4. A Temple Hides a Secret
CHAPTER 4
A TEMPLE HIDES A SECRET
M eanwhile, back in the Temple of Athena Nike
Wiping a stream of perspiration from her brow with a hanky, Diana Henley stood in the temple’s opening and watched her brother and the Earl of Gisborn’s heir as they made their way in the direction of the Parthenon.
For the first time in her life, she had felt true fright. That moment when the light from the opening in the cella had been briefly blocked, she had simply assumed her brother was checking on her. To discover a stranger regarding her with curiosity had her heart in her throat and a thought to flee filling her head.
Her legs wouldn’t move.
Besides, where would she go? The interloper was blocking the only opening in the cella. The only structure within the cella was the altar. She glanced at the flat-topped block and thought of what she had set atop it. Her journal lay open to a page where she recorded the names she found on the walls. Next to it was an ink pot and her quill—hardly useful as weapons.
Given the lack of protection, she did what she always did when she was in a situation not in her control.
She lashed out. Behaved like a spoiled brat. Made herself the one to be avoided.
It usually worked. People gave her the cut direct in social situations. Nodded politely but left her company as soon as they could after meeting her. Made their excuses.
So why hadn’t Randolph Forster?
She had to remind herself that her brother had joined them. That’s the real reason the heir to the Gisborn earldom had stood his ground. Why he hadn’t fled in an attempt to escape her wrath.
Returning her attention to the cella wall, Diana lifted the lantern and continued her examination of the smooth marble—smooth except for the scratchings from centuries of etchings in the form of names and dates of the visitors who had toured the temple over the more than two thousand years since its construction.
Surely she could find the name she was in search of somewhere on this wall.
If not here, there were other temples on the Acropolis where she could continue her search.