Read Online SHAKESPEARE’ SECRET by Elise Broach - Free Book Online

doubtfully.
    Together they watched the rain streaming down the window. The storm seemed to be letting up, but the garden was soaked and shimmering. The flowers drooped on their stems, skimming the wet ground.
    Mrs. Roth lifted the note card and studied it. “This poem is about facing death belligerently not meekly succumbing to it. Eleanor definitely wasn’t meek. She wasn’t one to give in. But there’s a difference between giving in to something and accepting it.” She set the card on the table again. “Eleanor accepted that she was going to die, but I’m not sure Arthur everdid. Actually, this poem is more about Arthur than Eleanor.”
    â€œDo you think that’s important?” Hero asked.
    â€œI don’t know. Yes, it’s important, but it probably doesn’t have anything to do with the diamond.”
    Hero finished her muffin. “It’s stopped raining,” she said. “I should go home now. But I’ll try to start looking this weekend.”
    â€œLet me know how it goes,” Mrs. Roth said. “Oh, wait a minute. This is for you.”
    She reached behind to the kitchen counter and picked up a thick green book. It was battered from use, the corners rounded and soft. She handed it to Hero.
    â€œWhat is it?” Hero asked. She lifted the cover and read the delicate black print: The Complete Works of William Shakespeare.
    â€œI know you must have dozens of copies at home because of your father,” Mrs. Roth said. “But I thought perhaps you’d like one of your own. You shouldn’t have to wait until seventh grade to read the inspiration for your wonderful name.”
    Hero hesitated. She thought of her father, how Shakespeare belonged only to him. She ruffled the thin pages, staring at the dense columns of type.
    Mrs. Roth laughed at her. “My dear, it’s not ahomework assignment. You don’t have to read the whole book. The play is very short. You’ll like it.”
    â€œOkay thanks,” Hero said reluctantly. “But if it’s boring, I’m probably not going to finish it.”
    Mrs. Roth smiled. “Spoken like a true scholar of English literature.”
    Hero took the paper with the pencil rubbing of the pendant and slid it into the book. In the entryway, she pulled on her wet socks and shoes, heaving the damp strap of her backpack over her shoulder. “See you later,” she called to Mrs. Roth.
    â€œGood luck with the search,” Mrs. Roth called back to her.
    Hugging the book to her chest, Hero picked her way through the wet shrubbery and across the shining garden.

CHAPTER
10
    The next morning, Hero lay in bed listening to the faint murmur of breakfast noises rising from the kitchen. She could hear the whir of the coffee grinder, her parents’ muted conversation, the occasional rustle of newspaper pages. Saturday, she thought: the weekend. She burrowed happily into her pillow. What a relief to have the school week over, no gym classes or cafeteria lines or bus stops for a while. Finally, she could start looking for that diamond.
    The green book was on her nightstand. Hero picked it up and opened it across her chest. The delicate pages crinkled under her fingers, and unfamiliar words jumped out at her. Anon. Thither. Twain. It was like reading a Spanish dictionary. After some searching, she found Much Ado About Nothing. There was her name in bold at the beginning. Dramatis Personae;
    that’s me, thought Hero. She took out the paper with the etching of the pendant on it.
    Beatrice came to the doorway, yawning and pushing her hair away from her face. “Are you awake?”
    â€œYeah.” Hero slid her feet over the edge of the bed.
    â€œWhat’s the book?”
    â€œOh, just something Mrs. Roth gave me.” Hero put it back on her nightstand, tucking the pencil rubbing into her T-shirt pocket before Beatrice could see it. “Much Ado About Nothing.”
    Beatrice