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“Lady Romanova,”
“How many times must I ask you to call me “Natalia,” Maria?”
“Apologies, Lady Natalia.”
Natalia sighed and frowned until she noticed the slight smirk that graced Maria’s face. On the other side of the room, Maria’s father, Nicola, was setting up for Yelena’s mathematics lesson. Why their father insisted on hiring an Italian tutor, Natalia did not know, but at least it meant she got to see Maria three times a week.
Maria was different from the other women she had encountered in London. For one, she was well-educated and not just in cooking, sewing, and other household chores. Natalia had noticed that Maria was well-spoken, literate beyond other women of her station, and skilled in mathematics.
There was never any contempt in Maria’s eyes when she looked at Natalia. So many people in this country hated Natalia for her Russian accent and red hair. But not Maria. Not even from the first day they had met. No, her beautiful blue eyes only ever held mild curiosity and respect.
Those eyes were on her now, and Natalia felt as though Maria could see into her soul with them, see her deepest, most intimate desires.
“Как вы наслаждаетесь Лондоном, Леди Романова?” ( how are you enjoying London, Lady Romanova?) Maria grinned when Natalia startled at her words.
She asked the same thing every time she came to the Romanova home, but she had never asked in Russian,
“You speak Russian?” Natalia was too shocked to tell Maria to call her Natalia.
“Я учусь,” ( I am learning )
“Why learn Russian? You already speak Italian, English and Spanish,”
“I thought you might like someone to converse with in your native language.”
Natalia gaped as Maria shrugged indifferently. They spent the rest of Yelena’s lesson in comfortable silence, though Natalia snuck glances at Maria whenever she thought the other woman was looking away. No one had ever done something like this for her, not even the housestaff.
“You stare at the tutor’s daughter quite a bit,” Yelena remarked once Maria and her father had left,
“You should be paying more attention to your lessons, Лена,” ( Lena )
“She’s pretty, it’s peculiar that she isn’t married yet,” Yelena continued as if Natalia had never spoken.
“Men are идиоты who don’t want to marry a woman smarter than them,” ( idiots )
“Why aren’t you married, then?” Yelena sniggered.
Natalia resisted the urge to slap her little sister.
“I will pretend you didn’t say that.”
“Добрый день, Леди Романова,” ( good afternoon, Lady Romanova ) Maria greeted in Russian two weeks after first speaking it to Natalia.
“это Наталья, Мария,” (it’s Natalia, Maria) Natalia smiled, knowing Maria was probably smirking, “Your Russian is improving,”
“Thank you, Lady Natalia,” Maria bowed her head slightly, trying to hide the blush that crept up her cheeks.
“I could help you, if you’d like,” what possessed her to offer, Natalia would never know, “I don’t have anything to do during Yelena’s lessons,”
“I couldn’t possibly compensate you for your time,” Maria shook her head emphatically and Natalia chuckled,
“Don’t be silly, дорогая,” Natalia ignored Maria’s confusion at hearing the unfamiliar word, “it’s more for my sake, I want to be able to hold full conversations with you.”
“If that is what you wish, Lady Natalia,” Maria gently brushed her fingers over Natalia’s, “then I would be much obliged to agree to your generous offer.”
There was something about the way Maria spoke Russian that made Natalia weak-kneed. In the two months since they had begun their lessons, Maria had become almost fluent in Russian, and the way the words rolled off her tongue felt like a warm summer breeze.
“Ты сегодня прекрасно выглядишь, леди Наталья,” ( you look beautiful today, lady Natalia )
“I think we are passed such formalities, Солнышка,” ( sunshine ), Natalia loved calling Maria nicknames,
“My apologies, Наташа,” ( Natasha ), heat blossomed in Maria’s ears.
Natalia called her pet names whenever she could. In fact, many of their conversations had an affectionate, almost lightly flirtatious tone. Maria leaned in a little closer to Natalia, smiling conspiratorially,
“Maria, come here,” her father’s shout interrupted what she was going to say,
“Coming, Papa,” Maria scurried away, leaving Natalia standing alone in the foyer.
Natalia felt cold without Maria beside her. She had become accustomed to her presence and craved it in a way she never had with other people, even Yelena.
“Is everything alright, Lady Romanova?” the housekeeper asked, startling her out of her thoughts.
“Yes, of course,” Natalia answered more curtly than she had intended to, “if you’ll excuse me.”
The sound of her shoes echoed on the floor as she walked to the drawing room. Inside, Yelena’s head was clutched in her hands as Maria and Nicola attempted to explain differentiation to her. Natalia was grateful that she had refused to learn much math beyond arithmetic, because if Lena’s face was any indication, calculus was not fun.
But Maria’s gentle, understanding face made Natalia’s heart clench in a way it had only ever done for men in the past. As if sensing her thoughts, Maria looked up and gave her a small smile. Natalia nodded in response before settling in an armchair.
Maria’s stomach fluttered in the way it only did around Natalia. She loved her, in the way she had only loved women, and seeing Natalia made Maria’s whole body thrum with excitement. A groan from Yelena pulled her attention away from Natalia and back to her pupil.
“You almost had it, Lady Yelena,” Maria gently grabbed the slate from Yelena and corrected her work,
“I don’t understand why father wants me to learn this,” Yelena’s whine was most unlady-like, “when will I ever need to know this kind of math?”
“I pay Nicola to teach you, not listen to you complain.”
Everyone turned to see Alexei standing in the doorway.
“Sir—”
“Carry on,” Alexei held up a hand before Nicola could continue, “I simply wanted to see how things were going.”
Yelena gulped as Alexei walked away and held up her chalk, turning diligently to Nicola. When the two were thoroughly engrossed in Yelena’s work, Maria turned and walked up to Natalia. She rested one of her hands on Natalia’s and smiled before sitting next to her.
“I apologize for my sister’s behavior,” they always spoke English when they weren’t alone,
“Think nothing of it,” Maria waved a hand, “most people think the same,”
“I know I do,” Natalia laughed as Maria feigned offence, “it is true, though. I will never need to know the kind of math my sister is learning,”
“I doubt I will ever need to know Russian, you know.”
The statement made Natalia pout, and she poked Maria’s shoulder,
“That’s mean, детка,”
“What does “детка” mean?” the head tilt Maria did whenever she didn’t understand a Russian word was cute.
“Don’t worry about it, дорогая,”
“I still do not know the meaning of that word either, Леди Романова,” Maria grinned as Natalia frowned at the use of her title,
“It’s Наташа,” Natalia said as Maria mouthed the words. She huffed, “you said that just because you knew I would correct you,”
“Perhaps,” Maria shrugged.
She held her mask of indifference before breaking into giggles, Natalia following suit. It was strange to Maria, laughing like this. Even as a child she had been serious, but Natalia brought out the joy within her.
“Would you like some tea, Maria?” Natalia suddenly stood.
Maria nodded, slightly confused, and Natalia grabbed her hand, dragging her to the solarium. They sat next to each other in heavy silence for a few minutes.
“You haven’t asked for tea,” Maria cleared her throat as she shifted in her seat,
“I have not,” Natalia did not offer further comment as the silence stretched.
“Did you want tea?”
“You make me feel things,” Natalia blurted out by way of response, “things I have never felt for a woman,” she paused for a second, face turned up in thought, “anyone else really.”
Maria didn’t say anything, only gazed at her with those blue eyes. The eyes that saw directly into Natalia’s soul, and never judged her. The eyes that made her shiver with unquenched desire. Those kind eyes she had grown to love.
And those sparkling blue eyes were drawing closer to Natalia’s green ones. Neither was sure who started leaning in, but it didn’t matter. Because their lips were touching and moving together softly. Warmth exploded in Natalia’s chest as Maria brought a hand up to cup her cheek, pulling her deeper into the kiss.
“I feel those things for you, too,” Maria gasped when they finally pulled away from each other, “I love you, Tasha,”
“Я тоже тебя люблю, дорогая” Natalia admitted, and quickly spoke again when Maria’s face remained blank, “I love you too, darling,”
“You’ve been calling me ‘darling’ all this time?”
Natalia blushed and nodded as Maria took her hands and softly kissed them. A nervous energy settled between the two of them, which dissipated when Maria kissed Natalia again.
Kissing Maria felt like riding an automobile for the first time: exhilarating and new, yet right, as if Natalia had been born to kiss those rough lips with her own soft ones. Maria’s hands deftly ran along her torso, and Natalia’s body trembled, unused to being touched so reverently.
Maria finally pulled away, breathless, and rested their foreheads together.
“Is this,” Natalia gestured between them, suddenly self-conscious, “wrong? Is it wrong for me to love you as much as I do?”
“I love you, and you love me. If that is wrong, I am not sure I want to be right,” Maria peppered kisses on Natalia’s face. Her thumbs gently rubbed Natalia’s knuckles, soothing her.
Maria looked at her watch and widened her eyes. Almost three-quarters of an hour had passed since they had come to the solarium.
“It is nearly time for me to leave, my love,”
“Is it really necessary for you to go?”
“Unfortunately,” Maria pressed one last kiss onto Natalia’s lips before standing.
They walked to the entrance of the manor together, stealing glances and small smiles all the way. Yelena and Nicola reached the door just after they did.
“I will see you in a few days, Lady Yelena,” Nicola nodded as the doorman opened the door,
“Goodbye,” Maria smiled politely as she followed her father out of the house.
Natalia tried not to grin at the thought of seeing, and kissing, Maria again. Yelena stared at her,
“Why are you smiling like that?”
“You would not understand, Лена.”
Natalia ignored Yelena’s grumbling as she climbed the stairs to her bedroom. The future was uncertain - Melina and Alexei had been talking about suitors for years - but in the present she had Maria, she could kiss her and revel in her presence.
And that thought was sweeter than the toffee Yelena loved so much.