"Chelsea Quinn Yarbro - Olivia 1 - A Flame in Byzantium" - читать интересную книгу автора (Yarbro Chelsea Quinn)

to you, and so that you do not fall into error, I, Andros Trachi, offer the advice of my wife to
guide you in your first ventures here. Doubtless, since Romans are more lax than we, you have
grown accustomed to a level of license that might ill-prepare you for the more decorous and
dignified life of this great city. Doubtless you will not want to make yourself conspicuous with
actions that are repugnant to those of breeding and distinction. What can be thought charming
and eccentric in Roma could give offense in Konstantinoupolis, and lead to unpleasantness which
you must wish to avoid.
I look forward to being of service to you in this matter, and I am honored to have so great a
lady purchasing the property that the General Belisarius has arranged for you to own.
In Christian friendship,
Andros Trachi



Each footfall produced echoes, and both Olivia and Niklos had to resist the urge to tiptoe through the
vast, empty rooms of the house that Olivia had purchased.
"And I did purchase it," she insisted to Niklos after they had endured the obsequious greeting of
Andros Trachi. "It's barbaric, their insistence that all negotiations be done by men."
"You mean, it isn't Roman."
"Not that Roma is much better, now," Olivia said quietly. "Even a century ago, it was not so bad."
She looked around the great gloomy vestibule. "I suppose I'll grow accustomed to it."
"It is austere," said Niklos with a trace of amusement.
"It is tomblike," she said, her nose wrinkling. "I expect it to smell of mold."
"But it doesn't; it smells of paint," said Niklos, indicating one of the walls where work had already
begun.
"I trust that they will be finished soon; as much as I am grateful to Belisarius' cousin, I don't know how
much longer I can endure to remain under the same roof with her. At least I had the opportunity of her
hospitality so that I would not have to accept the kind offer"тАФher voice was sweet with sarcasmтАФ"of
that unctuous Trachi. I can think of few things I would have wanted less."
"And there are other considerations, are there not?" said Niklos with genuine sympathy.
Olivia did not answer at once; she paced down the room, peering at the ceiling as she went, then
stopped and turned to Niklos again. "Yes. Yes, there are."
"And you are not prepared. You have done nothing to prepare yourself," said Niklos in his most blunt
manner. His warm brown eyes, almost reddish in cast, bored into hers.
"There was not much time," she began, then sighed. "That's my excuse, of course, nothing more." She
stared, unseeing, at the empty room. "I had such hopes for Drosos. The first time he came to me, I
remembered what it was I wanted most, and for a time, I had it again." Now her face softened and she
laughed once, sadly. "How rarely have my lovers cared more for me than themselves. Drosos truly
enjoyed me, and I relished him."
"And the rest of it?" asked Niklos, with a warning gesture to her to keep her voice low.
"Ah, yes, the rest of it. For now there is no risk from the rest of it," she reminded him. "In time, there
might be, but who is to say if there will be time? Drosos is still in Roma and I am hereтАФin
Constantinople." She was more adept than he at indirect speaking. "Certainly something will have to be
arranged in the interim, but I am not as concerned about that as you are. It is always possible to find
something that will do for a while, even here."
"You, cynical?" Niklos teased her with affection.
"I, practical. I, resigned, my friend, not cynical." She pulled the long folds of her bronze-colored
paenula more closely around her. "I don't care if they say this city is hot; I am chilled. There is a darkness
here, a coldness that has nothing to do with the sun."
"Olivia, mistress, be careful who hears you complain. This place is different from Roma in many, many