Final Chapter: ROOM OF FIRE 51

Chapter 51

Amber Room in Catherine Palace 1931 (hand colored)

If you’re just joining this story, you may want to start from the beginning.

This story follows the first in Jenn’s Rediscovered series, Last Assault on Oak Island.

Onward with the final chapter in the search for the Amber Room. . .

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The giddy rattle in Lauren's stomach grew as she met Elden just before noon. Her brief appearance at the museum that morning was only to pick up a few books she wanted for the weekend. She couldn't rely on herself to remember them during the frenzy of the exhibit in the following days.

The reception was already underway when Lauren entered the conference hall. She spotted Elden with Beth, where the blonde woman was draped in contrasting blue. Elden somehow dislodged himself from Beth's possessive clutch when he saw Lauren and started through the crowd gathered. The cool periwinkle blue silk Beth wore stood out sharply from the amber panels, and Lauren knew the blonde woman's selection was a carefully calculated choice. No wallflower—not Beth.

In all honesty, Lauren had considered wearing a green satin herself. She chose the black formal instead, however, in the interest of the amber cabochon earrings from her Aunt Helen she wanted to wear. She returned Elden's smile as she met him.

He touched a dangling oval earring. "How appropriate." He took her hand and wrapped it around his arm.

"You're sure you want to change guides? Looks like you and Beth are hitting it off quite well."

"A little breathing room." He sent a smile and nod in Beth's direction.

Lauren ignored Beth's annoyed look as she moved farther into the room with Elden. She glanced around as the classical music changed to decidedly northern European piece. "I think everyone is here we dared invite."

Elden laughed lowly. "What an understatement. For over fifty years, no one can find a trace of the original Amber Chamber. Now we've got two exhibitions of it, plus the recreation nearly finished. And all in the space of a few years."

She sighed. Part of the exhibit on display in Berlin would be the mine acquisition Reuben had confiscated in Göttingen. The other portion was most likely what he had purchased from Fredericks but lost to Rybak. "Berlin's exhibit won't be open for another two months. It's nice to be first sometimes."

"Funny, the glut of amber so suddenly." He smiled at her scowl. "Just kidding. Not a sore point with you, is it?"

"Of course not."

They looked to where Gustalav and Madame Varlette were talking with Carlos, Dr. Karen, George Stends, and Howard Cooper. Agnes interrupted Cooper briefly with an excited but whispered message. Even at the distance, Lauren understood the names of several of the Russian and German diplomats the museum had invited.

"Wow," Elden said, also recognizing the names Agnes spoke so animatedly. Genuine admiration brought a sparkle to his eyes. "I figured they'd try a media scene to discredit the exhibition. Looks quite the opposite."

"It is. At first, Berlin's Museum for National Art was skeptical, but Dr. Karen is superb at negotiations." She snapped her fingers. "Within a week we knew what they had, they knew what we had, and both were able to agree to an exchange of information."

He shook his head. "What information could you exchange? I understand Berlin would have information, but State side, what does the U.S. have?"

She winced, the topic politically tender. "The amber had been packed hastily at the Königsberg castle. Two main crates had broad-view drawings of the assembled walls. We had one crate and Berlin another, and not necessarily for the panels we each owned."

He watched the German and Russian dignitaries enter the room with their entourages and greet Stends and Cooper. "Saint Petersburg had all the original drawings. They were being used as a blueprint to recreate the new chamber. They wouldn't help?"

She shrugged slightly. "Yes. But not until they had debated it."

"Money."

"Yes."

"I see." He frowned. "I'm surprised they made an appearance today."

"They're scheduled for the televised opening tonight." She smiled wryly. "They want good relations as much as we do. The chamber tours in five years. The first stop for the special traveling exhibition is the Pushkin Museum in Moscow for six months. The second is the Museum of Danzig, in Gdańsk."

"Under tight security, considering that Rybak guy. Make sure you get the right panels back."

"Oh, we will. Registration and accessioning has been a nightmare, from what Paul told me. He and Dr. Karen will be gone for over a year." At the mention, Lauren looked to Dr. Karen's assistant. During the last six months, she had alternated between devotion and fury with Paul; the first for his role in Colmar, the latter because he refused to let her see the room before the opening.

Once she and Carlos had negotiated with Gustalav at the Mon Bijou for the crates of etched amber, the panels had been shuffled off to Dr. Karen and his close-lipped team of specialists. Dr. Karen had also relieved the Duke of a second grouping of the horn furniture Carlos had fancied, a setting that was not available at the auction. He'd also purchased the garnet necklace worn by Olivia de Havilland.

Lauren's pleas and attempts at persuasion did little to relax Paul's guard over who entered the museum basement room where a score of conservators, restoration specialists, art historians, and preparators worked with the pieces of amber. When the panels were moved upstairs to be erected for display, Paul's strict vigil even worsened.

The only stealthy glimpse he allowed Lauren was while the panels were still in stages of assembly. It had only whetted her appetite and left her amazed and frustrated for a week.

The day rivaled the moment when she had pulled a piece of amber out of the crate in the crypt. There in the museum basement, in one corner, the gilded friezes waited to be hung on the display room walls, empty frames that appeared as ornate appliqués, silently waiting. Paul had passed these, heading for the rows of tables, then came back to curb Lauren's distraction when she paused to imagine the amber set into the empty frames.