Her beautiful face.
“Or a cameo brooch of a lady holding a croquet mallet upraised in her hand?” Rob added, making a show of holding a mallet and swinging it into the air as though about to bring it crashing down on someone’s head.
The poor jeweler looked perplexed.
Fiona took pity on him. “A cameo brooch might be just the thing, but depicting a more classical design. The Muses, perhaps.”
“I have something better.” His eyes brightened suddenly. “I just received a shipment of rings and amulets made by Italian artisans. The stones themselves are of lapis lazuli, a blue healing stone brought to the ancient land of Egypt from one of the mountainous regions along the Silk Road. These stones signify wisdom and truth. They are also considered to be love stones.”
Rob nodded. The fellow had caught on.
The jeweler rushed through a curtain into his back room and returned with a large box. Opening it, he began to set out several of the blue pieces on a cloth of softest white velvet. “This amulet is a depiction of Isis, goddess of love and fertility. See how the blue glistens. There is no deeper, richer blue than lapis lazuli.”
Fiona tensed almost imperceptibly.
Rob felt her response at the mention of fertility because he had his hand lightly resting on the small of her back.
“And this ring?” Rob asked, pointing to a rounded stone in a plain setting.
“Also lapis lazuli, Your Grace. Magical, don’t you think? The wearer shall know wisdom and truth.”
Fiona was staring at it in utter fascination.
“I’ll take the ring. And the amulet. Can you have the amulet set in a necklace?”
The jeweler eagerly nodded. “Yes, it is already fitted with a clasp to be put on a gold chain. Suitable for a bracelet or a necklace.”
“Good. Show us some gold chains,” Rob said.
After selecting several necklace chains for Fiona, Rob made arrangements to pay the jeweler.
Fiona walked out of the shop while he finished his transactions, but Rob took her absence as an opportunity to add one more item to his purchases. A healing stone, just the chunk of it that was thick and not yet formed into any piece of jewelry. Was it possible there was a magical aspect to these stones? He would willingly dance naked around a bonfire with antlers on his head if that were needed to unleash its mystical strength.
Yes, he would do anything if there were a chance these talismans could work to heal Fiona. After all, miracles were known to occur. Not that he believed in them, for he was quite cynical about life and its rewards. In truth, he had lost faith years ago.
Still, unexplained things occasionally happened.
He glanced up at the firmament. “Prove me wrong…please.”
He would give Fiona the ring and amulet after supper tonight, but would keep the rock for himself until he figured out the perfect spot to place it in her home.
For now, he would tuck it in one of the bureau drawers in his guest chamber, the drawer where he kept his undergarments. No one was going to dig through there, and it was no one’s business what he planned to do with that stone.
“Stupid clot,” he muttered to himself, knowing he would have laughed at anyone else doing the same.
If Fiona rejected his offering of that chunk of stone, then he would keep it and be the proud owner of a pretty paperweight to hold down his documents while he worked in his study with the windows open.
It was after six o’clock by the time they returned to Shoreham Manor, both of them hot, tired, and ready for a quick swim. Fiona’s maid helped her change out of her gown and into a bathing gown. But Rob had to wait to see her in it, for Fiona came down the stairs wearing a billowing bathing robe that covered her from shoulder to foot.
Too bad.The blasted thing was too big for her slight body and looked hideous.
“Here,” Mrs. Harris said, scrambling toward her with a large pouch as she marched downstairs. “Towels and a blanket for you and His Grace.”
Rob took it out of her hands. “I have it.”
“Oh, perfect. Thank you for thinking of us,” Fiona said, smiling at her housekeeper.
Rob struggled to suppress a grin, watching Fiona as she placed a bathing hat on her head. It was more of a mobcap than a stylish hat, but had the same effect of making her eyes look enormous. Sparkling and beautiful.
