"No, actually. My parents traveled extensively in Europe and the Far East, but the closest they got to America was a brief stopover in New York back in the nineteen fifties. I'm afraid they were a bit provincial in their thinking, didn't care for the States."

Julianna let the silence hang between them while she buttered a piece of bread and took a bite of it. The sound of her own voice wasn't so important to her that she had to prattle at him every second. She didn't want to be reduced to saying whatever inane thing that popped into her head.

"Sounds as if you came from a close family," she said once she felt a decent length of time had passed. "I was born last, the youngest of four, so I understand that feeling of wanting to break free."