Page 23 of Mysterious Teacher : Arrival
Sonya shrugged. “Had I not been so quick to marry him, perhaps I could have visited Buckingham Palace like I’ve always dreamed. Oh, and what I wouldn’t give to go see a play...something dramatic and intriguing at the Shakespeare Globe Theater.”
“I’m with you on that one,” April said. “I love the theater. There’s a small amphitheater in the next town and they occasionally have amateur theater in the park type of thing...you know,Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, The Taming of the Shrew...things like that.”
“If you wish, we could study a bit of Shakespeare. I’ve read almost all of his works and I’ve yet to be disappointed. I’m quite partial toA Midsummer Night’s Dream. And, of course,The Tempest.”
April clasped her hands together in delight. “Oh.I would love to study Shakespeare. Oh, to readHamletandOthello.”
“I’m sure that we could look into those.”
“Ha!”Igor grunted.
Sonya glanced quizzically at him.
“Shakespeare is a paltry writer when compared to Germany’s great.”
“Really?”Sonya said. “Like who?”
“Johann Wolfgang von Goethe,” Igor said with pride. “Poet. Dramatist. Creator of the modern romantic hero.”
Remembering what little she’d learned of German literature, Sonya nodded. “Ah, yes.The Sorrows of Young Werther.”
Igor nodded. “Die Leiden des Jungen Werther.”
“That is a very interesting work,” Sonya conceded. “A love triangle that becomes so destructive.”
“Don’t forgetFaust,” Boris said.
Igor let out a bellowing laugh. “Ah, yes. How can we forgetFaust?” He eyed the women with contempt. “A pact with the devil. Tell me how your Shakespeare can do better than that.”
“I wouldn’t take you as a God-fearing man,” Sonya said.
“You are right,” Igor spat.“I do not believe in anything.I believe only in the good of the state.Faustis merely fiction, but better than the rest.”
“Good literature is good literature, no matter the origin,” April calmly told him before turning to Sonya. “Did you know that, Queen Elizabeth I, such a strong and wise ruler, reigned over England at the time of Shakespeare’s writings. She was such a great patron of the arts and it is clear that her strength influenced him.”
“Ha!”Igor let out. “ A man who allows a mere female to influence him is no man at all.”
Ignoring him, Sonya smiled at April. “You know, my nickname is Elizabeth.”
“Is it?”
Sonya nodded.
“You wouldn’t believe it, but my middle name is Elizabeth, too.I feel it is so glamorous like the movie star Elizabeth Taylor.It’s such a pretty name. Classic. Timeless. It never goes out of style.” April looked at Sonya over her steaming cup of tea. “How did you come to have that as a nickname?”
Sonya shrugged. “I don’t know really. My husband started calling me that one day. Maybe it was simply my admiration for the woman. He must have grown so accustomed to hearing me speak of her that the name stuck.”
“And did your husband have a nickname?”
Sonya let out a genuine and heartfelt laugh. “Oh, yes. His nickname was Henry..as in Henry VIII.”
April immediately brought one hand to her neck, stroking her skin gently. “How dreadful.”
Sonya laughed. “Actually, he thought of King Henry as a strong man. A strong king. Imagine that.”
“You don’t have to be very strong to destroy six wives.”
“Well, there was Catherine Parr who managed fairly well, but...yes, indeed,” Sonya said. “The man had the habit of blaming his wives for not giving him a son when it was he who was at fault.”
