“You go ahead,” Eli told Jane. “I’ll catch up with you in a moment. I’ll just…get us some refreshments. We can take tea outside.”
“I’ll help you carry everything,” Jane said happily.
“No, you won’t,” Eli shot back. “I’ll ring a servant for that. You go on.”
“I insist.” She had an eager glint in her eye that said she knew exactly what she was doing. “Go ahead without us, Uncle Bertie. We’ll catch up in just a moment.”
With that, she flung open the door to the kitchen and dove inside, leaving Eli no choice but to race after her, slamming it shut in their wake. Geórgios sat at the table, a spread of cold meats and pasties before him. At their entrance, he rose to his feet and bowed.
“I asked you to stay upstairs!” Eli hissed.
“I got hungry.” Geórgios’s smile was all innocence, but the timing was too coincidental for Eli to be quite persuaded this was an accident.
Perhaps it’s not too late to explain him away somehow.
But no, one glance at Geórgios revealed how impossible it would be. He cut a figure that would have been out of place anywhere. Aside from his imposing size and his long hair, his mode of dressmarked him immediately as a foreigner. He still wore the traditional fustanella popular in his homeland, but he’d added a waistcoat in the French style overtop, plus a smattering of rings and a gold pin.
In short, he looked like he’d wandered through an assortment of fashion plates and travel illustrations, picking up whatever item struck his fancy.
“So this is Jane!” he exclaimed, looking altogether too pleased with himself for securing the introduction. “Ah! So beautiful.”
“Oh, but you know me?” She appeared delighted where she should have been apprehensive. “I wish I knew your name as well, sir.”
“That won’t be necessary—” Eli began, but they both ignored him.
“Geórgios Diamantopoulos,” he replied, adding another bow for good measure before he reclaimed his seat, even though Jane was still standing. “You may call me Geórgios. I feel like we are old friends, because Eli says so much about you.”
I’m doomed.
“It really isn’t appropriate to use someone’s Christian name without a long-standing acquaintance,” Eli interrupted. “Regardless,Miss Bishopneeds to get back to her family before—”
“Oh no, I’m definitely staying here.” Though no one had pulled out a chair for her, Jane did it herself and plucked a pasty from the plate to underscore her point. “Is that a Greek name?”
“Yes.” The grin hadn’t left Geórgios’s face the whole time they spoke.
“So you must have met Eli while he was stationed there.”
“Yes. We are like brothers!” Geórgios gestured to Eli. “It is he who teaches me English.”
“Jane.” Eli loomed awkwardly over them both. If he sat down, it would mean this was really happening. “Geórgios is leaving England soon, and he has a lot to prepare. He really doesn’t have time forthis. I’d be happy to tell you everything myself if you would give me a moment in private.”
Jane ignored him pointedly, her hungry gaze lapping up each revelation. “Why don’t you start by telling me how you first met Eli? I’d love to hear all about it.”
“Ah, well…” Geórgios hesitated, turning to Eli with a question written upon his face.
“You needn’t worry,” Jane pressed before he had a chance to say anything. “Eli and I are particular friends, and his secrets are safe with me. Besides, he’s just said that he plans to tell me everything himself, hasn’t he? Unless he didn’t mean it?”
She shot Eli a look that dared him to reverse course.
“I meant it,” Eli promised. “Only—”
“Then there’s no harm in hearing it from your friend’s own lips, now is there? Unless you’re worried about what he might tell me.”
What a mess. It was increasingly obvious Jane wouldn’t leave the room unless he hauled the chair out from under her, an option that wasn’t likely to put him back in her good graces. And if he silenced Geórgios now, she would be suspicious of anything Eli tried to explain.
There was no help for it. The truth would come out, and he would have to face the consequences.
“Go ahead, Geórgios,” Eli said, resignation heavy in every word. “As Jane said, we are particular friends, and I trust her with my secrets.”
