The Unquiet - J. D. Robb [68]
And who else would know, and why would they try to steal it? Chase thought.
“Because it is a magic coin.” Lydia’s Grandmama sat forward, her rheumy eyes still managing to convey her excitement.
“Magic?” Lydia asked as though the old lady had misspoken.
“Yes, the coin grants a wish, one wish, to whoever is holding it at the time.” She turned her head as if looking from one to the other. Following the sound of their voices, Chase surmised.
“How do you know it grants the wish?” Chase asked. The story was preposterous. Maybe the old woman just craved attention.
“How else would you explain how Lydia came into our lives and we were able to escape Russia only a little ahead of Napoleon’s invasion?”
“You wished for it, Grandmama?”
“Yes, this is exactly what I said: ‘I wish that my family and I could escape the tragedy that is about to befall our country.’ Not one week later, Alexei brought you home to us and announced that your father would give us the papers we needed to ensure our safe travel. What was that if not magic?”
“But Alexei and I had known each other for months before I met you that evening.”
The old lady waved that away. “He had no idea your father worked at the British embassy when he met you at the shop. You know as well as I do that you were the means by which we escaped.”
“Not to put too fine a point on it, Grandmama, but it was my father who gave you the papers.”
“Yes, that was the beginning, but you were the one who dealt with all those hideous border guards when Alexei had to stay behind. You were the one who suggested that Irina dress as a boy to save her virtue. You were the one who faced death or worse that night we were trapped in that German village. You were the one who found passage for us, and you were the one who knew that Birmingham was the best place for us to settle once Alexei had joined us.”
Lydia closed her eyes, looking for all the world as if she wanted to be invisible. Finally she gave up the pretense. “Anyone would have done that for the people they loved, Grandmama.”
“No, they would not. You know that for the truth, my lord, do you not? You know how special our Lydia is.”
“Yes, I do, and you are right. I have never met anyone quite like Lydia.” It was not magic, but the short story of their escape further proved how loyal Lydia was.
“Exactly so,” Grandmama said and went on. “I gave the coin to Alexei right after we arrived in England. I have no idea what he wished for, but he must have wished for something before he gave the coin to you. What I don’t understand is why he didn’t tell you it was magic.”
“I can guess that Alexei thought he had years and years and years to influence what I wished for.”
“Or he thought that there was nothing magic about the coin.” Chase did not want to sound like a practical Englishman, but that made the most sense to him.
“Then why would he tell me it was my most treasured possession?” Lydia asked.
No one said anything for a minute, but Chase had a feeling the two women were communicating all the same. On Alexei’s failings or what he might have wished for? Or how to prove to him that the coin was magic?
Chase straightened so quickly that the two women were startled. He was an instant convert to the power of the magic coin. “You used your wish, Lydia!”
“I did?”
“Yes, yes, the second time I confronted Nesbitt. He broke my arm. I know he did. And I remember you holding on to your necklace, as you do when you are upset, and then wishing—you used the word wish—that I had not broken my arm.”
“Was there a bright light and a sense of heat?” Grandmama asked.
Chase and Lydia looked at each other and nodded. Chase thought it was the kiss that had generated that sensation. Was it the coin?
“Yes, Grandmama, there was. We were distracted at the moment but, yes, there was both light and heat.”
“Distracted?” she queried, slowly raising her eyebrows. “Indeed.”
Lydia glanced at Chase, who was looking at the