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

the palm of her hand, encrusted with garnets and gold. "Welcome to my husband's house," she said, not
rising.
Olivia smiled without warmth. "I am pleased to bring you his greetings and remembrances," she said,
hoping that she had come close to the proper formula.
"And this"тАФshe indicated the other woman in the roomтАФ"is Eugenia. She is the widow of Katalinus
Hyakinthos, who was the bastard of Elezaros." This name was apparently supposed to mean something
to Olivia, and Antonina waited for her response.
"There was aтАж naval commander, wasn't there?" She hoped that her memory was correct; she
sensed that neither woman would be forgiving of an error.
"My husband's father, yes. They were killed in the same storm." She was not as tall as Antonina, nor
quite as richly dressed. Her body was rounder and softer, more yielding, and her posture was more
inviting. She, too, wore an enormous paenula, hers of a deep sea-green shot with gold, and her tablion
was not as large or as be jeweled as Antonina's.
"How unfortunate," said Olivia.
"My husband sends me word that you, too, are a widow." She pointed to another couch, making it
clear she wished Olivia to sit there.
"For many years, yes," she answered candidly.
"Yet you are not ancient," said Antonina.
"I wear my years well," Olivia said.
"That may be fortunate," Antonina declared. "Widows are not uncommon and it is not always the
most simple thing to find them proper mates. There are men who prefer women who have never been
married to those who have. I was fortunate, for my husband told me from the first that he was pleased
that he had found me a widow, for that meant I knew men and I knew marriage. I was most pleased that
he felt that way, and I told him then, as I have continued to tell him, that no woman can appreciate a
marriage until her second one." She smiled, and it was clear she expected her two guests to smile as well.
Realizing that this was likely to be more awkward than she had thought at first, Olivia said, "That may
be, and certainly I have no means to tell, but let me assure you, august ladyтАФ"
"You must call me Antonina," she purred.
"You are all kindness," said Olivia, going on before she could be distracted. "Let me assure you that I
have not come to you with the hope that you will supply a husband upon request. I have had such
experience of marriage that I am not in a hurry to resume my married state. For a time, I am content to
be a widow, and if this does not exclude me from friendships and society, I will abide as I am." She
folded her hands in her lap and gave what she hoped was a trusting and guileless look to her hostess.
"No woman has a distaste of marriage," Antonina said in a manner that would clearly tolerate no
disputes.
"I have, I am afraid. My husband was a man of strange appetites which he imposed upon me and that
has left me with a lack of trust of marriage." She regarded Eugenia, hoping she might find an ally. "If your
husband held you in respect and affection, then you have known two things I never had from my
husband."
"It is not fitting to speak against the dead, let alone a dead husband," announced Antonina, but she
relented. "If what you say is true, then the Church failed you, for it is the responsibility of the priests to be
certain that God's commands are obeyed on earth. As you are to be submissive to the will of your
husband, so he is to give you care and comfort."
Privately Olivia thought that the last characteristic she saw in Antonina was submission, but she made
no comment about it. "The priestsтАж were not as apt to take a hand," she said, trusting that her vagueness
would be seen as tact instead of the evasion it was.
"There are those who do not uphold the honor of their God as they ought," said Antonina, directing a
hard glance at Eugenia. "I have said that your priest was wrong in permitting you to travel to Cyprus
without a guard to accompany you."
"He said that since there were others in the ship who were also visiting the shrine that it would be