Page 80 of Terms of Trade (Trade Wind 4)

Helen tried not to gape at the impressiveness of the large stone bridge—and the Italianate brick-and-stucco tollbooths.

“Twelve pence!” called out the tollbooth collector to the coachman.

“Come, trade places with me so you sit next to the window,” Pen urged.

“Thank you,” Helen said breathlessly, grateful for the chance.

“Do you spy Oliver’s Island?” Nicholas asked when they were underway again.

“I do! What is that tiny wooden castle on it?” She laughed with delight at the lovely structure on the tree-covered spot in the middle of the Thames.

“In times past, it’s what served as a tollbooth in this spot, levying charges on passing boats.”

“It’s most charming for a tollbooth!”

“Quite,” Nicholas agreed. “You Millers join many others who have made history with your navigation of the Thames, you know. Near Kew Bridge is the place where Julius Caesar himself crossed the river with his army on one of his expeditions to Britain.”

Pen laughed deeply, linking her arm through Helen’s. “Wemustremember to tell Elijah when he returns. I should think he’ll be most pleased to have been mentioned in the same breath as Julius Caesar!”

“Yes, he would!”

Vassilis slapped his own knee. “What is this about Julius Caesar? Why speak of Romans when their greatest accomplishment was stealing their gods and stories from the Greeks?”

“I have it!” Sirena exclaimed suddenly. “It’s Kew Gardens!”

“Kew Gardens?” Pen asked disbelievingly.

“Kew Gardens,” Vassilis confirmed with relish.

Sirena frowned. “Hmm. It’s the only place I can imagine going from here—but how are the gardens an inspiration for the venue of the Great Exhibition?”

“You will see,agápi mou! You will see.”

When they arrived, Nicholas exited the carriage first and took over for the footman at the base of the retractable stairs, assisting everyone else down. Helen’s elbow hadn’t stopped tingling from where Nicholas touched her when Sirena slipped her arm through hers.

“Come, let us introduce you to the Robertsons.”

Once they approached Clara, Sirena squeezed Helen’s arm before letting go and hurrying over. David Chadbourne stood next to the Robertsons, and Helen’s first impression was that while the Earl looked as she remembered—stuffy and proper—his sister and brother-in-law looked far more human.

Despite their elaborate gowns with immense bell-shaped skirts, Sirena and Clara embraced each other warmly and tightly. Clara, quite tall, bent to accept the other woman’s traditional kisses on both cheeks. By dress and posture, she would fit in at Miss Smith’s Tearoom with every other aristocrat or rich merchant’s wife, but not if she showed the same warmth as now.

Perhaps, though, Helen shouldn’t have been surprised by the open affection—the Siderises had expressed their fondness for the Chadbourne family without reserve. She hadn’t expected an English earl’s sister to appear so vibrant.

“Irons,” James Robertson said, clasping Nicholas’s palm. As they shook hands, Helen saw the mutual respect and easy rapport they shared.

She glanced away before they could catch her staring rudely, but the sight of the three men in their prime had been fascinating. James Robertson should have been the odd man out with his hatless head and muscled body, whatever his fine dress.

But it was David Chadbourne who had seemed set apart. Like Nicholas and Vassilis, he wore a top hat, but he stood rigidly, and a cloud of aloofness surrounded him. Helen should have found him arrogant and unappealing, but was struck instead by compassion.

While Pen embraced Clara, Helen allowed her gaze to return to Nicholas, and finding him watching her, tried to keep her smile subdued.

“Lord Anterleigh!” Vassilis boomed. Helen couldn’t prevent her mirth from spilling over when Vassilis seized David Chadbourne’s arm and pulled him into an embrace.

Will he be rigid as an oak plank?

No, the Earl softened a bit, allowing himself to be embraced, and even patted the shorter man on the shoulder. “Vassilis, very good to see you.”

“David, each time I see you, you look more like your father, eh?” Vassilis even reached up to cup the Earl’s cheek for a moment.

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