It didn’t take long to hop a streetcar and arrive at the Smithsonian. He hurried through the grand entrance of the castle-like building, then vaulted up two flights of stairs and down the hallway to the workroom where Annabelle sat behind a table weighed down with plant specimens.

She looked delighted to see him, and he smiled down at her like a lovestruck idiot. He could stand there and smile all day, but the mound of odd grass before her was too distracting to pass without comment.

“Purple grass?” he asked as he closed the distance between them.

“Pennisetum setaceum,” she said primly. “All the way from East Africa. You should have seen it when it first arrived. The seed heads were magenta. I’m afraid they’re already starting to fade.”

“There’s no way to save the color?” he asked.

“No, but we had an artist make a watercolor when it first arrived. See? I’ll attach it to the back of the specimen page along with the envelope of seeds.”

It would have been fascinating to spend the afternoon rambling about the quirks of wild grasses, but he was on a mission.

“I come bearing an invitation for you and your sister,” he said. “You’ve both been invited to the christening of Kaiser Wilhelm’s new racing yacht this afternoon.”

After he explained Caroline’s dilemma, Annabelle was intrigued. “This might be good for Elaine,” she said. “She’s terrified of water, but so long as she doesn’t have to actually get on the boat, she might enjoy it. Especially meeting the countess.”

Soon Gray was striding toward the Library of Congress with Annabelle on his arm.

“I’d better ask her alone,” she said as they neared the library. “Elaine still gets nervous whenever she ventures out of known territory, so this might take a little persuasion. It’s best done without an audience.”

“I understand.”

She disappeared through the heavy doors, and he once again thanked God to have found Annabelle and that he hadn’t frightened her off with his initial boorish behavior. While cooling his heels, he strode toward the balustrade to watch tourists wander the neatly manicured grounds, especially the young couple leading a pair of children by the hand. Maybe someday soon he’d have a family of his own to escort around the city.

He glanced at his watch. Even if they left now, it would still be a tight squeeze to make it to the Navy Yard in time. He shouldn’t be asking this of Annabelle or her sister, for they had no obligation to make Caroline’s life easy.