"You and Nicholas are Russian, but your cousin's Greek?" I asked, confused. "Cousins are usually from the same country."
"George is my cousin on my mother's side," he told me. "You see, my mother and my Uncle George are originally from Denmark, but my Uncle George lives in Greece now."
"And how did your mother come to marry a Russian man?" I asked.
"It was an arranged marriage. She was supposed to marry my father's older brother, but he died, so she married my father instead." His eyes were twinkling, and he had a bit of a sly smile, so I suspected there was something significant he hadn't told me yet.
"Come on," he said with a friendly smile. "I'll introduce you to the others."
We walked from the docks to a nearby inn, Rufus and Sadie following silently. The glare of the sun on the sand made me squint, and I was glad I was wearing a hat. We arrived at the inn to find one young man reading and the other exercising.
"Look what I found at the dock, Nicky," George said with a grin. The young man who was reading looked up and gasped in surprise. He had the same blue eyes and dark hair as George, but no mustache.
"Meet Bonnie Blue Butler from the United States," George said with a grandiose flourish.
"I'm pleased to meet you, Miss Butler." Nicholas smiled and kissed my extended hand. "I'm Nicholas Alexandrovich." Although he looked very similar to his brother, he seemed much more serious, and perhaps even a bit shy, unlike George.
"What are you reading?" I asked him.
"Military procedures. I imagine you'd find it quite boring."
"I imagine you're right." We both laughed, and Nicholas returned to his book, signalling that the conversation had ended.
George introduced me to his Greek cousin next, and he seemed quite open and friendly, more similar in personality to George than to Nicholas.
"Your brother seems very serious," I remarked to George later, once we were out of earshot of his cousin and brother.
"He's lovesick," George told me. "He pines for a woman who will not marry him."
"Why won't she marry him? Does she love another?"
"No, she loves Nicholas as well." I saw the beginning of that sly smile again. "The reason she won't marry him is that she would be required to convert to the Russian Orthodox faith, and she's a devout Lutheran."
"But surely the two faiths aren't that different..."
"Alix had a rather tragic childhood. Her mother died of diphtheria when she was just six. She embraced her Lutheran faith very strongly as a way of coping with that tremendous loss." I wasn't really sure that I followed his reasoning but I didn't say anything about it.
"And what about you, George? Is there a woman you love?"
"None that I feel strongly enough about to give up my bachelor status, although of course that's always subject to change." His eyes were twinkling again, and in that moment he reminded me very much of my father.
"What about you, Bonnie Blue? Is there a man waiting back in Georgia for you?"
"Please, just call me Bonnie." I chuckled slightly and glanced downward, suddenly self-conscious. "And no, there isn't."
"It certainly isn't for lack of beauty."
I felt awkward as the warmth spread over my cheeks. "My father has set rather high standards for any man who wishes to court me."
"Would he consider allowing a Grand Duke to court you?"
"What?" I was taken aback.
"A Grand Duke. A Prince of Russia."
I felt as if all the wind had just been knocked out of me. "Are you telling me that you're a Prince? The son of the King of Russia?"
"The Tsar," he corrected me. "And yes, that's exactly what I'm telling you."
