As Ravi dressed for breakfast the next morning, the flare of lust when he’d seen Claire curled up asleep in that chair still hummed in his veins. How could he have thought her plain when they’d first met? She was extraordinary. The soft light of the gas lamp had cast shadows over her face, each one illuminating her beauty. Her full lips and wide mouth slightly parted as she snoozed. He licked his lips to rid himself of the aching need to press his mouth against hers. Every time they’d spoken, they’d argued on even ground, except the world kept tilting as his admiration for her grew. And last night, his chest swelled with pride as she’d raced to help Mrs Jackson without any of the nonsense they were usually subjected to. Of course, they were safe in his brother’s household, but the harsh world occasionally ebbed in no matter how much Sanjay tried to protect everyone. Claire eased that concern in such a natural way, full of empathy, that his desire for her grew until it threatened to burn a hole right through him as her competence continued to be unveiled.
He fastened his jacket, and strode towards the small breakfast room near the kitchen. He wanted to know why she held herself apart from the world. It couldn’t be just her profession, or the trials she must’ve been through to get this far, it felt deeper than that. She was a puzzle that he needed to solve. As he rounded the corner in the hallway, Claire and Wil arrived from the other direction.
‘Good morning.’ He wanted to offer his arm for her to rest her hand on, but hesitated, unsure if she would accept anything construed as help. Instead, he waved it in the direction of the breakfast room.
‘You will love the breakfast room, Claire.’ Wil’s voice rang out in the enclosed space. ‘It has a lovely aspect, and the decorating isn’t puce.’ Ravi glanced between the two of them as Claire’s laugh echoed along the hallway. The sound washed over him, and he desperately needed to feel her lips laugh against his skin. One day. He cleared his throat, but the siblings didn’t appear to notice him.
‘Wil. Mr Howick’s mother probably decorated that room, you should remember to be kind.’
‘Psshh. Dalhinge informed me, in his loftiest tone, that the room had been decorated some time prior to his mother taking up residence.’
‘You didn’t like the pink room?’ asked Ravi. If he’d known, he would have had her moved.
She smiled, easing his concern.
‘The bed was comfortable and warm, that’s all the matters when one is ill. I honestly didn’t notice the décor until Wil mentioned it.’
‘You must have been ill, you usually have a good eye for colour,’ said Wil. She tapped her brother on the shoulder and laughed at him. Ravi slowed his steps, falling behind the siblings, unwilling to intrude.
‘Thank you. Coming from you, that is the greatest of compliments.’
‘Dalhinge has fantastic taste also. I believe it comes from his mother?’ Wil turned to face Ravi.
‘I admire her more for her huge heart and compassion for those in lessor circumstances than ourselves, than for her ability to select furnishings,’ he said.
Claire’s face opened with curiosity shining in her eyes, while Wil curled his top lip and laughed cynically.
‘Oh, don’t be so serious. You and your brother, both.’
‘Wil, remember that you are a guest here. It’s not quite the done thing to insult one’s host,’ said Claire.
Ravi chuckled at her big sister tone, while her brother smiled charmingly—perhaps to hide the flash of hurt that Ravi saw in his eyes. Hurt that a manipulative villain couldn’t possibly possess? Ravi couldn’t place Wil at all.
‘Come now, sister dear, don’t fall back on that polite host business. We are all—’ Wil hesitated, drawing out the pause, ‘—friends here. Besides, I’m far more interested in hearing about Lady Dalhinge. Wasn’t she a royal princess, or something?’
‘A granddaughter of the Maharaja of Thanjavur,’ said Ravi, quietly noting Wil’s effectiveness in changing the subject away from himself. Claire turned towards him with her eyes wide with curiosity, then they flashed, and he leaned forward in anticipation of what she would say.
‘Such illustrious company, Wil. Our grandmother was a mail-order bride,’ she said. Her brother nudged her with his shoulder.
‘Not on Mother’s side—she maintains she is from an old Boston banking family.’
‘Maybe a minor branch. We never did meet those ‘cousins’ of hers when we lived in Titusville.’ They both snorted together.
‘I always wondered about that, especially once Father made his first fortune. They must be a figment of her imagination if she didn’t take the opportunity to gloat to them.’
‘Perhaps she wrote them. Her aspirations took us here instead, and I’m glad of it. I doubt I’d have had the same opportunities in America.’
‘What are you talking about? You had to go to Europe to fulfil your goals,’ said Wil. Ravi leaned forward, he had to know this whole story. He’d had some trouble while studying law, but he’d found friendship with the many students from his mother’s homeland of India who came to England to study. His brother’s position in society also allowed him to avoid the worst trouble. As a young woman in a society that kept women shut in boxes, Claire had travelled away from her home to chase her goals. He opened his mouth to ask if it had been difficult. Of course, it must have been difficult. Perhaps he should ask if it had been lonely, but she waved her hands in front of her and he shut his mouth. Her movement drew his attention to her body, tightly wrapped in a stunning day gown.
‘Never mind me, I’d love to hear more about Lady Dalhinge,’ said Claire. The mention of his mother was an effective halt in his lust.
‘Is there something specific you want to know?’ he asked.
‘You shouldn’t ask that of Claire. Her curiosity will have you answering questions all day,’ said Wil with a laugh. She blinked and he could see her brain working behind those vibrant gold-flecked eyes.
‘I’m not that bad. I just want to know how she came to meet your father, and, well, everything.’ Her words faded at the end of her sentence, while Wil’s smile grew. Ravi could see the unasked question. The one that touched on the complexities of an interracial marriage. The question that everyone wanted answered, but that had no simple answer.
‘The previous Lord Dalhinge, my father, went to India with the East India Company to build a railway line. He fell in love with India before he met my mother, Ahilyabai, and if it wasn’t for the ‘57 Uprising, they probably would’ve stayed.’
‘But what about the estate?’
‘My father was a simple Mister when he went to India, a second son making his fortune.’ Ravi flicked a glance at Claire, pleased to see a pink glow at his dig.
‘I’m so sorry for that comment,’ she said. He waved his hand and grinned at her. From the corner of his eye, he saw Wil’s blue eyes flicker between them. The sight sobered him. As much as he wanted to flirt with Claire, he couldn’t do it in front of Wil. Not when he didn’t know Wil’s role in Mr Carlingford’s arrest.
‘No matter. He inherited just before my brother was born, but he didn’t want to leave India, so he hired an estate manager to run everything.’
‘It was the Uprising that sent them home?’
‘Home! It’s not that simple. He loved India. But life is complicated, and after the Uprising, the Crown took over and company men had to find new positions. He probably would have been fine, except that I was conceived and the Maharaja had fallen to the Doctrine of Lapse. The dangers were too great for a young family.’
‘The Doctrine of what did you call it?’ asked Wil. Ravi’s fingernails dug into his palms as he clenched his fists.
‘The Doctrine of Lapse.’ The unfairness by which a business could strip away a dynasty, strip their wealth and leave them in poverty, while they profited, burned in Ravi’s stomach.
‘What is that?’ asked Claire.
‘Inheritance of a Maharaja is not a simple patriarchal system like the peerage. The East India Company took advantage of that, and when an obvious heir didn’t exist, at least according to the company, they used it as an excuse to transfer all assets to themselves.’ He took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. The pit of anger at the company’s actions had to be tempered by the advantage he gained from his father’s position. He and Sanjay had grown up safely here on the Dalhinge estate, had been educated here as English Lords, benefiting from their paternal bloodline while their royal blood had been dismissed. The complexities tore at him, especially now that India suffered further under the Divide and Rule policy. There were rumours of famine too.
‘That’s all too serious for an empty stomach,’ said Wil. The throw-away comment punched him in the chest. Only the depth of care in Claire’s eyes as she growled Wil’s name under her breath allowed him to keep his ground. Ravi shook his head minutely.
‘The breakfast room is that way,’ he said, unable to keep the bitter tone from his voice. Wil flicked his hair back from his forehead and wandered away.
‘I’m sorry,’ said Claire quietly. He stepped towards her and breathed in her skin, a clean smell with a hint of fresh violets. ‘Wil is not normally so offensive,’ she said.
He tucked his glasses into his jacket pocket and ran his hand through his hair.
‘It’s nothing,’ he said.
She rested her hand on his shoulder, and shook her head.
‘I disagree. Wil knows better. He ought to understand the inequalities built into the system.’ She snatched her hand away and stared down at the floor. He wanted to reach for her chin, to lift her face towards his, but instead he rubbed at the spot on his shoulder that she had touched.
‘Then he is welcome to lash out occasionally.’ He often felt the burden of his messy background as a festering need to make the world better. Perhaps Claire did know about Wil and Dalhinge, given her comment about understanding inequalities.
‘You have sympathy for him? He may not be in the peerage, but he’s the only living son of a wealthy businessman. The system tends to benefit him.’ Her eyebrows raised up.
‘Unlike how the system treats you?’
‘Yes, we are no different, apart from one minor detail, yet I am declared inferior without a second thought.’
He paused, wanting to tell her that he didn’t see her as inferior, but unable to figure the words. He pulled in a long breath and changed the subject.
‘I became a lawyer so I could change things. But what have I achieved? I’ve spent the last decade reinforcing the very people who created this system. The ones who ruined my mother’s country. At least my brother has used his place in Lords to help move the power base towards the Commons.’ He reached behind his head with both hands, rubbed the back of his neck, and blew out that breath. He might never reconcile the differences inside him.
‘Is that why you took this chance to help my father?’
‘Yes.’ The word came out in a whoosh of relief. ‘Yes. If I can solve this puzzle and get my own legal practice, I might make a difference.’ His breath came out too hard as his mind grasped at the possibilities. His hands dropped, and he grasped her hands. A jolt of energy flowed from her to him and back again in an instant.
‘Look sharpish then,’ she said with a sly grin. ‘We are wasting time standing here discussing it.’
‘We have to go back to London,’ he said at the same time. He grinned at her, his heart racing in his chest, and she smiled back without moving her hands. He ran his thumb over her wrist, her pulse beating at the same rapid speed of his own heart. She licked her lips, and he leaned in to kiss her. When his lips were almost against hers, she twisted away and his mouth brushed against her cheek. She pulled backwards, and shook her head.
‘No, that’s not wise. Save your fervour for the task at hand.’ Her hands slipped out of his and she rushed down the hall in a swirl of violets, and the gentle whisper of her silk skirts as they rustled against her rapidly pacing legs. He rubbed the frown between his eyes and stared after her. He didn’t think he’d misinterpreted her attraction to him, but the flash of fear in her eyes as she bolted away from him made him wonder if perhaps he had it all wrong.