Page 41 of The Unassuming Curator

Emily’s admission appeared to make Eastberry all the sorrier for her, and the colonel’s regretful expression deepened. Henry knew better. Although she would likely have been pleased to grow a couple more inches, Emily was not one to allow her lack of height to dim her enthusiasm for trying almost anything.

“I daresay you are always the last to be found in a game of hide-and-seek though,” Henry said.

Amusement filled her eyes. “My brother has been known to complain about the length of my winning streak.”

Henry chuckled. Playing hide-and-seek with Emily sounded infinitely more enjoyable than attending an operatic concert.

The colonel cleared his throat. “I can’t say that I’ve played hide-and-seek since I was very young.”

“How did you enjoy the game, Colonel?” Aunt Millward appeared at Eastberry’s side, entering the conversation right away. “I would hazard a guess that you were a very diligent seeker.”

He gave a gratified smile. “Yes. I rather think I was.”

“An excellent quality in a military man,” Aunt Millward said. She hesitated. “I don’t suppose you’d be willing to help me locate Lady Southbeck, would you? With so many people in the room, I believe I may need the assistance of someone skilled in searching.”

Whatever reluctance Eastberry may have owned was masked by his polite bow. “Honored to be of service, my lady,” he said.

“Thank you,” Aunt Millward said. “I shall express our thanks to the Southbecks, Emily. With such a crush, there’s no need for you to join me. If Henry would be good enough to walk you to the door, I will meet you there shortly.”

“Of course,” Emily said. “Thank you, Aunt Millward.”

The moment Eastberry and Aunt Millward turned away, Henry offered Emily his arm. She set her hand on it, and awareness of her touch pulsed through him.

“Forgive me for not arriving sooner,” he said.

She glanced at him. “I thought perhaps you’d decided to forgo coming after all.”

“At the risk of having you think too highly of yourself, I weighed my options and decided that if Aunt Millward would supply me with earplugs, I would endure an hour of listening to Italian sung in an excessively high voice so that I might sit beside you and negatively influence your opinion of the concert.” He grunted. “As it was, I was held up by a project at the museum, my companion was Aunt Millward, and I had to suffer through a torturous additional twenty-three minutes after the one-hour mark passed.”

Emily giggled. “But at least you had earplugs.”

“I did, indeed.” He raised an eyebrow. “How was the second row without them?”

She shuddered, and Henry grinned. “Am I to infer that you would have preferred to be digging in the mud?”

“Yes.”

They had reached the cluster of admirers surrounding Miss Ledbetter, and Emily said nothing more until they were out of earshot. To his surprise, however, when she spoke again, it was to ask about his work.

“What kept you at the museum so late?”

“An Egyptian pottery collection,” he said. “A large donation is expected to arrive on Monday, and I’ve been charged with taking care of it. It will take a considerable amount of time to organize, and I could not leave the Montagu room locked to visitors for weeks simply because the pottery collection was not ready.” He sighed. “I’d hoped to have it done in eight hours; it took nine and a half.”

Her grip on his arm tightened. “You must be exhausted.”

“I have tomorrow to rest before Lady Grenville’s butterflies arrive.”

She gasped, and her dark eyes filled with awe. “You have a butterfly collection coming?”

He smiled. “You must like butterflies.”

“Do you know anyone who does not?”

“I could probably find someone if I searched long enough.”

“That would be a spectacularly awful waste of your time,” she said. “Especially when you could be studying the magnificent creatures themselves.”

“Aren’t they rather small to be considered magnificent?”