Chapter 4
Chapter Four
The next month passed with several not-so-accidental encounters between the three officers and three sisters.
Vinita and Theo encountered one another nearly every day at the market.
As an act of chivalry, Theo offered to carry Vinita’s baskets the first time.
Normally, one of her servants would have done it if they became too heavy for her.
After the second day, she slipped away with only her guards.
They kept their distance, but she didn’t doubt they reported everything to her father.
His disapproving frowns deepened by the day, but he said nothing.
She knew he continued to negotiate her marriage contract, so he didn’t fear Vinita accepting any offers from Theo.
“What treat do you seek today, my lady?” Theo flashed his brilliant smile, and she tried to remember how to speak. He’d had that effect on her since they met six weeks earlier.
“Sarla’s birthday is tomorrow. I’d like to find her a new bracelet.
” Vinita stopped to browse a jeweler's stand.
There were several ornately decorated gold bands.
Their wealth afforded the sisters the opportunity to wear fine jewelry, which proved to everyone that the Maharaja remained the wealthiest man in the region.
“Is she older or younger than you?”
“Younger by a year. Suniti is older than me by two. Sarla’s turning nineteen.”
Theo smiled. Vinita was two years younger than him. It also meant Suniti and Rob were the same age, and Sarla was three years younger than Will. The three men were only a few months apart in age, with Theo as the oldest.
“How old are you?” Vinita asked casually as she picked up another bracelet.
“Twenty-two, my lady.”
Vinita put the bracelet down and turned away from the stall. She glanced up at Theo. “Must you always address me so formally?”
“It’s only proper.”
“I prefer Nita.” She held her breath and waited for the rejection.
“Both names are beautiful, Nita.” Theo allowed the back of his hand to brush hers as they walked.
It wasn’t the first time it had happened, but it was the first time it was intentional.
When neither pulled away, they allowed their hands to touch with every step.
Theo wished he could hold hers, or wrap her arm around his, but it would be a death wish to be so brazen in public.
Such outward signs of affection would be intolerable to Surat and Chandra.
“Do you have any brothers or sisters—Theo?” Vinita had avoided his name and wasn’t sure about his title. She knew from Suniti that Rob was a lord. She knew Theo was the son of a nobleman, but she didn’t know if that merited a formal address.
“I like hearing you say my name, Nita.” Theo lowered his voice, and the deep timber shot a wave of lust to her core. “I have two younger sisters. They’re sixteen and eighteen.”
“Are they married?”
“Blessedly, no.” Theo shook his head. “They’re far too young and ill-prepared to run a household. My mother has been in poor health the past few years, and my father has failed my sisters by not employing a governess or sending them to finishing school.”
“Finishing school?”
“Yes. It’s a place for young ladies to learn the finer points of etiquette and to prepare for entering society.”
“Entering society? Do the English keep their women hidden?”
Theo chuckled. “Some might say so. The height of society is in London. Young ladies of the nobility must present themselves before the queen. Then they become debutantes and may attend society affairs, including balls and afternoon teas. They may join their families at house parties, and men may court them. Before that, most remain at their family’s country homes until they make their come out. ”
“And do they see people while at their country homes? Do they go to the villages or markets?”
“Yes. They aren’t locked away with a forgotten key somewhere.”
“Sounds boring.”
“I imagine it is. I could run, fish, hunt, and ride while my sisters suffered through endless embroidery lessons with Mother.”
“Amrit taught my sisters and me to sew. I don’t mind it, but it wasn’t hours upon hours. And we could play with the other children in the village when we were very young. I didn’t care for all the lessons in how to run a household, but I appreciate my mother’s teachings now.”
Theo’s shoulders tensed. “Since you’ll marry soon.”
Vinita halted and looked up at Theo. “Who says?”
“Your father told us when we returned from patrol. I’d already heard talk about it while we were near the border.”
The color drained from Vinita’s face. Her father alluded to continuing negotiations, but she didn’t think it was far enough along for him to tell anyone. She didn’t know how the news spread so far.
“Nita?” Theo pulled her aside, shielding her from view as tears glistened in her eyes.
“I don’t want to marry him. I don’t think he will treat me well.”
“Have you met him?” She nodded. “Did he do something to you?” She nodded again. “What happened, Vinita?” He kept his voice soft, unlike when he’d commanded her the night the Company men attacked her family.
“He grabbed my arm once when I declined to walk with him in the gardens. He threatened to beat me once I was his wife if I ever refused him anything.” Theo understood what she meant when their gazes met.
He would kill the bastard if ever they met.
He slid the pad of his thumb along the top of her cheekbone, capturing a tear.
It broke his heart to see her scared. He knew they couldn’t linger, but he wished he could stand and stare into her eyes until his last breath.
The time they spent together nearly every day was the best he could remember.
They were still learning about one another, but they found they had much in common.
They liked to read in solitude. They enjoyed food beyond just nourishment.
They had a similar sense of humor. And they both found the constellations fascinating, having shared stories they’d made up as children.
“If any man ever tries to hurt you, Vinita, you find me. Do not go to anyone else. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Theo.” She felt like she was saying far more than just yes to his offer of protection. She’d say yes to anything he asked.
Rob’s frustration mounted with each moment.
He could not communicate with the tradesman who arrived from a province south of Bikaner.
The man was negotiating with merchants who already had agreements with the Company.
He could not allow him to receive goods already promised to the Company and slated to be shipped back to Europe.
He looked at the local merchant. “Does he truly not speak English?”
“Yes. And he doesn’t speak Marwari either. We’re speaking Hindu.”
Wonderful. Rob and his friends were making strides learning the regional dialect, but none of them learned more than basic greetings in Hindu.
“Tell him he will have to go elsewhere. You already promised your goods to the East India Company.” Rob waited while the man interpreted for him. The merchant from out of town glared at him. He snatched his coin purse from the makeshift counter and turned away.
“He will only find someone else who will agree, sir.” The vendor offered Rob a sympathetic smile.
Rob didn’t doubt it. If he allowed one merchant to enter the village, then more would flock to it, and soon waves of out-of-town merchants would arrive.
It would be a disaster. His superiors warned him about it.
Rob followed the man, who smirked at him when he stopped at an old man’s booth. The jeweler was hunched over, missing most of his hair, and his hands shook. Rob knew before stepping before the bane of his existence that this old man couldn’t speak English either.
“No.” Rob shook his head as he looked at the old man but pointed at the new arrival. He opened and crossed his hands, gesturing that the vendor shouldn’t speak to the traveling merchant. But he had no success when the men talked and ignored him.
“You do not belong here.”
Rob turned to find Suniti standing behind his left shoulder.
She was looking at the unwanted visitor and speaking Hindu, or at least Rob assumed that’s what it was.
The man turned his smirk toward Suniti until she moved to stand beside Rob.
The man’s gaze turned shrewd as his gaze swept over Suniti, who wore a kurta that came to just below her hips.
The tunic had embroidery unlike anything Rob had seen before arriving in India.
She wore trousers that billowed around her legs.
He’d learned they were called shalwar. Rob was still unaccustomed to the Indian women baring skin at their midriffs or seeing them in trousers, but he admitted they were far more comfortable in the heat than the few Englishwomen he’d met in Bombay.
The pugnacious man said something that made Suniti stand to her full height.
Rob watched her lift her chin as she adopted an imperious expression.
She looked down her nose at the man, despite being shorter than him.
She stepped forward, while the local vendor stepped back.
Rob couldn’t understand what anyone said, but he knew the man insulted Suniti.
The old man remained silent, but he shook his head vigorously.
“Why don’t you repeat that to my guards,” Suniti suggested in Hindu. “I’m certain the Maharaja would be interested to know you called his daughter a whore. How much did you say you would pay for a rut? I want to be sure I get it right when I speak to my father.”
Suniti flicked her hand in the air, and an armed guard stepped forward. She didn’t look at him as she spoke. “Have this man escorted from the village. If he returns, take him to my father. He doesn’t belong here.” It was the second time she’d said as much, and she meant it even more now.