Interesting how Millie, with her quiet, trustworthy demeanor, made the most convincing liar of them all. Venetia took her cue. “He likes fossils. That’s quite enough to endear a man to me.”
They were cutting across the grounds of the law school. The bare trees shivered in the wind. The lawns were invisible beneath the previous day’s blanket of snow. The main lecture hall, rotund and Romanesque, had probably been a revolt against the rest of the university’s severely rectangular architectural uniformity.
A group of students coming toward them slowed to a halt, gaping at Venetia. She nodded absently in their direction.
“So you plan to attend the lecture?” asked Helena, looking over the handbill. “It’s more than a week away.”
“True, but he has been impossible to meet at home. Do you know, I hear he has his own private natural history museum at Algernon House? I should be like a cat in cream, were I the mistress of that manor.”
Helena frowned slightly. “I’ve never heard you mention a particular interest in him.”
Because she had none. But what kind of a sister would she be if she didn’t make sure that the most eligible—and possibly the most suitable—bachelor in all of England was introduced to Helena? “Well, he is a good prospect. It would be a shame to not meet him when I can. And while we wait for him, we can begin our sightseeing. There are some lovely islands off Cape Cod, I hear. Connecticut is said to be very pretty, and Montreal is just a quick rail journey away.”
“How exciting,” seconded Millie.
“A little rest and relaxation before the Season begins in earnest,” said Venetia.
Helena pressed her lips together. “The duke had better be worth the trouble.”
“A man rich in both pound sterling and fossils?” Venetia pretended to fan herself. “He shall be worth every trouble. You’ll see.”
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