Page 142 of The Scandal You Started
Then, in groups of thirty, quick tours were given around the new exhibit, led by the Events team and Rayna, Dominic, and the other curators in turn.
Of course, one of the groups Rayna, Dominic, and Cassie led ended up consisting of the table of people they knew. And once everyone dispersed to look around after a short explanation on the letters and other artefacts that had come out of the archives for the first time, Monty, River, and Kelly gathered around the three of them.
“I didn’t realise there were this many letters,” Kelly said, her arms looped around River’s elbow as she glanced around the glass display cases in the wood-panelled room.
“This isn’t even all of them,” Cassie said with a huff. “We wouldn’t have been able to include the other archive pieces if we’d displayed all the letters. But they’ll be divided between some of the other big museums once some of the local historians who have requested to further study them are done, so none of them will get buried in the archives for quite some time.”
“Wow,” Kelly whispered with the awe of a child, even though in actuality, she didn’t have much of an interest in history itself.
Cassie grinned between Rayna and Dominic. “I honestly don’t know if we would have gotten them all catalogued or pieced the story together on time without the help of these two. So thank you. For all your support.”
“Not at all,” Dominic replied politely.
“We had fun doing it,” Rayna added.
Cassie then turned the same smile to Monty. “And thankyoufor finding Dominic with his big, beautiful brain and for lending us Rayna again.”
Rayna scoffed at the“big, beautiful brain”comment, Kelly laughed, but Dominic looked rather chuffed about it.
“I’m glad to hear they were of great assistance,” Monty said, beaming proudly. “They did an excellent job working with River on a report for another client too.”
“I’m not surprised.” Cassie’s eyes danced knowingly. “They make a very good team.”
Rayna’s heart hiccupped, conscious that Monty might pick up on her suggestive tone, but the older woman was already diverting the conversation with a tilt of her chin.
“I’ll be honest, I want to steal them from you.” She raised her brows at an amused Monty. “I don’t know why you’re laughing, I’m being serious.”
Monty’s expression immediately dropped, causing Kelly to turn into River with a snicker.
Cassie waved a hand around. “I know I can’t steal Dominic, but I would very much like to have Rayna on my team.”
Rayna blinked, her lips parting, having not expected that at all.
“We’re hoping to open a permanent historian position within theTregencyteam here at the Fronis Museum, with the possibility of some overlapping work down at Lord Chambers too,” Cassie said directly to her with an earnest tone. “I think you’d be perfect for it, seeing how well you work with the team already. So I’d really like to offer you the role, Rayna.”
“Look at you getting headhunted,” Kelly sang, knocking Rayna’s elbow with her own.
But Monty spluttered on choked sounds, pulling his hands out of his suit pockets. “You can’t steal one of my historians!”
“Why not?” Cassie sassed. Ignoring the man’s stuttered protest, she said to Rayna, “And I know you haven’t mentioned it before, but if you wanted to do a PhD, we could fully support you with that.”
Rayna stared at Cassie with genuine interest and consideration.
Having never been interested in going into academia, Rayna hadn’t been too fussed about doing a PhD after her undergrad and master’s. But if she ever did leave the POTeM project to work elsewhere, having a PhD under her belt could really help progress her career.
But…
“As much as I would love to join theTregencyteam here,” Rayna said with an apologetic smile, “I don’t think I want to leave Two Worlds yet. There’s a lot there that I’d still like to do.”
Monty’s full-body sigh of relief was cartoonish.
“I had a feeling you would say that,” Cassie said but lifted her brows in question. “How about if it were part-time, so you could still work at Two Worlds? Would that interest you?”
Rayna felt everyone’s eyes land expectantly on her. She couldn’t explain why, but her gaze went straight up to Dominic, and by the looks of the starry shine in his honey-coloured eyes, he was delighted for her.
She glanced around the circle, pausing on Monty’s apprehensive expression, before finding Cassie again. “Can I have some time to think about it?” she said.
The older woman flapped her hands around. “Of course! Of course. Take all the time you need. We can talk about it in more detail too, if you have any questions.”
