Page 15 of A Translation of Desire
“The man could be long gone for all I know. His visit could have been nothing,” Augustus pointed out.
“We shall see, but now I’m curious.”
Chapter Five
Rose stretched asshe sat in the research room of Seely House. She had to admit she was impressed with Sarah Martin’s care of the tablets. She’d been concerned about the conditions she would find them in, but they’d been stored perfectly. She stared down at the first tablet and pondered the accuracy of her interpretation of the text.
She would need someone to review her work, and she hoped whatever drama existed between the Hawleys wouldn’t prevent him from doing it. Lord Hawley’s key was different from hers, which made it perfect for verifying the accuracy of her work.
His was designed to examine the similarity of patterns between the Old Persian and Elamite languages in cuneiform texts. Rose built her key using a handful of artifacts containing text written in both cuneiform and hieroglyphs. They’d found the pieces in an area of southern Syria where trading with the Egyptians was common.
Excitement thrummed in her that the tablets she worked on likely contained an epic—a grand story about a quest. If her key worked, she would be the first in her field to decipher anything that in-depth. Analyzing cuneiform text had been possible for years on a small scale, but her and Hawley’s keys would allow scholars to decipher the ancient symbols faster and more easily.
Still, it was only the beginning. Every society and region using the ancient text would require updates to the keys and new analysis. She was fortunate that Hawley studied artifacts inthe same areas as her, which made the keys comparable. Rose smiled, amused that the ancient text revealed that love was regarded with profound awe even thousands of years ago. Her eyes perused her decipherment so far.
Belit and Sibri met one day, a day when, even though their bodies did not touch, their very beings did. They knew in that moment Belit was Sibri’s and Sibri was Belit’s. Belit was a princess, and Sibri a guard. They couldn’t be and resisted until one day Belit’s small hand touched Sibri’s large hand. Fire exploded. The king saw the look that passed between Belit and Sibri and sent Sibri in search of a golden fruit that did not exist. He told him not to return until he found it. Belit locked herself away and vowed never to step outside again until Sibri found the special fruit.
Yes, everything was coming along well. They needed to decipher two more tablets, and Rose hoped they contained the entire story. Thomas believed additional tablets could be missing, but they wouldn’t know for sure until she finished deciphering the ones she had.
“How are things going?” Sarah Martin asked from the doorway, startling her and causing her to knock her notebook off the table. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
Rose leaned down and grabbed the book containing her deciphered text. “It is fine. I was lost in thought. Daydreaming about what we can expect from the tablets.”
“Anything you can share yet?”
Rose nodded. “From my initial review months ago, I suspected that the text contained an epic about a man embarking on a quest so he can be with the woman he loves. Now that I’ve completed my work on the first tablet, I believeI’m correct. The beginning of the epic covers the meeting of the lovers and introduces the quest.”
The woman’s eyes widened with excitement. “Truly?”
She handed Sarah her notebook so she could read the deciphered text. Rose studied her while she digested her work. Lisbeth had mentioned that Sarah was the daughter of the President of the London Society of Antiquaries. Rose pondered how awkward her family dinners must be.
When finished, Sarah smiled at her. “This is exactly what we need for our grand opening.”
“My only concern is we might not have the ending.”
“Let’s hope that isn’t the case, and even so, Addie will love this tale,” Sarah said, before walking to the door and motioning for the club president to join them.
Addie strode into the room with a large smile on her face. “Give me some good news, please.”
She didn’t know Addie well, but the lady had grown on her over the past few days. Initially, she’d been dubious that a lady without any experience in antiquities could be the president of a club focused on the scholarly pursuit of history. She’d been wrong.
Addie made this club function so well. She had unique insights into what would interest London society. Her ability to make complicated or even dull topics interesting was an underappreciated skill that could be impactful in any field.
Sarah handed the notebook to Addie. Her smile widened as she read. Finally, she looked at Rose. “You are brilliant. This is what we will introduce at the talk in a few days?
Rose nodded. “Yes, I can share the text from the first tablet.”
Addie shook her head, grinning. “No. We will have you explain what you think it is and your methods. We don’t want to reveal the text until the grand opening. We are only trying to intrigue them with the talk next week, not share everything.”
Sarah frowned, but Addie held her hand up. “I know how seriously you take the work being done here, but we also have to make a profit. This plan will allow us to do both.”
“I agree,” Rose said, surprising herself.
Sarah sighed. “I suppose I can’t argue with both of you.”
“No, you can’t!” Addie said.
*
