Chapter Eight

It was at moments like this, when she was surrounded by women, that Riya Mukherjee felt both the most homesick and the most at home. Incongruent, to be sure, but then, when did one’s heart ever beat in perfect harmony with the world? Hearts were such inconsistent things.

So, she picked apples with the twins, Adelaide and Alice, enjoying their company while she missed her aunts, who were home in Bengal, and her brother, who was searching for mummies’ treasure in Egypt. Autumn had always been her favorite time of year. Her family would be celebrating Durga Puja. There would be merriment and laughter.

Alice’s own laughter pierced her thoughts, easing her heartache somewhat, although not entirely.

She looked up. “What amuses you so?”

“Oh, everything. Lord Sutton and Lord Devand are enthralled with Lady Freesia, judging from the way they are chasing her about the orchard. She is making them do the most foolish things! They are now arguing over who will climb the tree to fetch an apple for her.”

Riya pivoted to watch the argument. It was growing rather heated. “Why must they climb the tree? There is plenty of low-hanging fruit they could easily reach with both feet planted on the ground.”

“Because those are not the apples Lady Freesia requests. She wants that one.” Alice pointed to a ruby-colored fruit near the top branches.

“Does she?” It looked exactly the same as the others.

Alice grinned. “So she claims.”

“Ah.” It was only a game, then, but one the two lords were eager to play. They were now removing their jackets and tossing them to the ground in preparation for their climb. Apparently it would be a race. “Colonel Kent does not seem inclined to join them. Is he not also a suitor of Lady Freesia? He follows her a good deal.”

Adelaide laughed. “He does not follow Lady Freesia, he follows Lord Sutton and Lord Devand. The colonel has political aspirations, and the lords have a good deal of influence, despite their absurdity. Besides, he is still nursing a heart broken by Alice.”

Alice’s smile slipped from her face. “I hope not. It has been months since my marriage, during which time he has been provided ample evidence that we would not suit. But I think his pain is not so deep as my sister says, for he seeks out my husband more than myself.”

They all looked to where her husband now stood with his twin brother. Both men were keenly watching the antics of their younger sister and her suitors. Riya glanced back to Lady Freesia’s happy, satisfied countenance and felt a pang of pity. Perhaps Lady Freesia enjoyed these games because they made her feel powerful, for she was all too aware of how little power she truly wielded. The courtship rituals of England were different from those of Riya’s homeland, but the heart of the matter remained the same, in that a woman’s heart had very little to do with marriage at all.

“Poor Lady Freesia,” Riya murmured.

“My thoughts exactly.” Alice squinted at the two lords in the apple tree. “I can scarcely tell them apart. However will Lady Freesia?”

“I imagine it’s easier to tell the difference when one has a strong attachment to one man or the other,” Adelaide said drily.

Alice wrinkled her nose. “You can’t mean that she would truly choose either for her husband? Whoever her husband will be, he will frequently join our dinners and parties. I don’t like either Lord Sutton or Lord Devand that much.”

Riya smothered a smile. When it came to someone else’s marriage, everyone had Thoughts and Opinions. That was true the whole world over. She felt another bittersweet pang, the mingling of homesickness and happiness.

“What think you of Colonel Kent?” Alice asked Riya.

Thinking she meant as a suitor for Lady Claire, Riya turned to Adelaide to see what her friend’s response would be. But instead, she found both ladies looking at her expectantly, awaiting her answer.

Oh, dear.

“No, thank you,” she said politely. “I would rather not.”

Adelaide tilted her head, considering. “Because of his attachment to Alice? Well, no matter. There are others.”

“I would prefer not to marry at all,” Riya said firmly. “I have seen many lands, many people. The customs change. The clothing is different. The languages are foreign. And yet they are all the same in this regard. None of them are kind to women. We are told that the sole purpose of our lives is to marry, and yet that is the very thing that destroys us. No, thank you.”

“It is different here,” Adelaide said gently.

“It is not different here,” Riya said, just as gently. “A man owns his wife and can do as he pleases with his property. You have been fortunate in your choice of spouse, as has Alice. There are happy marriages in every land, I am not arguing otherwise. But I fear they are outnumbered by those who are unhappily joined, and, in such circumstances, it is the woman who suffers most.”

The sisters exchanged troubled glances.

Alice dropped an apple into her basket. “Far be it from me to defend a man, as they are on a whole indefensible, but as you said yourself, they are not all terrible. One day you will find one you can trust.”

Riya gave a rueful laugh and shook her head. “I thought I had, once. I sincerely hope I will never be so foolish again. No, I am happy as I am.”

Mostly.

Over by the trees, the duke’s valet approached him rapidly, looking unaccustomedly harried. They all turned to look, curious. Sinton was never harried.

“Your Grace.” The valet bowed. “A visitor has arrived. He insists on seeing you at once. I bid him wait until I determined whether you were at home for him.” Sinton’s gaze shifted to Riya before returning to Wessex. A strange feeling of foreboding gripped her. “I believe—”

He got no further.

There was a sudden commotion, loud shouts, and the sound of fast-approaching footsteps. And above it all, a voice she recognized.

“Riya!”

Her heartbeat skittered like a rabbit being chased by a hawk. How was it possible? How could he be here? There was an entire ocean between them!

Apparently not, for he appeared before her, panting.

“Riya.”

She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. A footman leaped forward to grab him, but he shook himself free and tossed the footman aside. He reached for her but dropped his hand when Alice and Adelaide stepped forward, flanking her on either side.

“Riya,” he said again, and his voice was softer now. “Āmāra kācha thēkē pāliẏē gēlēna kēna?”

Why did you run from me?

Oh, dear.