Enchanting Pleasures (13 page)

Lady Sylvia jumped in. “My young charge is so overcome at the idea of being face-to-face with the great man that she cannot find the words!”

“Wellesley is a brilliant man,” Hastings confirmed. “A br-r-r-illiant man! However, I am quite certain that he miscalculated when requesting my presence at your abode, my dear ladies.”

Gabby gave him an encouraging smile.

“The idea that such a lovely young lady as yourself would know aught of Indian politics is absurd,” Hastings said.

Gabby was saved from answering by Quill’s arrival. She looked up to find him standing in the doorway. He had an extraordinarily silent way of entering rooms, Gabby thought. It was as if he brought a little pool of quiet with him.

Lady Sylvia gave a loud trill of laughter. “Isn’t this the most splendid thing, Colonel Hastings? Here is my dear, dear nephew, Mr. Dewland, and he will be able to reply to all those questions that we woolly-headed females simply are not constituted to answer!”

Colonel Hastings was beaming and climbing to his feet, clearly enchanted at the idea of having a proper male to help him question these fluttery and flustering females.

To this point, Gabby had not been enjoying the charade much, but now that Quill had entered, a sudden wave of giddy pleasure swept up her back. Since she had no fan, she fluttered her eyelashes instead. “Goodness, Mr. Dewland, I am so pleased to see you! Just imagine! The governor-general of India has sent Colonel Hastings just to question
me
about Indian politics. And you know how hopeless I am about names and things! Why, I vow I hardly remember my own maid’s name from one day to the next.” She cast Quill a deliciously dizzy smile.

Quill shot Gabby a quick glance and then bowed to his guest.

Colonel Hastings launched into speech. “My questions are not quite as foolish as the lovely Miss Jerningham makes out, Mr. Dewland. Although—as I was just telling the ladies—I am quite certain that I’ve undertaken a fool’s errand. But I serve a higher master, Mr. Dewland. A higher master who will not be denied! The governor-general of India himself sent me to make inquiries.”

“Goodness me,” Quill said, strolling forward and seating himself. “It is quite difficult to imagine what Wellesley could possibly think our Miss Jerningham might know of Indian politics.”

Gabby cooed at Quill. “Now, now, Mr. Dewland, you mustn’t underestimate a lady’s intelligence. Why, I am sure that I can answer many questions for Colonel Hastings.” She cocked her head to the side. “Let’s see. The East India men practically run the country, I know that.”

“Well, that’s just it, Miss Jerningham,” the colonel responded, with the air of someone instructing a five-year-old. “The company does
not
run the large part of India called the Marathas, which is where you grew up.”

Gabby laughed sweetly. “Well, I know that! My father was most insistent that I learn something about the Indian continent. I grew up in Indore, which is part of the Marathas. The Marathas is a large section of central India.” She spoke as if reciting the multiplication tables. “But I don’t doubt that you, Colonel Hastings, know much more about India than I do.”

Colonel Hastings was growing pink again under the warmth of Gabby’s admiring gaze. “Are you aware of the Holkar family, Miss Jerningham?”

Gabby paused, her eyes puzzled. Then she burst out: “Indore is run by the Holkars!” She clapped her hands. “Am I doing well, sir?”

“Marvelously,” Colonel Hastings affirmed. “We are curious about the whereabouts of a boy who grew up in your father’s household, Miss Jerningham. We have been informed that he was brought up like a brother to you. His name is Kasi Rao Holkar, and he is the heir to the Holkar throne.”

Quill was watching Gabby closely, his eyes narrowed. What the devil was she up to? If she smiled at the colonel one more time in that melting fashion, the old man was liable to have a heart attack.

“Well, I know
of
Kasi Rao.” Gabby gave another little trill of laughter. “But, my goodness! My father would never allow an Indian native to be
like a brother
to me, sir! After all, I am an English lady, and my father is the son of a duke!”

“Yes, quite,” Colonel Hastings assured her. “But do you have any idea of Kasi Rao Holkar’s whereabouts at the moment?”

“Certainly not.” For a moment Gabby’s frivolous exterior faltered and her tone sounded intelligent.

Lady Sylvia leapt in, quick as a cat. “I trust you are not suggesting that my dear charge would remain in contact with an Indian man, a savage, Colonel Hastings! My dear Gabrielle left India many weeks ago, on a vessel bound for England, and she intends never to return to that godforsaken country. She is betrothed to my nephew, a proper English gentleman. And
he
has not even traveled to the Continent!”

“I knew this was a fool’s errand,” Colonel Hastings said, a trifle wearily.

Gabby rose gracefully and then sat down next to the colonel. “I only wish that I could help you, sir. I would be so honored to be of aid. But I am afraid that Lady Sylvia is correct. I haven’t seen Kasi Rao for years. I was never allowed to mingle with the natives, you know. When we were children we may have played together, but that was long ago.” She patted the colonel’s hand. “But do let me know if you find the prince. I would be charmed to see him again, naturally.”

Quill remembered Gabby’s wish to borrow the carriage for an afternoon, and he sighed. Kasi Rao Holkar was undoubtedly in London. Hell, he probably traveled on the same vessel as Gabby.

“How long has the Holkar heir been missing?” he asked.

“We don’t know,” Colonel Hastings replied, in some frustration. “It’s deuced impossible to get straight answers over there, you know. And, if you’ll forgive me for saying so, Miss Jerningham, your father is an extraordinarily stubborn man. He refuses to direct us to the boy. If someone doesn’t find the Holkar heir soon, one of his two brothers will have to take his place.”

“And the East India Company is not pleased with that notion?” Quill asked.

“It’s an ethical question,” the colonel said, his gaze shifting uneasily to the ladies. “Kasi Rao Holkar is the only child of the chieftain and his
wife.”

To Quill’s mind, the fact that Kasi was Holkar’s only legitimate heir had nothing to do with why the company wanted him on the throne rather than one of his illegitimate brothers. He shrugged mentally. Quill had sold all his company shares a few years ago, having discovered that India men were deliberately flaunting government orders not to increase their holdings. In fact, he would agree with Gabby’s father: Kasi Rao was better off hidden in London.

Colonel Hastings was on his feet, genially kissing Lady Sylvia’s hand in farewell. She simpered her good-byes in such a harebrained fashion that it would have shocked him to the bone to see her a moment later.

“Well, gel,” she barked, the moment the colonel left the library. “If Hastings wasn’t one of the greatest fools in England, he would have had the truth out of you in a moment. You don’t lie worth a damn.”

“I don’t know,” Quill said meditatively. “I think Gabby shows remarkable innovation, given that she knows precisely where that princeling is to be found.”

Gabby blushed, but Lady Sylvia saved her from having to speak. “Of course she knows where the boy is to be found! I expect yer father has him tucked away somewhere, doesn’t he? India is a large place. They’ll never find him,” Lady Sylvia said with some satisfaction. “I don’t like those East India fellows. Mind you, Richard Jerningham always was a proper Jack Pudding, talking of becoming a missionary, and he the son of a duke! But I expect Richard kidnapped the boy for a good reason.
Not
that I am the least bit interested in knowing what his reason was. Come along, darling girls!” She scooped up two dogs, but the third seemed to have temporarily disappeared.

“Drat!” Lady Sylvia said as Gabby wandered about the library, peeking behind leather chairs. “She’s a little weasel, Beauty is. I’ll have to send Dessie down to find her.” And beckoning majestically, she ushered Gabby out of the room.

Quill didn’t have a chance to question Gabby until after supper, when he joined the ladies in the parlor. She was wearing the orange gown again, the one that fit her like a glove and made Quill feel like a libertine. An ungentlemanly, lecherous blackguard—the type of man who seduces his brother’s fiancée. Swearing at himself didn’t help.

“How old is Kasi Rao?” Quill asked. He would have asked anything to prevent himself from looking too closely at Gabby. He’d tossed off two brandies, but the only effect was to fire his blood with an intolerable wish to touch her again.

“Kasi will be eleven on January the fifth. Unfortunately, he is not quite that old in his abilities. He is only just learning his letters …”

Quill thought as Gabby chattered on. What in the hell should he do now? Take a trip? Go to investigate a firm located a long way away—say, Jamaica? Persia? What does one do when consumed by lust for a future sister-in-law? Stay away, his conscience said. Look what happened to Claudius. He ended up killing his brother—Hamlet’s father—then…But thinking about Shakespeare didn’t really help. Everyone was so melodramatic in the old days.

For one thing, he couldn’t leave. It was unthinkable, given his father’s condition. It would be a breach of good manners, given that he was Gabby’s host. As long as I don’t kiss her again, Quill thought, I can be her host. I am a civilized man. He ignored the treacherous pattern that Shakespeare had set. After all, everyone knew that after Claudius married his brother’s wife, things didn’t go well for him. It would be better to leave the country.

Gabby was still talking. “Given how difficult it is for Kasi to remember even simple things, you would not credit how well he is doing! Some letters do come out backward. I certainly hope that Mrs. Malabright has been able to keep up his studies.”

Quill pulled himself together. “Who is Mrs. Malabright?”

“Father thought at first to place Kasi in an establishment. But it was very difficult to arrange that from India, and it seemed fairly certain that representatives of the East India Company would trace the arrangement. So Kasi is under the care of a Mrs. Malabright, here in London. She is an Englishwoman who lived in India for twenty years. Since he knew her well, it was less of a shock for him to leave home.”

“Has Kasi lived with you for his whole life?”

“Oh, yes,” Gabby said sunnily. “Kasi came to live with us when he was only a few months old.”

“Couldn’t he take his place on the Holkar throne?”

“Certainly not,” Gabby said without hesitating for a second. “My father is convinced that the East India Company would turn him into a figurehead and then take over the Holkar region. Kasi, poor sweetheart, is not entirely all that he could be. My father says that his mother drank too much cherry brandy while
enceinte
.”

“What did Kasi’s father think of his wife’s brandy consumption?” Quill asked.

“They both enjoy cherry brandy,” Gabby said, turning her limpid eyes to Quill. “The last time I visited the palace, the Holkar was drinking his third bottle of the day, and his wife was thoroughly incapacitated as well. The kingdom is run by the Holkar’s favorite concubine, Tulasi Bai.”

Quill scowled at her. “You shouldn’t be talking about concubines, Gabby. Lord, you shouldn’t ever have visited a palace full of drunkards.”

Gabby twinkled at him. “It isn’t as if I have a preference myself for cherry brandy,” she observed. “And I do think that Tulasi’s son will make an excellent ruler of the Holkar region someday.”

“I suppose you wished to visit Kasi when you asked for a carriage.”

“Yes. Father instructed me not to reveal Kasi’s presence in London to anyone, not even to you or your father.” Gabby hesitated. “But now that you know about Kasi, will you accompany me to Mrs. Malabright’s house, Quill? I would be most glad of your company. I haven’t seen Kasi for several days now, and I miss him dreadfully. Father said I should ascertain whether Kasi is happy and then find another arrangement if necessary.”

“Of course,” Quill said. “Lady Sylvia, would tomorrow morning be convenient for you?”

“I believe I’ll let you escort the gel on her own,” Lady Sylvia replied. “Yer practically going on an errand of mercy, after all. I’m sure no one could quibble with that.”

“I want to thank you for your performance before Colonel Hastings,” Gabby said. “It would have been a terrible thing if the East India Company found out where Kasi was living.”

“I enjoyed it.” Lady Sylvia’s voice was a bit gruff. “You’re a good gel, Gabrielle. Like the way you’re looking out for the boy, even if he’s an Indian lad. Mind you, I won’t call you that heathen name,
Gabby
, although you are a bit of a prattlebox.”

Gabby smiled at her. “I am a very grateful prattlebox,” she said. “I don’t think I could have managed Colonel Hastings half so well.”

“Well! Time for bed!” And Lady Sylvia shooed Gabby and the dogs out the door.

But Gabby had no wish for sleep. Colonel Hastings’ visit had given her a sick feeling in her stomach.