“Does Anyone Here Speak Russian?” the Duke Asked — His Little Girl Pointed at the Maid Serving Coffee
Chapter 3
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She picked up the pot."Wait," said the Duke of Ashkam.The laughter faltered.He crossed the room in four strides—past the fair gentleman, past Mr. Gedge, past Mr. Pello—and stopped in front of her. Close to, he was even taller than she had thought, and there were shadows under his eyes as if he had not slept in a week. He did not look at her apron or at her hands. He looked at her face."If you speak Russian," he said quietly, "then speak to my daughter, please."Anna set the pot down again. She did not look at the room. She looked at the child, and she went down on her knees on the sawdust floor so that her eyes were level with the little girl's, and she spoke to her the way her own old nurse, Dunyasha, used to speak to her on the dark afternoons of a Petersburg winter:"Hello, little one. My name is Anna. What is yours?"She said it in Russian. And the little girl stared at her as if she had walked straight out of a dream.Then the child answered. It came out in a flood, too fast, the words tumbling over one another. And Anna listened and nodded and said, "Yes," and "I know," and "Oh, my sweet," in the same language.And the coffee room, which had been laughing, went quieter and quieter until there was no sound in it at all except a small girl's voice, telling a stranger everything at once.When it was finished, the child held her arms out.Anna looked up at the Duke for leave. He gave it with one small movement of his head, and he set his daughter down on her feet. She walked straight into Anna's arms, buried her face in the brown apron, and stayed there."Her name is Sonia," Anna said. Her voice was not quite steady. "Sophia Edmundovna, she says, but nobody calls her that except the priest. Her nurse is called Martha. Martha took a fever on the ship and they put her ashore at Elsinore, and Sonia thinks she is dead because nobody could tell her otherwise."The Duke closed his eyes for a moment. "She is not dead," he said. "I had a letter. She is mending. She will come on the next ship."Anna told the child in Russian. The little girl lifted her head and asked something sharp and urgent."She wants to know if you promise.""Tell her I promise."Anna told her. Sonia looked at her father over Anna's shoulder for a long moment with the frank suspicion that only a child of six can manage. And then she said something else, very low.Anna hesitated."What did she say?" the Duke asked."Your Grace, perhaps not here.""What did she say?"Anna drew a breath. Every man in the coffee room was listening, and she knew it.