Page 49 of A Bloom for a Blacksmith

He had been the one who purchased all the works written by Lady Cavendish the week prior. “Well, this is a surprise,” she said brightly. “Did Lady Woodhurst enjoy her birthday gifts?”

He bowed and grinned. “You remembered,” he said.

“Of course. I rarely sell all the books of one author in a single sale,” she replied. “She hasn’t already read them all has she?”

Chuckling, he shook his head. “Only one so far,” he replied. “However, when she opened the book, she found this wedged between some pages,” he said, holding out the white envelope. “Yours, I take it?”

Stella gingerly took the missive, noting only one word was written on the front.

Her name.

In Ancient Greek.

Written in Darius’s hand.

She inhaled softly. “It is,” she said, awestruck.

“Apologies, but I read it, or rather tried to, in an effort to determine to whom it belonged,” he explained. “I did not know your given name,” he added.

“Oh, it’s quite all right. I imagine it was rather difficult to read given my husband’s poor penmanship.”

His eyes darted to the side before he lowered his voice and said, “I hadn’t seen that language written like that since I was at Cambridge. Pray tell, can you read it?”

Stella shrugged. “Of course. But then I… I was born in Greece,” she said in an equally quiet voice.

He seemed taken aback by this bit of news. “Greece?” he repeated.

“On an island the Turks seemed to have overlooked during their conquest,” she replied, her words meant to emphasize her distaste of the Ottoman Empire. “I was relieved Greece gained its independence, although I realize there are still some particulars to work out,” she commented, glad the London newssheets were good about printing articles about the war. Since England had dispatched its navy to help the Greeks, it only made sense there were regular reports in the news.

“I am of the same opinion,” he replied. “Our navy has been instrumental in their fight. I was happy to be on the side of reason when the issue came before Parliament.”

“I was living in Königreich at the time the war started.”

“Ah, one of the German states,” he commented.

“Yes, I’m rather new to England,” she replied. “Which is why my English sounds rather odd. I’m still trying to master the accent.”

“I hadn’t noticed,” he remarked, his lip quirking.

Tempted to respond with, “Liar,” Stella tittered. “Cambridge University?” she questioned instead. “What had you learning Greek?”

“Well, Latin and Ancient Greek are foundational for Cambridge and for Oxford,” he replied. “For studying the classics. I also learned Arabic, which proved quite useful when I was on my Grand Tour.”

“You did not travel to the usual countries?” she asked, remembering that the area in Germany where she and Darius had lived was popular with Grand Tourists. From there, many went on to Switzerland, Piedmont, the Kingdom of Italy, and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. If Greece hadn’t been under Ottoman rule when Lord Woodhurst would have been of age to be on his Grand Tour, he probably would have gone there, too.

He shrugged. “Given Napoleon’s wars on the Continent, I was forced to be a bit creative as to where I went and how I got there.”

“It must have been fascinating. Egypt?” she guessed.

“Indeed.”

“The Holy Land?”

He arched a brow. “Judea and Samaria,” he acknowledged. “Have you been there, too?”

Stella swallowed, not sure how much she should admit. “Egypt, but I was… quite young,” she spoke hesitantly. “It’s been an age.”

“Huh,” he replied. “You are obviously a worldly woman,” he commented.