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Their faces gently illuminated by the candle-filled boat centerpiece, the Siderises professed to enjoy the soda bread.
Vassilis asked for a second slice. “Ugly as sin,” he stated mercilessly, staring at the bumpy loaf. “But tastes of heaven!”
Helen laughed, unable to disagree. It wasn’t as elegant as the intricateChristopsomo. Vassilis asked Helen her opinion as soon as she tried their bread.
“As delicious as it is beautiful,” she said honestly.
As are you. Nicholas’s eyes conveyed his thoughts.
She glanced away with a furtive smile, cheeks pink, noting that the rest of the family was already engaged in a spirited debate about their favorite Greek holiday breads.
They removed to the drawing room to, as Sirena explained, build their appetite for the coming Christmas feast. That space, too, had been transformed.
A servant finished lighting the last candle on the tree trimmed with ribbons and sweets. A good six feet tall and set atop a table draped in a green tablecloth, the evergreen towered and glittered. Helen and Pen giggled, circling the tree.
Helen tugged on her arm when they stopped. “You must have spent all week decorating!”
“With a great deal of help from Mama and the servants, who must think us mad! No matter, look how festive this is!”
Vassilis nodded approvingly, a twinkle in his eye. “The way you look upon that tree, you two could be girls visiting from the nursery. That’s good.Verygood! We’ve never had a Christmas tree in this house before, but Prince Albert was right about this German tradition. Boats and trees, boats and trees. We shall have both.”
“I recognize this ship,” Helen said, staring at the model at the base of the tree. “Hydra!”
“Yes, yes,” Vassilis said impatiently. “What else?”
Brought in from its place of honor in the hallway outside of the music room, the replica of the vessel that had carried the family from peril to safety now had stacks of tiny boxes on her deck.
Pen lifted one out and set it atop Helen’s palm. “Tea chests! Mama painted them. Imagine, in only a few months, we’ll see real ones flying onto the docks whenAlacrityarrives, as your brother promised.”
Her hand shook as she beheld the tiny wooden chest painted brown with black-and-gold hinges. The details were painstaking, and she looked at Sirena with gratitude. “These are beautiful!”
“Second only to the real ones filled with first-of-the-season tea. But we shall have to wait for those,” Nicholas said with a smile.
“Meanwhile, I happily accept these,” Helen said, setting the tea chest back in its place with the others. “Thank you, Sirena.”
Waving her hand airily, the woman stepped closer and pointed at the other object that sat beneath the fragrant evergreen branches. “I’m glad you enjoyed those, butthatis your true Christmas present.”
Helen’s eyes widened as Nicholas picked up the large burgundy-colored velvet pouch, drawn tight with a ribbon. She accept it from him gingerly, her fingers closing over what felt like a shallow case within. “Oh, no! I—I have nothing for you. This isn’t right!”
“Tonight was a surprise!” Sirena exclaimed. “Ofcourseyou wouldn’t have brought Christmas gifts in July! This is your Christmas. We had ours in December. Come now. Open it, eh?”
All eyes were on Helen, a phenomenon that had never resulted in a positive outcome, but the beneficence of their gazes helped ease her through the discomfort.
“We could always return to this later,” Nicholas suggested quietly.
Knowing she would only worry about it until the moment passed, Helen plastered on a smile. “It’s as you said, Vassilis—I’m as excited as a child on Christmas. Why wait?”
Part of herwasquite intrigued and touched, and both excitement and nervousness pulsed through her as she drew open the pouch, revealing a glossy wooden case with gleaming hinges.
“Oh!” Pen wriggled where she stood, rippling her pale-green skirts.
Helen sent her an amused glance before unlatching the box, but as soon as she lifted the lid, her expression transformed into shock. She hadn’t known what to expect but had imagined a gift along the lines of pretty English stationery, or perhaps a collection of small carved ships.
Notthis!
All four Siderises spoke as one, with Pen’s voice being the highest and Nicholas’s low register resonating. “Happy Christmas!”
Afraid of handling something of such value, she carefully set the case on the table with numb fingers. Silence abounded while she stared at the necklace. Four strands of opulent pearls with a pale coral-pink luster were nestled in velvet. The necklace featured a side clasp with an enormous emerald encircled by rows of diamonds.
