Aunt Sophie taught her how important it was to be sensible and logical? Persistence reaped its own reward. Isn’t that what Papa had always promised? Though she hadn’t always listened.
She’d told herself other things as well, as she spent last week evaluating Erik’s find. Six days she had examined the evidence, daring to conclude that Erik was indeed sitting on what might be the greatest find of their age. Not since William Buckland discovered the first reptilian-like fossil bones at the Stonefield quarries near Oxford had such a discovery rocked the paleontology field.
She may have spent the last days of class teaching her students about the merits of hard work, but even she could not deny that Erik’s arrival had occurred less than five minutes after she put on the ring. Christine had always thought she was too sensible to believe in such twaddle as spells and charms, but then her father had believed in the existence of dragons—to the dismay of all academia—and now she had a tooth in her possession that belonged to a beast at least thirty feet tall.
Christine spent the rest of the afternoon at the museum. By the time she reached the abbey, the sun had already set and a drizzle fell. Passing the caretaker’s cottage, she picked up her step, her shoe heels clicking on the damp cobbles as she followed the stairwell down to the basement. She pulled her key from her pocket. A statue of Cerberus, the mythical three-headed dog that was said to guard Hades, sat in an alcove to the right of the doorway.
A solid twist opened the door. She blustered into the basement vestibule and slammed the door against the wind. She paused, leaning her forehead against the door before noting someone had lit the lamp. As thoughts tumbled through her mind, she turned.
Her scapegrace cousin leaned in the archway separating the corridor from the vestibule. “Hello, coz,” he said.
His cologne overpowered her and she waved her hand in front of her nose. “What are you doing here, Gordy?” She adjusted her hat.
“Papa is in London. Parliament is in session. Your trust fund needs to be managed. All manner of business brings us to London.” He suddenly laughed. “What isthat on top of your hat? A nest ?”
A lock of blond hair fell across his brow. He was considered by most to be dashing. He wore a shirt with a stand-up collar, silk cravat, and blue-and-white-checked trousers. He dressed like a deranged peacock. Christine possessed no inkling how they could possibly share the same grandparents.
She swept past him down the corridor to her laboratory. The door to her laboratory was open. A lamp burned on the table to the right of the door. Gordy had been inside!
Dear God .
She must have left the door unlocked.
She made a quick visual assessment of her workspace. The packet Erik had brought her remained wrapped in cloth beneath the top shelf where she had left it. Her research books lay open beneath where she had left them. It took all her will not to shove Gordy out of the room and lock the door in his face. “What are you doing at Sommershorn, besides trying to steal something?”
“This will all be mine someday. What is the difference if I sell bits and pieces of this room off now as later? It’s only rubbish, old gel.”
She swept past him and down the dais to her workbench. “Quit calling me that.” She closed the books she’d left strewn over her workbench.
When they were children, he had taken great pleasure in throwing paste in her hair and tormenting her. Christine had been so grateful to her grandmother for leaving her a trust fund that would help her maintain her independence. She had used it to support Sommor-shorn Abbey.
Lounging a hip against the countertop, her cousin leaned over her shoulder and picked up her C. A. Sommers’s book. “Chasing dragons like your father, oldgel?
“Why are you here?”
He sobered. “I heard Sedgwick was at the Fossil Society gala. Word travels. I also heard the
She’d told herself other things as well, as she spent last week evaluating Erik’s find. Six days she had examined the evidence, daring to conclude that Erik was indeed sitting on what might be the greatest find of their age. Not since William Buckland discovered the first reptilian-like fossil bones at the Stonefield quarries near Oxford had such a discovery rocked the paleontology field.
She may have spent the last days of class teaching her students about the merits of hard work, but even she could not deny that Erik’s arrival had occurred less than five minutes after she put on the ring. Christine had always thought she was too sensible to believe in such twaddle as spells and charms, but then her father had believed in the existence of dragons—to the dismay of all academia—and now she had a tooth in her possession that belonged to a beast at least thirty feet tall.
Christine spent the rest of the afternoon at the museum. By the time she reached the abbey, the sun had already set and a drizzle fell. Passing the caretaker’s cottage, she picked up her step, her shoe heels clicking on the damp cobbles as she followed the stairwell down to the basement. She pulled her key from her pocket. A statue of Cerberus, the mythical three-headed dog that was said to guard Hades, sat in an alcove to the right of the doorway.
A solid twist opened the door. She blustered into the basement vestibule and slammed the door against the wind. She paused, leaning her forehead against the door before noting someone had lit the lamp. As thoughts tumbled through her mind, she turned.
Her scapegrace cousin leaned in the archway separating the corridor from the vestibule. “Hello, coz,” he said.
His cologne overpowered her and she waved her hand in front of her nose. “What are you doing here, Gordy?” She adjusted her hat.
“Papa is in London. Parliament is in session. Your trust fund needs to be managed. All manner of business brings us to London.” He suddenly laughed. “What isthat on top of your hat? A nest ?”
A lock of blond hair fell across his brow. He was considered by most to be dashing. He wore a shirt with a stand-up collar, silk cravat, and blue-and-white-checked trousers. He dressed like a deranged peacock. Christine possessed no inkling how they could possibly share the same grandparents.
She swept past him down the corridor to her laboratory. The door to her laboratory was open. A lamp burned on the table to the right of the door. Gordy had been inside!
Dear God .
She must have left the door unlocked.
She made a quick visual assessment of her workspace. The packet Erik had brought her remained wrapped in cloth beneath the top shelf where she had left it. Her research books lay open beneath where she had left them. It took all her will not to shove Gordy out of the room and lock the door in his face. “What are you doing at Sommershorn, besides trying to steal something?”
“This will all be mine someday. What is the difference if I sell bits and pieces of this room off now as later? It’s only rubbish, old gel.”
She swept past him and down the dais to her workbench. “Quit calling me that.” She closed the books she’d left strewn over her workbench.
When they were children, he had taken great pleasure in throwing paste in her hair and tormenting her. Christine had been so grateful to her grandmother for leaving her a trust fund that would help her maintain her independence. She had used it to support Sommor-shorn Abbey.
Lounging a hip against the countertop, her cousin leaned over her shoulder and picked up her C. A. Sommers’s book. “Chasing dragons like your father, oldgel?
“Why are you here?”
He sobered. “I heard Sedgwick was at the Fossil Society gala. Word travels. I also heard the
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