desert leading to the site so they could bring all the blocks by way of a river barge.”

Helen’s eyes rounded at hearing Diana’s comment. “You would bet money?” she repeated in shock.

Diana grinned. “Don’t tell anyone else I said that.

My father used to say it when he was sure of some find he uncovered.

” The driver’s sudden yelp had the Arabian slowing his quick trot to a walk until it was in the little bit of shade provided by the pyramid.

The other hantours lined up next to them, their occupants slowly stepping down and stretching their stiff limbs after the hour-long ride.

“This, my friends, is the Red Pyramid,” Omar announced, his arm held out as if he was introducing a friend. “It is named for its rusty red color and is the largest of all the pyramids here at Dashur. Come into the shade and I shall tell you all about it.”

Although she stood with Randy for a few minutes, listening to the dragoman’s recitation, Diana pulled her sketchpad from her satchel and soon slipped away to explore on her own.