Rendezvous With Yesterday (The Gifted Ones #2)(66)

She paused to take a breath, then dove back in. “And Earth isn’t the only planet that revolves around our sun. There are eight planets and three dwarf planets. Although, honestly, I still think of Pluto as a planet, not a dwarf planet. And with our technology, we’ve taken close-up pictures of some of these planets, and taken soil samples of at least one, and even studied their weather patterns. We’ve sent men to the moon, Robert. In the twentieth century, men actually walked on the moon. We’ve built a station up in space, where astronauts live for months at a time with great big rockets that take them to it. If I were born in your time, would any of that have occurred to me?”

He didn’t answer.

“Well, would it?”

The silence stretched.

Had she tossed too many modern words in there for him to get the gist of it?

She studied him. No. Something she had said had gotten to him. Some fragment of her ramblings had actually reached him.

His face lost quite a bit of color. He gripped the arms of his chair so tightly that his knuckles whitened. He looked positively shell-shocked.

“Robert?”

Leaning forward, he braced his elbows on his knees again and clasped his hands between them.

“What is it?” she asked.

“’Tis naught,” he answered, his face full of unease.

“I don’t think so,” she protested, watching him. “Something I said unsettled you.”

He stared down at his hands for a moment and seemed to weigh his words very carefully. Either that or he debated the wisdom of speaking them aloud. “You do not believe the sun revolves around the Earth?” he asked finally.

That wasn’t what she had expected. “No. Nay, the Earth, along with the other planets in our solar system, all revolve around the sun. But Europe didn’t—or rather won’t—figure that out until…” She frowned. When had they figured that out? “I’m not sure. Maybe the 16th century. I think Copernicus came up with a model somewhere around then.” She had a vague recollection of writing an essay on it in middle school.

Robert looked none too pleased.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have told you that,” she murmured. Sure, he hadn’t been thrown by the Earth being round thing. But the Earth revolving around the sun instead of vice versa must have come as a shock.

As she studied Robert, she frowned, then narrowed her eyes.

Or had it?

Shouldn’t he be shouting denials or accusing her of madness or witchcraft or heresy or laughing it all off as a joke by now? Because he wasn’t doing any of that. He was just sitting there, staring at her. Almost as if he were wondering how the hell she had known.

Her eyes widened. “You knew!” she exclaimed, pointing a finger at him with a combination of accusation and triumph. “You knew the Earth revolves around the sun and now you’re trying to figure out how I knew it!”

“How did you know it?” he asked softly.

“We’re taught that and a lot more, beginning at a very early age in school. If I didn’t have such a hard time remembering numbers, I could probably tell you the Earth’s dimensions, too.”

“As could I.”



She blinked. “What?”

He quirked one supercilious eyebrow.

“Seriously?”

The eyebrow’s twin rose, as did the corners of his lips as he leaned back in his chair.

“No freaking way!” Beth hurried across the room and reclaimed her seat. “How is that possible? You’re not supposed to know about that stuff yet.”

“You must first vow you will not repeat what I tell you,” he cautioned.

“Done. Now give it up.”

He grinned. “You have the most peculiar way of issuing demands.”

“I know. Just tell me.”

“Very well. My brother’s wife is a wisewoman, as were her mother and grandmother before her and so on. I know not how far back it goes, only that members of her family have more often than not been born with certain gifts that have driven some to travel the world in search of knowledge and to escape persecution as witches.”

“What kind of gifts?”

“I shall disclose those later.”

“Now I’m really curious.”

He smiled. “I know.”

“Wait a minute. Your brother’s wife? You mean Alyssa?” If he started waxing poetic over the woman’s beauty and many virtues again, Beth was going to hit him over the head with something.

“Aye.” His teeth gleamed in a grin. “Your eyes are lovely when they sparkle with jealousy.”

“Oh, shut up and keep explaining.” Damn it. He was right. Even after his earlier assurances, she burned with jealousy whenever he mentioned the other woman’s name.

“Alyssa has in her possession numerous tomes and scrolls so old that the language written upon some is no longer spoken.”

“Can she read them?”

“Many of them, aye. Her grandmother taught her and she in turn has shared with me the knowledge she gleaned from them whenever I pestered her with questions.”

The image of him bending over dusty old manuscripts with some gorgeous babe made her want to strangle him.

“And my brother,” he added, clearly amused. “Did I mention that my brother is often present during our discussions? I am certain Dillon knows far more than I do.”