Thanks to: Sal Raciti, for the choice Italian phrases;
Carol Proko Easton, for the loan of her splendid books
on Russian icons; Cynthia Drelinger, for computer
processing my pencil hieroglyphics; and my husband,
Walter, and our friend, Owen Halpern, for an
unforgettable journey through England’s beautiful west
country.

In the spring of 1792, Dominick Edward Guy de Ath
Ballister, third Marquess of Dain, Earl of Blackmoor,
Viscount Launcells, Baron Ballister and Launcells, lost his
wife and four children to typhus.

She tangled her fingers in his hair and brought his mouth
to hers. “My wicked darling,” she whispered. “I should like
to see you try.”