A Noble Marriage - Chapter 34

Chapter 34 – A Small Gift

Anna dressed up in her finest dress the next day to go out with Karenin. They were going out together for Karenin had promised Anna, making her extremely happy that he had remembered.

She was extremely excited to see the “Silver Coast” Maria had told her about. She had heard about it in her other life as Cote d’Argent. For an embarrassingly long time, she didn’t realize that Maria had been talking about the same beach, considering they were in France. She was fascinated to see why it was called the Silver Coast.

As they got closer to the ocean, she noticed that seaport trade here was not so developed. The customs were relatively simple and the folks were kind. The trade goods were not as top-notch as the goods of Petersburg, but they were highly valuable. To her observation, in Cote d’Argent the value of an object was not in its appearance but in the tale behind it.

As she stood with a small silver hair comb in her hand, with the clever salesman spinning an emotional anecdote about a noble lady and poor boy who fell in love, she saw people gathering around them to hear it. The more people grew in number, the more passionate he became about it.

She looked down at the comb, the token of love. The obtuse-angled comb was decorated with eight glistening red corals, and the silver tines were rusty but they only enhanced its charm.

“What a poignant story!” One of the well-dressed ladies next to her was moved to tears.

“We’ll buy it.” Karenin said.

After they walked away, Anna dangled the packaged comb in her hand and asked Karenin, “Did you believe that story?”

“There are not many noble ladies that fall in love with poor boys, Anna. The probability is next to none.” Karenin stated calmly.

“Then why did you buy it?”

“You liked it, didn’t you?”

Karenin didn’t look at Anna and kept staring straight ahead even when Anna looked at him with a blush coating her cheeks, but her look didn’t go unnoticed by him. So she followed his lead and acted cool too.

“Oh, yes, even if it was a fake story, I do like this gift.”

“The added value of a story increases the value of the thing itself. An honest businessman can never be better than a slippery businessman.” Karenin almost sighed.

Anna giggled and countered, “You might as well say that, because women always make better money.”

“I agree.” Karenin nodded.

They finally reached Cote d’Argent, a fraction of the coast of south-western France, located between Biarritz and the mouth of the Adour River. Anna was in awe as soon as her eyes landed on the shore. She finally understood why it was called the Silver Coast. The sun shining down on the water and sand made them sparkle and give off kaleidoscopes of color. It was all so shiny, just like silver. She almost ran straight into the clear water before she controlled herself, thinking it wasn’t appropriate here.

“I want to walk barefoot Alexei.” Anna implored Karenin.

“The weather is still cold Anna. You might get sick.”

Anna just kept staring at Karenin with her big eyes, jutting her bottom lip out slightly. Karenin sighed in defeat.

“If you insist, but I still think…”

Anna did not wait for Karenin to finish, and took off her shoes. The instant her feet touched the sand, she grimaced.

“You are right.” She murmured and put on her shoes again. “It’s a bit cold.”

“I would say I informed you, but I don’t want to rub salt in your wound.” Karenin teased her with an almost smile on his face.

Anna grumbled slightly, and poked her tongue out at him when he looked the other way.

“You can walk barefoot when the weather gets warmer.” Karenin reassured her to improve her mood.

After a moment, Karenin noticed that Anna was looking around with her head down.

“What are you looking for?”

“Seashells.” Anna said and then squatted down, digging with her fingers in the sand.

Karenin also squatted down next to her, gathering her dress to save it from the sand. Anna took his hand in hers, and put a conch into his palm.

“It is just an ordinary shell, not nearly as precious as the hair comb you gave me, but please accept it as my gift to you.”

The small conch had been buried in the sand, washed ashore after its adventures in the sea. It was cool to touch, had an unremarkable color, and the hardness of its shell scratched Karenin’ skin, declaring its existence to him. However, it quickly became a unique little conch in his eyes.

“I have never received such a gift.” Karenin said gently, still looking down at it.