Lady of Heaven Read Free

receptive given how she had dodged
his first one. When she was finished, he nodded faintly.
    “Heaven’s Gate is a very old
estate,” he replied, eyeing the now-open case. “I have also heard that your
great-grandparents were friends with the Barlows who founded the Bolton
Museum.”
    Morgan nodded.  “They were. My
great-grandmother, the Lady Frances de Lara Sherburn, was a friend of Annie
Barlow. Annie was the daughter of the founder.”
    “I know who she is,” he was looking
up at her now, studying her face, and there seemed to be something on his
mind.  He gestured at the case. “You said that there is an entire room full of
Egyptian artifacts?”
    She nodded. “Actually, it’s the
library, but it has a lot of artifacts in it.”
    “And you only brought me one thing
to authenticate?” He scratched his dark head, puzzlement evident in his
expression. “Pardon me for asking, but if you’ve got an entire room full of
artifacts, why bring me just one?”
    Morgan’s pleasant expression seemed
to tighten.  “Excuse me?”
    His dark eyes glittered.  “You
heard me; why bring me just one? What’s so special about it?”
    She held his gaze for a long moment
before looking away, clearing her throat softly.  She suddenly seemed ill at
ease and Fox watched her, growing more curious, and interested, by the moment.
    “Because,” she said quietly.
“Because… well, it seems to be one of the nicest pieces and my
great-grandfather had a handwritten note attached to it that called it the Lady
of Heaven papyrus.  I thought maybe it was important and if it is, perhaps you
could tell us what we should do with it.  Perhaps you could even translate it.”
    His brow furrowed. “ Translate it?” he shook his head. “That will take a lot of time.  If you want to donate
it to the museum, then of course we would translate it, but if you want me to
translate it right now off the cuff, then I’m sorry to disappoint you. I don’t
have the time.”
    “But it’s not that big of a
scroll,” she insisted, gesturing to the document lying flat and exposed in the
artwork case. “It shouldn’t be too hard for a man of your expertise. I’ve read
about you, Dr. Henredon; you’re one of the best.  I’ve read about the awards
you’ve won and that fact that you’re a director at a major museum and not even
forty years old says a lot.  If you could only look at it, maybe you can tell
me what it says.”
    He sat forward, eyes on Morgan as he
folded his big hands on the desk top.  “Is that really why you came?” he asked
her “You want me to translate this?”
    Morgan appeared as if she’d been
cornered as the truth of her visit began to slip out. She thought she’d been
fairly clever at hiding it up until now. “I thought… well, I thought maybe in
the course of examining it that you might… you could… just a few words….”
    He sighed and shook his head.
“Sorry,” he said, his tone professional. “I can’t translate it for you, at
least not today.  If that’s really what you came here for them I am sorry to
have wasted your time. Perhaps you should have been honest when you called and
saved us both the time and trouble.”
    Morgan stared at him. She appeared
as if she wanted to say a lot more but thought better of it.  After a moment,
she lowered her gaze and reached for her enormous purse.  As Fox watched, she
reached in and pulled forth something that he first thought was a book.  Then
she turned it in his direction and he could see that it was a very old album,
like one would use for photographs. He could see the leather binding and the
careful stitching, made in days when craftsmanship meant something.  It was
worn and dog-eared and she sat for a moment with it in her lap, looking at it. 
Fox’s curiosity grew as she fingered it carefully before finally daring to look
at him.
    She opened her mouth to speak but
ended up sighing heavily. Then she collected herself and tried again.
    “Look,”