36. An Inscription Revealed
CHAPTER 36
AN INSCRIPTION REVEALED
A few hours later, Vouros Mansion
Marcus angled his head first to one side and then the other as he studied the marble inlay of the front door of Vouros Mansion. “How did you even think to do this?” he asked of his sister, who was at that moment sitting on the marble tile floor, cross-legged, scraping paint off the bottom half of the marble. Brown flakes of paint covered her breeches and littered the floor around her.
“Randy noticed something when Mother was escorting him out earlier,” Diana replied.
Blinking, Marcus stepped away from the door and glanced down at her. “Escorting him out?” he repeated. “Forster was here?”
Diana sighed and set aside the wooden-handled scraper she had been using to clear away the paint. When the butler understood what she was doing, he had offered the tool normally used for masonry work. The flat metal allowed her to clear away larger sections of paint than she had been able to with her father’s razor. “He insisted on walking me home and was here when Mother and Father arrived,” she explained.
“Did something happen?” he asked, turning to lean against the adjacent wall, one booted foot crossed over the other.
Diana glanced up from her work, not sure how to respond. After their attention had been captured by the inscription in the front door, nothing more had been said about her discovery with the Gisborn heir. “Nothing of note,” she said with a shrug.
Even during dinner, the conversation had been all about their parents’ time in Rome and subsequent sailing to Piraeus. During the dessert course, Marcus announced he planned to marry Miss Jane and wondered if their father would agree to assist with acquiring a writ of acceleration so he could take his place in Parliament.
Although their father seemed hesitant at first, he soon agreed to Marcus’ plan—especially when their mother displayed such glee at learning her son would soon be marrying.
“Best wishes, by the way,” Diana said. “Miss Jane is a lovely girl. She’ll make a perfect viscountess.”
Before the small glasses of liquor had been served, their mother, obviously weary from the day’s travels, had retired, and their father soon joined her. Michael was next, claiming he needed to be up early for work on the Acropolis.
Marcus and Diana remained at the table until the liquor was drunk and she excused herself to change back into a pair of breeches to resume scraping the front door.
“Thank you. It means a lot coming from you,” Marcus said.
Diana furrowed a reddish-blonde brow. “What do you mean?” she asked. “Coming from me?”
He shrugged, uncrossed his arms, and pushed himself away from the wall. “You’re planning a life as a spinster,” he reminded her. “There will be no wedding in your future.”
“That doesn’t mean I would deny others the right to marry,” she argued. “Besides, I’ll be gaining a sister,” she said, allowing a grin.
Apparently surprised she wasn’t trying to disabuse him of the idea of marrying Jane Fitzsimmons, Marcus turned and headed for the stairs. “Don’t stay up too late, Sister. Mother said we have a guest coming for breakfast,” he said. “Good night.”
“Good night,” Diana replied, her attention going back to the marble while the reminder of Randy had her reliving their kiss in her mind’s eye.
Before this afternoon, she never expected to discover the joy found in a kiss. The all-consuming sensations of pleasure and desire the touching and suckling of lips could incite beneath one’s skin. The sense of security she had felt at being held in another’s arms.
The odd way her heart seemed to contract when the kiss had ended.
Actually, that hadn’t happened until he had spoken words that sounded like a vow.
I will be yours and yours alone .
The knock coming from the other side of the door had her jerking in surprise. She reached up and pulled down the handle, opening the door only a few inches. A pair of Hobys were in her direct line of sight. When her gaze slowly went up, she wondered if her thoughts of Randolph Forster had somehow conjured him into existence, for her second cousin stood there, ramrod straight, his breaths coming in short pants as if he had been running.
For a moment, she didn’t say anything, and for the same amount of time, he didn’t seem to realize she was on the other side of the door, watching him from below.
“Hello,” she said, scrambling to her feet as she opened the door wider.
She saw him blink in confusion before he said, “Hello.” He visibly swallowed. “Might I be allowed?—?”
“Come in,” she whispered quickly, reaching out to capture his wrist with one hand. “And see what you’ve made me do,” she added, her voice sounding accusatory.
His confusion still apparent, Randy slipped inside, his attention immediately going to the brown paint chips that were scattered all over the marble tile floor. Two lanterns were lit, as was the overhead light hanging from the ceiling. Beyond the entry, a candle lamp burned in the parlor, apparently the only other source of light on the ground floor.
Then his gaze went to the back of the door. Nearly all the marble had been exposed, its brown paint almost entirely scraped away. Left behind were lines of paint embedded in the Old Attic inscription.
“For the good fortune of the Council and the People of Athens?—”
“ Athenians ,” Diana corrected him. “We greet?—”
“ Welcome, ” he countered, “the Roman known as?—”
“Pausanias,” Diana said, grinning in delight.
“But he was Greek,” Randy argued, although he displayed a grin matching hers.
“Yes, but Greece was under Roman rule at the time,” she reminded him.
“Oh, of course,” he replied, one finger tracing the next line of Ancient Greek words. “A son of Lydia.” He paused and sobered. “A mention of a mother but not a father?” he questioned.
“He was born in Lydia,” she replied. When she noticed his blank expression, she added, “It was once an Iron Age kingdom in western Anatolia. Sardis was its capital,” she explained.
“You really do remember everything,” he said in awe.
She nodded before turning her attention back to the inscription. “Who has arrived...” She shook her head. “Come to...?” she guessed.
“ Reached our city for the purpose of recording our...” He sighed in frustration when he struggled to interpret the last word of the inscription. “History?” he guessed.
“Heritage,” Diana said in a whisper.
“Heritage,” he confirmed. He chuckled softly. “Where do you suppose this was originally located?” he asked, waving to the marble. At some point, the thin slab had been inlaid into a wood panel that was now the front door, a carved wooden frame around it keeping it in place.
“The agora, perhaps,” she replied. “At some point, someone must have realized it was in danger of breakage and thought to preserve it this way.”
“And then someone much later must have decided they didn’t want it to show and painted it over.”
“They may not have been able to read it,” Diana said on a sigh. “The inscription isn’t particularly deep.”
Randy crossed his arms and stared at the marble for a moment before he said, “I like it much better like this.”
“As do I,” she said. She inhaled softly and let the breath out in a whoosh . “You’re here rather late. Did you expect to find me up on the roof?”
“Would you have been there if not for this?” he asked, pointing to the door.
She shook her head. “I think the nights of falling stars have come to an end, at least until the next meteor shower,” she murmured.
“Pity,” he said. “I rather enjoyed our nights together. In fact, I am here because... because, well, I don’t want them to end.”
“Randy,” she whispered.
“I love you, Diana.” He ignored her look of shock and added, “I meant what I said about being yours. For life. I want us to be wed. I want you to be my countess.”
She swallowed, unaware he had taken one of her hands in his. Before she could put voice to a response, he took her other hand and kissed the back of it.
“We can go to Egypt on our wedding trip and then to Rome and then to... Oxfordshire,” he said, obviously trying hard not to make the last destination sound as disappointing as it would be to her.
“Oxfordshire?” she repeated.
“Where you can continue your avocation.”
She scoffed softly. “How?” she asked in disbelief.
Randy extracted his mother’s letter from his waistcoat pocket and unfolded it. He held it out to her and said, “It seems the Gisborn lands contain a number of these,” he said, pointing to the drawing of the coin.
“A Roman aureus,” she said in awe.
“My uncle said my father found several about a decade ago. They were near the River Isis.”
Her eyes widened as she studied the drawing. “If there are coins, then surely there must be ruins there,” she reasoned. “Mayhap a Roman settlement?”
“My thought as well,” he said. He dipped his head as he raised her hands to his lips, kissing the knuckles of both before he straightened. “Will you marry me, Diana?”
She visibly swallowed. “You would truly allow your countess to dig in the dirt?”
His gaze darted to the side. “Yes,” he replied. “If it makes her happy, of course.” At her look of disbelief, he added, “Mother does it all the time. She likes to tend to the garden.”
Diana seemed satisfied with his response, but then she asked, “Would you allow your countess to travel?”
He pretended to think for a moment before allowing a shrug. “As long as I’m welcome to join her.”
“Would you allow your countess to wear breeches?”
He nodded. “Oh, most certainly.”
She displayed a smirk. “You’ve given me much to consider,” she said, crossing her arms.
“Do you require more? In order to make your decision in my favor?” he asked.
“Are you trying to bribe me?” she accused.
“Maybe,” he replied. “Is it helping?” His attempt at keeping a straight face failed, and he chuckled softly. “I don’t expect an answer right away,” he admitted. “Even if you haven’t decided by the time I come for breakfast in the morning, I’ll try very hard to be patient.”
She nodded and sighed.
“Oh, and congratulations on your discovery,” he said, waving to the marble inlay.
“It was actually yours,” she countered.
“But you had to do all the work to uncover it,” he said, motioning to the paint flecks that littered the floor. He lowered the handle on the front door, pulling the door open a few inches. “Sleep well, my love,” he whispered. He lifted her hand to his lips, holding it a moment longer than necessary before he bowed and disappeared out the door, carefully pulling it closed behind him.
He made it almost all the way to the waiting town coach before the front door opened again. He turned and was nearly bowled over when Diana ended up in his arms.
“You forgot to kiss me,” she accused, her hands gripping his arms as she stood on tiptoes.
Randy grinned and heaved a sigh of relief. “I promise I shan’t make that mistake again,” he replied, wrapping an arm around her waist as he captured her lips with his own. Although it wasn’t nearly as long as the kiss they had shared earlier that afternoon, the shorter kiss seemed to satisfy Diana. She lowered herself until she was standing on both feet.
“I’ll give you my answer in the morning,” she whispered.
He gave a start, thinking she already had with her demand for a kiss. “Then I’ll be sure to bring your betrothal ring with me,” he countered.
“You really are trying to bribe me.”
He placed a hand at the back of her head and dropped a kiss on her forehead. “Apparently, it’s working,” he whispered. “Now, off to bed, or I’m going to take you to Engels Mansion with me and have my way with you,” he threatened.
Giving him a slight curtsy, she turned and headed back toward the house. Before she opened the door, she turned and asked, “Are you staring at my derriere?”
His back against the coach door, Randy crossed his arms and grinned. “I am.”
When she huffed and went into the house, he sighed and called up to the driver. “Back to Engels Mansion.”
“Yes, my lord.”
M eanwhile, in a bedchamber on the second floor
“Whatever are you doing over there?” Jasper Henley asked. He sat up in bed and leaned over to turn up the flame on the nightstand’s candle lamp.
Marianne, wearing a night rail, her newest spectacles, and a huge grin, let go of the edge of the velvet drape she had been holding and stepped away from the window. “I was sure I heard voices is all,” she said. “Thought I would try out my new spectacles to see if they worked in the dark.”
He watched as she climbed back into bed. “And do they?” he asked.
“Not a bit,” she whispered happily, removing the eyewear to place them on the nightstand.
Grunting, Jasper turned down the candle lamp flame before he gathered her against his body. “Now you’ve given me all sorts of ideas,” he complained.
“Of all the things you can do to a blind woman in bed?” she asked hopefully.
His gasp was loud as she tittered in delight.