Page 51 of Tempted By the English Marquis
Being Easter Monday, and only a few days since Pope Pius had personally led worshippers inside the arena and around the stations of the cross, Serafina sensed that there was a definite hesitancy on the part of the guides to step forward and ask for a contribution.
She reached inside her reticule and pulled out a handful of coins, offering them to the nearest of the guides. “I don’t need a guide, but you still have to earn a living. Bless you.”
The man took the coins. He had just put them into his pocket when one of the other guides raised his voice. For a moment, Serafina thought his ire was about getting his share of the money, but he wasn’t pointing at her. He was pointing to the guards. Her bodyguards.
“You cannot bring weapons into the Colosseum. They have to stay outside.”
A heated but fortunately brief argument then ensued. The bodyguards refused to leave their weapons behind, and the guides stood their ground. It was left to Serafina to find a solution.
“You will have to wait outside. Lord Holwell and Lady Augusta will be with me inside the Colosseum, so I shall be safe. I promise I won’t go anywhere without them. It will be a short visit this time, as the marquis has plans to conduct some personal business in the center of the city later in the day.”
While the bodyguards grumbled their displeasure at the arrangement, Serafina stood her ground. They were assigned to her for protection, but that didn’t mean they had the right to dictate how she lived.
“Is there a problem?” offered Gideon.
Her brows knitted together in confusion, then she softly smiled at him. “I forget you don’t speak Italian. The guards want to follow us inside while the guides are demanding that if they do, they have to leave their weapons behind.”
“Is that the usual arrangement?”
Serafina shook her head. “No, but since the weekend just past would have been extremely busy with the Easter celebrations the regular guides must have taken today off and these ones are enforcing the rules. I’ve promised my bodyguards that if they wait here, I will remain with you and Augusta the whole time.”
“I see. Well, from the look of it neither party is going to back down. I often find in these sorts of situations that if you just go ahead and start doing what you want, others will be left to get on with it. Shall we?” he said, offering her his arm.
“That sounds like a most excellent idea. Thank you, Lord Holwell.”
Placing her arm in his, a smiling Serafina led Gideon through the entrance and into Rome’s greatest arena.
A grinning Augusta followed. Her words of delight echoed off the stone archway which soared over their heads. “We need to find more places where your guards cannot follow.”
ChapterTwenty-Seven
While Gideon certainly appreciated Augusta’s sentiments, and it was a relief to be away from the sword-bearing bodyguards, he was also concerned that Serafina might be left to pay the price of leaving her personal protectors behind. Not that anyone was going to get within an inch of her if he had his way.
They had gone but a few feet into the Colosseum and were still under the main archway when he stopped. He turned to Serafina. “I don’t want to do this if you are going to get into trouble later. That wouldn’t be fair. If leaving your bodyguards outside in the street will have repercussions, then I would rather we leave.”
She wouldn’t meet his eyes. Instead, her gaze was focused on where their arms still remained entwined. Gideon lay his other hand over hers. Thank heavens for the warmth of Italy, where young women didn’t have to wear gloves during the day.
“Please, Gideon. I need this moment with you,” she murmured.
His chest tightened as she drew in a shuddering breath. Serafina might portray herself to the world as a bright, confident woman, but in that moment, he knew she was far more vulnerable than anyone else might suspect. Her whole life was already laid out before her. She had a future set-in stone as hard as the walls which surrounded them. He couldn’t imagine her being happy about her impending nuptials.
“I don’t want to see you hurt,” he said.
She lifted her head and finally met his gaze. “It’s already too late for that. All that remains now is for me to claim days like today and keep them in my heart.”
He hated seeing the tears which shimmered in her eyes. Even more heartbreaking was the resignation in her voice. She had accepted her fate and was now trying to wring the last moments of joy from her old life.
I wish I could protect you from that future. From heartbreak.
“Who would cause you the most discomfort if they were to discover that you had come here without your bodyguards? At least tell me that much. If I know, I can speak to them, attempt to intercede on your behalf.”
Gideon wasn’t used to feeling this powerless. He was a marquis, an acknowledged future leader of London society. People listened to what he had to say; they did as he asked. But here in Rome, he was nothing more than an English tourist. He couldn’t even speak the language.
“You don’t need to fight any battles for me, Gideon. My mother will likely make her opinion of this morning’s events known to me, and it will no doubt be an unfavorable one. But do not put yourself to any trouble on my behalf. It will only serve to make things difficult for you and your family. Besides, when it comes to me, the only thing which Donna Francesca is concerned with at present is making certain I am ready for the betrothal celebrations.”
His whole body went numb. You could have punched Gideon and he wouldn’t have felt it.
Of course, he knew she was getting married; Augusta had already told him. But having others make mention of Serafina’s impending nuptials was an entirely different beast to hearing it from her own sweet lips.
