Don't Say a Word - Barbara Freethy [27]
Julia took the doll from her bag and set it on the table between them. "I found this doll among my mother's belongings and wondered if you could tell me anything about it."
"Oh, my, this is lovely," Dasha said. She slowly turned the doll around with an admiring gaze. "Beautiful. And very unique. The matryoshka doll is meant to be a symbol of motherhood and fertility. The smaller dolls inside are the babies." She paused for a moment. "The woman's face reminds me of someone. I can't think who. Oh, look at that." Dasha pointed to a tiny mark on the bottom corner of the doll. "There was a famous artist named Sergei Horkin, who used to sign his paintings with this S slash mark. I believe he did paint a few dolls. I can't remember whether it was the subject that was a famous person or if the famous person was the one who commissioned the doll. Either way, this doll could be very valuable if he was indeed the artist."
"Really?" Alex asked. "Is this Sergei still alive?"
"No, no, he died many, many years ago in the 1930s."
"The 1930s? Do you think the doll is that old?" Julia asked in surprise.
"I'm not an expert, but it might be."
"Do the swans or the art have any significance?" Alex inquired.
"Swans are often used in Russian stories," Dasha replied. " Swan Lake, for example."
"A beautiful ballet," Julia said, glancing at Alex. "Have you seen it?"
"No, but I take it that the ballet has something to do with a swan."
"A sorcerer casts a spell that forces young women to live as swans unless they secure a man's undying J devotion," Julia explained. "Siegfried, a prince, falls in love with the swan queen, Odette, but the sorcerer makes his evil daughter, Odile, pretend to be Odette and tricks the prince into promising his love to her. In the end, Siegfried and Odette realize they can only consummate their love by dying together."
"Very romantic," Alex said dryly. "You must die to get love. Hell of a choice."
"But their love was worth dying for," Julia re- ' minded him. She could see that Alex was not at all touched by the story. She wondered if he'd ever been in love. He certainly had a cynical side to him. Was that because of a love gone wrong or no experience with the real thing?
Alex turned to Dasha. "Is there anything more you can tell us?"
"You should talk to my cousin, Svetlana. She runs a shop on Geary called Russian Treasures. She knows everything there is to know about these dolls."
"We'll go there now," Julia said, excited to have a lead.
Dasha quickly dashed her eagerness with a shake of her head. "Unfortunately, Svetlana is out of town until tomorrow night. The girl who runs the shop when she is gone doesn't know anything. She's an American teenager. If you go on Monday, Svetlana will be back then." Dasha stood up. "Now, I must return to work. Don't be a stranger, Alex. And you come back, too, Julia. You look good together."
"Oh, we're not together," Julia replied quickly. "I'm engaged to someone else. Alex and I are… We're practically strangers."
"Sometimes strangers end up lovers," Dasha said. "It happened to me when a stranger asked to share my umbrella in the rain." A soft look came into her eyes. "We were both supposed to be with other people. We'd made promises, but love doesn't always go as one plans, and sometimes promises have to be broken. We've been together forty-two years now, and we've been through many rough storms, but they're easier to bear when there's an umbrella to share and a stranger who has become a good friend." Dasha smiled and returned to the deli counter.
Julia felt a little awkward after that pointed story. She didn't want Alex to get any ideas.
"Relax, Julia," he said abruptly. "I'm not offering to share my umbrella with you."
"That's good. Because I'm engaged."
"You've mentioned that."
"You probably don't even carry an umbrella, do you?"
"It would only slow me down," he replied.
"And a woman would slow you down even more."
He met her gaze head-on. "I've never met one yet who could keep up with me. Are you