to the chimney and he took her hand and led her over. At the ledge, he shrugged from his jacket and placed it there, and then assisted her to sit down. Then he lowered himself beside her.
They were positioned away from the road, and no passersby should be able to look up and see them. The view from the top was different and she looked about her, inhaling the crisp but smoky night air into her lungs.
Maryann reached for the basket, suddenly and unexpectedly nervous. “I do not know how you lost Arianna. You deeply mourn her, and I am sorry there is a pain that still lingers in your heart. If there is a heaven— Crispin says there is not, but I do not believe it to be so, why there are many philosophical arguments that—”
She broke off her rambling at the tender smile which appeared on his mouth.
“There is no need to be nervous,” he said.
She laughed shakily, opened the basket which had been tightly locked. “I collected these a few hours ago.”
Fireflies lifted gently into the air. At first it was just dozens of beetles flying away, grateful to be out of their captivity. Then one by one, their luminescent light began to glow.
“I read that they are really called Lampyris noctiluca,” she said, delighted with the dozens of lights which started to blink on one by one in the dark sky. The lack of stars in the cloud-fogged city illuminated the iridescent beauty of their glow even more. “And only the males are capable of flight since they have wings.”
“And the females don’t?”
“Not for this type of firefly, which is more common to Europe and the United Kingdom. Isn’t that interesting? I bought the book; you may read it if you wish,” she said a bit shyly, glad that he was not turned off by her eclectic reading choices.
“It is very interesting, and I shall enjoy listening to you read it to me.”
She turned to look at him, and the smile which had been forming died. His eyes held her in place with their unblinking intensity. Nicolas slowly lifted her veil and hat from her so he could assess every nuance of her expression. He drew her into his side, and she went, pressed intimately against him. Then he dipped his head and kissed the bridge of her nose. “Thank you for the beautiful gift of your company.”
A warm silence remained as they watched the dozens of fireflies disperse. “Look,” she said, pointing to the lights flickering below in the grass. “Those are the females, responding to the mating call of the males.”
They watched as some of the fireflies dipped, their light creating a dance of beauty as they sank into the grass.
She wondered how much he would trust her, and if she should encourage him to speak of her. Maryann decided to merely listen and allow him to determine how much he wanted to share with her. She lightly touched his jawline. “Nicolas, will you tell me what happened to Arianna?”
…
His Maryann leaned her head back and gazed into his eyes. Such trust glowed in her face, such sweet kindness. When she’d entered his library earlier, the hollowness which had lingered in his gut had filled instantly. The sense of peace and happiness had just blossomed through Nicolas.
“This might be the very first year I feel an easing of the hatred in my heart…and guilt,” he murmured. And it is because of you. Not only because he saw a future in her, but also because Nicolas felt as if he had accomplished justice for Arianna. The waiting was coming to an end.
“Five men attacked Arianna, and she…she was not able to bear it,” he murmured. “She flung herself into a river.”
Shock and horror blasted onto Maryann’s face, and she pressed a hand over her heart. In her eyes, he saw an awful alarm and a question: was this the heinous act he believed her brother to be a party to?
“How did you discover what had happened?”
His chest lifted on a deep, silent sigh. “She left a letter behind.”
“Do you want to share its contents?” she asked hesitantly.
“The eagle soars indifferently while the wolf betrays the dove,” he began, glancing into the starless sky.
“You memorized it.”
“It is seared behind my eyes so should I close them, it is there to remind me I deserve no rest until it is done.”
“I want to weep at the guilt I hear in your voice,” she said softly. “You were