minds," she offered, kissing him back. Good as he was at covering his expression, she could read him like a book. The Marquis of Rawley was royally pissed off. "You know Gabriel Toombs, don't you? Wild Bill, Rick Addison."
She heard the click of camera phones around them as, shifting his right arm from her shoulder, Rick shook hands with Toombs. "Of course I know Mr. Toombs," he said. "Have you three met the Picaults? Yvette and August, may I present Mr. Gabriel Toombs, Mr. Aubrey Pendleton, and Miss Samantha Jellicoe?" Beyond his shoulder stood a couple in their mid-fifties, well-dressed but still managing to look a little… hippie-like. His dark, graying hair was in a ponytail, while hers was even blacker than Rick's, tightly curled and hanging loose past her shoulders
Toombs stood and bowed. "August," he said, "Yvette. We appear to have gathered together all the major Japanese antiquities collectors living on the East Coast."
Oh, good. At least now they all realized it. Samantha began to feel faint. Rick would never believe it, though, if she feigned passing out and left the mess for him to handle. "We're—"
"I owed Wild Bill lunch," Aubrey interrupted, standing to shake hands with Mr. Picault and kiss Mrs. Picault's knuckles, "and didn't want to leave Miss Samantha alone at the office. That would be far too ungentlemanly."
"And you are always a gentleman," August Pendleton finished in a light French accent, smiling.
"Indeed, I am. Would you care to join us?"
"We couldn't impose," Yvette said, her accent a little heavier—but more cultured—than her husband's. The money probably came from her side of the family, then.
"It would be no imposition," Wild Bill stated, signaling the waiter to join a second table to theirs. "Samantha has been asking me about my collection. Perhaps all of us together might satisfy her curiosity."
"A grand idea," Rick said with an easy smile, his left hand still gripping her shoulder hard enough to bruise. "Though I suspect that Samantha was going to try to find those Hina dolls for Livia before I could manage it."
Hina dolls. "It's only fair," she ventured, mentally crossing her fingers that she was following the hint he'd shoved at her. "You've been a Donner family favorite for better than ten years. I have some catching up to do."
Richard wasn't certain how much of a favorite he was with at least one of the Donners right now, but he would deal with that later. He took the seat beside her, while Yvette ended across from him and August at the head of the table opposite Aubrey. A gentleman escort, a thief, and the three most avid collectors of Japanese antiques on the East Coast. And him. Life was very strange, sometimes. And much more often since he'd met Samantha.
The waiter appeared to take the drink and lunch order of the three late arrivals, while Samantha smiled and chatted and played the novice in awe of the professionals and looking for any information they would be so gracious as to share with her. Thankfully Hina dolls originated at the same time as Minamoto Yoritomo's armor, during the Heian period. That was the reason he'd chosen them—a flanking maneuver in order to acquire the information he wanted. They wanted, he amended with a sideways glance at Samantha.
"Do you know why Hina dolls are always royalty or members of the royal court, rather than samurai?" she asked.
Of course she would know about Hina dolls. They weren't as exciting or lucrative as diamonds or rare paintings, but some of them were worth hundreds of thousands of yen. Right up her alley, as it were.
"The dolls are traditionally put on display, nationally in Japan, in fact, on Girls' Day," Yvette said conversationally. "I suppose samurai are too warlike for such a celebration."
Toombs shook his head. "Girls' Day is a recent idea," he said in his absurd Kwai Chang Caine monotone. Didn't the poof realize that Caine was Chinese? Well, half Chinese, though admitting that he knew the plot of Kung Fu
She heard the click of camera phones around them as, shifting his right arm from her shoulder, Rick shook hands with Toombs. "Of course I know Mr. Toombs," he said. "Have you three met the Picaults? Yvette and August, may I present Mr. Gabriel Toombs, Mr. Aubrey Pendleton, and Miss Samantha Jellicoe?" Beyond his shoulder stood a couple in their mid-fifties, well-dressed but still managing to look a little… hippie-like. His dark, graying hair was in a ponytail, while hers was even blacker than Rick's, tightly curled and hanging loose past her shoulders
Toombs stood and bowed. "August," he said, "Yvette. We appear to have gathered together all the major Japanese antiquities collectors living on the East Coast."
Oh, good. At least now they all realized it. Samantha began to feel faint. Rick would never believe it, though, if she feigned passing out and left the mess for him to handle. "We're—"
"I owed Wild Bill lunch," Aubrey interrupted, standing to shake hands with Mr. Picault and kiss Mrs. Picault's knuckles, "and didn't want to leave Miss Samantha alone at the office. That would be far too ungentlemanly."
"And you are always a gentleman," August Pendleton finished in a light French accent, smiling.
"Indeed, I am. Would you care to join us?"
"We couldn't impose," Yvette said, her accent a little heavier—but more cultured—than her husband's. The money probably came from her side of the family, then.
"It would be no imposition," Wild Bill stated, signaling the waiter to join a second table to theirs. "Samantha has been asking me about my collection. Perhaps all of us together might satisfy her curiosity."
"A grand idea," Rick said with an easy smile, his left hand still gripping her shoulder hard enough to bruise. "Though I suspect that Samantha was going to try to find those Hina dolls for Livia before I could manage it."
Hina dolls. "It's only fair," she ventured, mentally crossing her fingers that she was following the hint he'd shoved at her. "You've been a Donner family favorite for better than ten years. I have some catching up to do."
Richard wasn't certain how much of a favorite he was with at least one of the Donners right now, but he would deal with that later. He took the seat beside her, while Yvette ended across from him and August at the head of the table opposite Aubrey. A gentleman escort, a thief, and the three most avid collectors of Japanese antiques on the East Coast. And him. Life was very strange, sometimes. And much more often since he'd met Samantha.
The waiter appeared to take the drink and lunch order of the three late arrivals, while Samantha smiled and chatted and played the novice in awe of the professionals and looking for any information they would be so gracious as to share with her. Thankfully Hina dolls originated at the same time as Minamoto Yoritomo's armor, during the Heian period. That was the reason he'd chosen them—a flanking maneuver in order to acquire the information he wanted. They wanted, he amended with a sideways glance at Samantha.
"Do you know why Hina dolls are always royalty or members of the royal court, rather than samurai?" she asked.
Of course she would know about Hina dolls. They weren't as exciting or lucrative as diamonds or rare paintings, but some of them were worth hundreds of thousands of yen. Right up her alley, as it were.
"The dolls are traditionally put on display, nationally in Japan, in fact, on Girls' Day," Yvette said conversationally. "I suppose samurai are too warlike for such a celebration."
Toombs shook his head. "Girls' Day is a recent idea," he said in his absurd Kwai Chang Caine monotone. Didn't the poof realize that Caine was Chinese? Well, half Chinese, though admitting that he knew the plot of Kung Fu
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