An Encounter at the Museum by unknow

Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2013-02-16T06:00:00+00:00

They found her in one of the natural history rooms. One of the big glass cabinets had been shifted to make room for a pair of stuffed antelopes. Aurelia sat on the floor beneath the belly of the male. She spotted Lisbeth and the baron as they walked in, opened her mouth, then closed it and promptly burst into tears.

Lisbeth flew to her. Kneeling down she took her hands and cradled them to her middle. “Oh, my darling,” she crooned.

Aurelia tried to speak, but the force of her sobs prevented it. Lisbeth let her go for several minutes, but when she showed no signs of stopping, she tugged her out and gathered her close.

Gradually the storm lessened. “I’m sorry, sorry,” Aurelia gasped.

“Don’t be sorry,” Lisbeth whispered. “Let it out.”

The baron crouched in front of them, awkward but well meaning. “But I don’t understand. What is wrong?”

His question brought forth a fresh spate of sobs. “Wrong? Nothing is right! Everything is all mixed up.”

“In what way?” he asked simply.

“In every way,” she blurted wildly. I am afraid.”

“Why, dear?” Lisbeth held her tight.

“Because I’m always angry. Or sometimes I’m not—and I’m afraid that is wrong. Sometimes I am happy—helping you in the attics or exploring in the laboratory or sketching insects—and then I am afraid and angry at once. For how can I be happy? My mama is dead! My papa is dead!” She began to sob again, as if her heart would break.

“There is more, is there not?” Lisbeth asked.

Aurelia nodded, wiping at her eyes.

“Tell us. All of it.”

The little girl sniffed. “I hate that man. I never want to go and live with him.”

“You’ll never have to,” Lord Cotwell assured her.

“Never?”

“Never. Not if I have to go to the highest Chancery court in the land.” He regarded her solemnly for a moment. “Aurelia, there is a bench in the next room.” He began to climb to his feet. “Let’s go in there and sit.”

He helped his ward to her feet and held a hand out to Lisbeth, but she acted as if she did not see it. She stood on her own. As she must, from here on out. She followed as the baron led Aurelia to the bench and took up a position behind it.

The sight of them—the broad shouldered man taking up most of the bench, his head tilted toward the little girl who, for perhaps the first time, leaned trustingly into him—nearly broke her heart.

“There’s something that I think it will help you, if you understand,” Lord Cotwell said to his ward. “There are some people who come and go in our lives, and there are some who will always be with us.”

Aurelia looked up at him, frowning. “How do you know which is which?” she asked.

“Love,” he said simply. “Love is a . . . connection, Aurelia. One that can never break. Wherever your parents are, they still love you. You are still connected to them. Your love for each other will bind you forever.”

Aurelia nodded. “Miss Moreton told me.

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