Ethan kicked his heels against the bottom of the seat. "May we have another ice after we fetch Aunt Olympia?"
"You've already had one ice this afternoon," Jared said.
"Yes, I know, but that was hours ago and I am quite warm again."
"I'll wager Aunt Olympia would fancy an ice, sir," Hugh said with an altruistic expression that did not fool Jared for a moment.
"Do you think so?" Jared pretended to ponder the issue.
"Oh, yes, sir." Keen anticipation filled Hugh's innocent gaze. "I am certain of it."
"We shall see what she has to say about it." Jared glanced out the window. "We have arrived. Do you see your aunt?"
Ethan leaned out the window. "There she is over there. She is surrounded by several people. I'll wave to her."
"No, you will not," Jared said. "One does not hail a lady in that fashion. Robert will find her and escort her back to the carriage."
"Right you are, sir." Robert opened the cab door and jumped down onto the pavement. "I'll be back in a moment."
"Do not forget to take her arm," Jared said.
"Yes, sir." Robert hurried across the street.
Jared closed the door and sat back against the cushions. He watched Robert's progress through the small crowd in front of the Musgrave Institution's lecture rooms.
Felix was right, Jared thought. People saw what they expected to see and no one in the Society for Travel and Exploration was likely to recognize the Viscount Chillhurst. As far as Jared knew, he was not personally acquainted with any members of the society. Nevertheless, it never hurt to be cautious.
"I did not know that Aunt Olympia had so many friends in London," Ethan said.
"Neither did I," Jared muttered. He studied the two men standing closest to Olympia. One was so heavy that he was nearly bursting his stays. The other was just the opposite; so thin that he appeared to have been fasting for the past several months.
Both were hanging on to Olympia's every word, Jared noticed.
"Is something wrong, sir?" Hugh asked anxiously.
"No, Hugh, nothing is wrong." Jared kept his voice calm and reassuring. He was aware, as always, that Hugh was easily overset by the possibility that his fragile new life with Olympia might be shattered again.
But there was no getting around the fact that Olympia was thoroughly enjoying her conversation with her new cronies.
Jared watched as Olympia spotted Robert and turned toward the carriage. He saw the glowing enthusiasm on her expressive face and felt a stab of annoyance. That look had been inspired by the conversation with the two men at her side.
So this was jealousy, he thought with a jolt of surprise.
It was a most unpleasant sensation.
Jared tried to be philosophical about the matter. After all, a man who sailed the senses on the vapors of passion was no doubt doomed to learn the dark side of such a reckless voyage.
"Here she comes." Ethan bounced up and down on the seat. "Do you think she will want an ice?"
"I have no notion. Ask her and see." Jared leaned forward and pushed open the cab door. He watched approvingly as Robert practiced his manners by handing Olympia gallantly up into the carriage.
"Thank you, Robert." Olympia sat down next to Jared. Beneath the brim of her chip straw bonnet her eyes were sparkling with excitement. "I hope you have all had a lovely afternoon."
"We flew a kite in the park," Ethan said. "It was great fun."
"Do you want a nice, cold ice, Aunt Olympia?" Hugh asked ingenuously. "I expect that it would taste ever so good on such a warm day."
"An ice?" Olympia smiled at Hugh, momentarily distracted. "Yes, that sounds delightful. It was quite warm in the lecture rooms."
Everyone looked at Jared.
"I can see that there is a consensus here," Jared said. He raised the trap in the carriage roof and gave the coachman orders to take them to the nearest respectable shop that sold ices.
"I am so excited by what I have learned today," Olympia said to him as he reseated himself. "I cannot wait to get on with my study of the diary."
"Indeed," Jared muttered with a carefully cultivated air of polite boredom.
The bloody diary could rot, he thought. What he really wanted to know was how much Olympia liked her newfound friends.
Jared did not get the full tale until much later that evening, primarily because Ethan, Hugh, and Robert could not stop talking about their adventures in London.
That did not bother Jared. There would be time enough to hear all the particulars after Mrs. Bird had retired to her quarters and the boys were in bed.
The fierce torment of these late evenings spent closeted alone with Olympia was equalled only by the anticipation of how they would ultimately conclude. He did not think that Olympia could resist the glittering sensual tension that crackled between them for much longer. He knew that he certainly could not.
When the household had quieted down for the night, Jared shut Minotaur in the kitchen and went in search of Olympia. He knew precisely where to find her in the small house.
She looked up from the Lightbourne diary when he walked into the study. Her eyes were very bright and her smile was filled with a warmth that made Jared's blood run hot. The thought that he could have gone his whole life without ever experiencing this powerful emotion was enough to send a chill down his spine.
"There you are, Mr. Chillhurst." Olympia marked her place in the diary with a small strip of decorated leather. "I see we have peace and quiet at last. I honestly do not know how we got along without you."
"The problem was that your household lacked an orderly routine, Miss Wingfield." Jared walked over to the table that held the brandy decanter. He picked up the bottle and poured two glasses. "Now that such a routine has been established, everything is under control."
"Do not underestimate your contribution, sir," she said as he carried the brandy glasses to her desk. "You have done much more than merely establish a routine." She looked up at him with glowing admiration as she accepted one of the glasses.
"I try to earn my salary." Jared took a sip of the brandy and wondered if he would drown in her lagoon-colored eyes. "What did you learn today that got you so enthused?"
Olympia looked briefly disconcerted, as if her thoughts had gone in another direction entirely for a moment. She recovered immediately. "I know that you are not particularly interested in my study of the Lightbourne diary, sir."
"Mmm." Jared kept his voice noncommittal.
"I told you that I needed to consult some new maps."
"So you said."
"Well, I now have access to such sources." Excitement lit Olympia's eyes. "Not only does the society maintain an excellent library with a very large collection of maps, but certain members of the society have offered to let me view their personal collections."
Just what he had feared. Jared recalled the two men who had been hovering over Olympia outside the Musgrave Institution. "Which members?"
"Mr. Torbert and Lord Aldridge. Apparently their personal libraries contain many charts that deal with the West Indies."
"Have you told them about your quest?" Jared asked warily.
"No, of course not. I merely told them that I was very interested in the geography of the islands."
Jared frowned. "I suppose they know that you are a student of legends."
"Yes, but there is no reason why they should think I was searching for the treasure mentioned in the Lightbourne diary," Olympia assured him. "I have told no one about my interest in that particular legend."
"I see."
"Mr. Chillhurst, I know that this topic bores you and as it happens, I wish to discuss something else tonight."
"What is that, Miss Wingfield?"
"It is difficult to put into words." Olympia got to her feet and walked around the edge of her desk. She went to stand near the globe. "I fear you will think me overbold. And, indeed, you will be correct in that assumption."