Page 110 of The Duke and Lady Scandal
Two days later, an hour before Allie and Mr. Gibson were preparing to close up for the day, a coach pulled up to the curb in front of the shop.
Dom and Eve had sent a telegram the day before, but Allie wasn’t certain when to expect them.
It took several minutes for the coachmen to take down all of their luggage, and Allie came out to offer to help carry the pile in.
Eve embraced her immediately. “It’s so good to see you.”
Allie smiled and gave her sister a squeeze. “You too.”
“You’ll be glad you didn’t come on this one. Every single thing that could go wrong did, at least in terms of our travel arrangements.”
“Noteverythingwent wrong,” Dom announced as he approached with a polished wooden box that he carried as gently as if he was balancing an infant in his arms. “We found this.” He lifted it out to Allie. “Will you carry it in while we get thebags?” He pointed as soon as he’d handed the box off. “And be careful.”
“Of course.” She imagined what treasure might be nestled inside as she brought it back into the shop and set it gently on the counter.
They always brought the scent of fresh air and trampled grass and freshly turned earth with them when they came back from an expedition, or so it seemed to Allie.
And this time, they both seemed brimming with eagerness to show her what they found.
Dom shucked his coat, casually draping it over one of a pair of eighteenth-century chairs. Eve was still unraveling her scarf when she shot him an exasperated look.
“Well, come on and show her.”
He strode to the counter dramatically, and then stepped behind it.
With his usual flair for the theatrical, he flicked the metal clasp on the box and lifted its lid open inch by inch.
Allie stepped closer to peer inside.
A beautiful strip of stamped gold, not much longer than the length of her index finger, glinted in the gaslights’ glow.
Indeed, its shine seemed to make the whole box glow as if it was indeed some hallowed object.
“Do you recognize that styling?” Eve prompted.
“Anglo-Saxon?”
She beamed with pride. “Anglo-Saxon indeed. Not the Viking hoard Dom expected.”
Dom doffed an invisible hat at Eve. “This isyour find, and I’ve already acknowledged it a half dozen times.”
“Yes, but I wanted you to do it in front of Allie for good measure.”
They both laughed.
“And there’s more. So much more,” Eve enthused. “We’re going to assemble a full crew and return for a complete excavation. This is a ship’s burial and the things we’ve already found, Allie, you can’t imagine.”
“I’m going to write to Van Arsdale and get you on the crew, Allie,” Dom vowed.
Allie looked at each of them in turn, happy for them but without an ounce of eagerness to leave London, or the shop, or her fiancé.
“Actually, I’m content here,” she told them. “I don’t want to join the crew.”
Dom blinked in disbelief. Eve tipped her head in confusion.
“If you’re certain,” Eve said slowly. “Whatever you prefer, of course.”
“I prefer to manage the shop.”
