by Abby Ayles
* * *
“I do hope the creature was in good condition,” Lady Alexandra said, entering the room along with Mr. Lucas.
* * *
It may not have been the altogether proper thing for a lady to do with her maid still below disposing of the carriage, but it was not something Lady Alexandra had considered.
* * *
Mr. Lucas was very much like a brother to her. Even before she was forced to take over all the mundane business of the museum, she would still visit the museum oft with her father in her early teen years. It was then that she was introduced to Mr. Lucas. At the time, he was tutoring under another’s skills.
* * *
Since that time, he had far surpassed in knowledge any other scientist that walked these halls. It had been only natural for her father to give him more and more responsibilities until he was the head of the zoology department here at the museum. All information, experimentation, and changes of the museum pertaining to the stuffed creatures always went through him first. More than this, Mr. Lucas also had the honor of presenting every new specimen to the small but proud zoological society that resided in the upstairs rooms of the museum.
* * *
It was this important task for the morrow’s morning that had both her father and Mr. Lucas so flustered and pressed for time. As far as either of them understood, the beast sitting on his desk at the moment was the first to be examined within the walls of London intact. So often the creatures would be damaged from time on a ship, crammed into cases, and tossed about in travel.
* * *
Though the porcupine was fierce to look at, it was apparently quite fragile. Once discussed and presented at length in the morning, the gentleman would next extract small specimens for study, taking care to preserve the overall appearance of the creature. Within a week’s time, he would add it to the exhibits of new world wonders.
* * *
Though the presence of the creature would relieve some pressure for Lady Alexandra at home, her father having nothing to occupy his mind as to forget all else, her responsibilities here would likewise increase.
* * *
She would be left in charge of the day-to-day necessities as the patron of the museum to make sure the horrid little creature got its proper debut. If it were up to her, Lady Alexandra would have happily put all the stuffed animals away in the recess of the basement like so many worn and no longer interesting specimens lived. Unfortunately, it was the closest most common Londoner folks would ever come to seeing such majestic creatures outside of paintings. That fact, and that fact alone, was the current sole income for the museum. Without it not only would the building cease to be, but all the scientific work and progress on the second floor would no longer have a home to call their own.
* * *
This place was the one and only love for Lady Alexandra’s father, and she was sure if she were to close it down it would be the death of him. It was why her endeavors in the flower atrium were so vital. If she could make the living tropical room appeal to the ton, then she could rent it out for events and thereby ease her finical burdens.
* * *
“Very fine condition, thank you Lady Alexandra for your care in bringing it to me,” Mr. Lucas said circling around his desk and studying it.
* * *
“It is just so fascinating. I never dreamed of seeing one intact and in person. Just look at the beautiful shape of its tail,” he said brushing it softly with the tips of his fingers.
* * *
Lady Alexandra smiled at her good friend. He was looking at the animal with the loving affection that her father also showed to it.
* * *
Though she didn’t necessarily share in the same passion, she had to appreciate the man for his dedication and persistence in a field he loved so dearly.
* * *
“I have so much to do tonight,” Mr. Lucas said more to himself.
* * *
He was a rather thin man with a scarecrow-like frame, and thick glasses to help him see better. Beyond that, he was rather handsome not to mention of almost the exact same age as Lady Alexandra herself.
* * *
“Perhaps I can assist in some way?” Lady Alexandra asked politely.
* * *
She honestly didn’t want to as she still had the walk home, but also knew instinctively that was what the man had hoped for by his quiet mumbles.
* * *
“That is so kind of you, Lady Alexandra. If it wouldn’t be too much trouble, and if I shan’t be taking you away from other duties, I would love some assistance in going over your father’s notes.”
* * *
Lady Alexandra removed her gloves and set them delicately on the desk before unpinning her hat as he spoke.
* * *
“I fear that sometimes, in his excitement, Lord Greb's writing is so fast and my eyesight so poor that I can scarce read it. Perhaps you could help me by dictating while I transcribe the areas still needed in my own lecture,” he said, holding up several sheets of paper that had its own scribbled and crossed out information all over it.
* * *
Lady Alexandra never understood this. Almost all of the scientists that she encountered, her father included, always wrote so quick as if the specimen might run before they finished the examination. It would only result in illegible writing leaving the scientist to squint at his own writing and trying to remember the thought that had come to him at that particular moment.
* * *
She had often jested her father that his writing was not simply hurried but also coded so no scientist with espionage intent from a rival institution could decipher its meanings and steal his brilliant observations.
* * *
“I would be more than happy to help you, Mr. Lucas,” Lady Alexandra said plastering a smile onto her face.
* * *
She was sure that this would be a task that would take the remainder of the evening but saw no way out of it. She wasn’t entirely sure that Mr. Lucas actually had trouble reading her father’s handwriting as he had done so for many years when tutoring here. It wasn’t until Lady Alexandra had begun to take over her father’s role and presence in the museum that Mr. Lucas needed the added assistance.
* * *
She suspected it was in part due to a growing affection he had to her. Though Lady Alexandra found Mr. Lucas to be a very kind and generous man, she simply didn’t have the time to think of matrimony for herself when she had three younger sisters to think of.
* * *
That was the excuse she told herself everytime moments like this came up between them. It was, in Mr. Lucas’s mind, opportunities for them to grow closer so that Lady Alexandra might realize her affection for him. For Lady Alexandra, though she never tried, she was sure that even if she had, she would never see Mr. Lucas as more than a dear friend.
* * *
She knew that marriage was a very limited possibility for her and she supposed that was the reason that she limited her decision to only marry for love. In that way, she could convince herself that it wasn’t the lack of suitors that had caused her to fall into spinsterhood, but the elusive fairy tale of true love that was surely never to come.
* * *
Taking one of the notebooks that her father had instructed her to take with the creature, Lady Alexandra sat down in the chair across from the desk and began to read the first few paragraphs out loud. Mr. Lucas for his part took his seat on the other side of the specimen, studying each detail as she pointed it out and occasionally writing out his own conclusion on the notes in front of him.
* * *
“I thank you dearly for your help, Lady Alexandra,” Mr. Lucas said several hours later as he walked her down the steps and out the front door of the museum.
* * *
Dusk had fallen quickly, still being the early months of spring, but luckily the heat had held on, and the chill wasn’t too present in the night air.
* * *<
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“I am happy to help anytime, Mr. Lucas,” Lady Alexandra said with a smile.
* * *
Though she didn’t care for him as she was sure he would like, she still had a loving fondness for him and was proud to help him be successful in his career any way that she could.
* * *
“Do you expect you are ready for your lecture tomorrow?” She asked walking with him down the outside stone steps.
* * *
“I am sure I am ready as I will ever be. Do tell me you will come and hear it. It has been some time since you have come to one of my lectures. I do appreciate and consider your opinions of them on the highest regard.”
* * *
Lady Alexandra had once attended all his lectures. It wasn’t because she had a keen interest in such things as he or her father did, but simply out of support for a good friend. When she had begun to discover his feelings for her, she had oft made reasons why she couldn’t come. She feared her presence, especially as the only woman present during the lectures, was encouraging something she didn’t feel. For this reason, she hesitated at the thought.
* * *
“Please do say you will come,” he said as they stopped at the bottom of the stairs where he would bid her goodnight.
* * *
There was another reason Lady Alexandra particularly didn’t want to be present at tomorrow’s lecture. The Duke of Raven had informed them both that he was interested in attending it. The only thing worse in Lady Alexandra’s mind than spurring on Mr. Lucas’s affections when she didn’t reciprocate was the thought of seeing that man again.
* * *
She had already done irreparable damage, she was sure, this season when it came to her sisters' chances at matches. Seeing him again was sure only to make it worse.
* * *
Lady Alexandra opened her mouth to say as much but hesitated as she looked up at the gentleman’s face. Though he was gaunt, he resembled a poor lost puppy at that moment with his large blue eyes looking down at her imploringly.
* * *
“Oh, I suppose I will make a great effort to attend,” she said somewhat reluctantly.
* * *
Mr. Lucas lit up like a lantern just ignited, and she couldn’t help but feel joy in knowing she made her friend happy.
* * *
“Are you sure you won't have me call you a hackney, it is awful dark already,” Mr. Lucas said preparing to hail one.
* * *
“No, thank you. I know the way well. Plus, I have Polly here to keep me company,” Lady Alexandra said, waving to the maid who had stayed a few steps to the side for privacy’s sake.
* * *
With that, Lady Alexandra gave Mr. Lucas her nightly farewell and started her long journey home. It was one that offered too little distraction having so few people to greet in passing. This left her alone to her thoughts to consider what disaster might befall her on the morrow if she were to come into the presence of the Duke of Raven again.
Chapter Thirteen
Though Raven was naught but the perfect gentleman as he saw Lady Charlotte back to his gig and to her own front door, he couldn’t shake a feeling of animosity towards her. Though she had in truth done little to warrant it.
* * *
Lady Charlotte had been an amiable companion the whole afternoon through. She was also well within her right to be shocked at the scene that had played out before them. Even still with every mention she made of sharing the story of their encounter that day, he bristled.
* * *
Raven wasn’t sure why, but his heart had seemed to entangle itself with Lady Alexandra on the steps of the museum, or perhaps it did from the moment of their first dance, he wasn’t entirely sure. All he knew of a surety that any conversation shared among the ladies of the ton on what they had encountered that day would only increase Lady Alexandra’s embarrassment.
* * *
It was something he simply couldn’t bear. He was sure he felt a literal pain at the thought of it. It was a curious feeling and one he had never experienced before in his life. That wasn’t entirely true; he corrected himself that night as he pondered over his feelings. He felt a similar pang every time he watched the shores of Virginia sink farther away on the horizon standing on the deck of a ship. It was the feeling of losing something so cherished and valued by him, and the fear of never seeing it again.
* * *
Though he didn’t enter the museum with Lady Charlotte that day, it didn’t remove his resolve to step inside it again. In fact, he was rather glad for the interaction with Mr. Thomas Lucas as it gave him a perfect excuse to return to the place on the following morning.
* * *
Raven was keenly aware of the scientific lectures that occurred there on almost a monthly basis. He had attended some as a boy. The fact of the matter was that they were a shadow in comparison of some of the universities he had also had the chance to visit.
* * *
For a person just seeking general knowledge or interest in the subject there was nothing wrong with the lectures, but in all honesty, he found them to be shallow and at times filled with misinformation. He had little interest wasting his time in such a place once he had access to the universities in his early manhood. Now he had little use for lecture halls at all as he used the world around him and magnificent scientists he encountered out in the fields as a vastly superior educator.
* * *
Even still he had the gnawing desire to set foot into the museum that had mesmerized him as a child and perhaps see how it had changed for the better since that time. It was with this excuse, and the conviction it wasn’t for a chance to connect to Lady Alexandra again, that Raven made ready early in the morning and left before his aunt was even out of her room.
* * *
He took his fine carriage and studied the people he passed on the street. The sun was just rising, and a mist was creeping out of the local gardens and burning away against the cobblestone. It was in this attitude of leisurely study that he picked out a figure he recognized well.
* * *
In an instant, Raven perked up in his seat as he came closer to the form of the woman with her lady’s maid at her side. He drunk in every aspect of Lady Alexandra as his carriage rode closer.
* * *
She was not in a casual walking dress as she had been the day before, but in an elegant black silk dress with matching Spencer jacket with white lace ruffles protruding from the cuffs. It was very scholarly, indeed. Her hair was pulled back again in a tight chiffon with a simple black silk hat to adorn it. Though she was in the simplest of beautiful attire, he couldn’t help but find her regal as he passed her by the few yards before arriving in front of the museum.
* * *
He paused in his carriage for just a moment giving her a chance to catch up to him. He wanted to exit just as Lady Alexandra arrived so that he might walk her in. After waiting a few moments, he could already hear the soft conversation the lady’s maid was having with her mistress. He hoped that she had not noticed him pausing so on the street before getting out.
* * *
With a heavy breath of nerves, he grabbed his beaver hat and exited the carriage making sure to place it perfectly atop his head. He turned just as Lady Alexandra approached him. Raven couldn’t help but catch his breath at the sight of her all over again.
* * *
Though her brown eyes quickly darted to the ground as he looked upon her, he still couldn’t help but be mesmerized by her. Her skin was of the perfect pale color with a little rouge at her cheeks. He wondered if it was a natural state or just caused by her morning walk. He desperately searched his mind for a memory of the rose cheeks in their past meeting.
* * *
“Good Morning, Lady Alexandra,” he said, tipping his hat politely at both ladies.
* * *
“Good Morning, Your Grace,” she addressed him with a proper curtsy.
* * *
; “I am surprised to see you here for today's lecture,” Raven started hoping to make casual conversation with the lady to eradicate any embarrassment from their previous meeting at these steps. “Are you very interested in species of the American continents?”