“No!”Vijay called back over the noise.“We just need to find the man it was taken for!”
“Borthwick,” Adam filled in grimly.
Mr.Chowdhury steered them into a lacuna in the sea of devotees beside a street vendor selling fried pastries that smelled of coconut.
“Is Borthwick part of it, then?”Neil pressed uncomfortably, able to speak without shouting now that they had found a place to gather more closely together.“That… Order of Albion?”
“He is a former associate of Lord Aldbury,” Padma returned.
Aldbury.The uncomfortably familiar name made Ellie feel a bit queasy.
Adam cocked a skeptical eyebrow.“The Mustache’s dad?”
Behind him, Kalb jumped up to snap one of the pastries from the edge of the cart, swallowing it in a single bite.
Adam automatically tossed a pair of coins at the vendor, which the man deftly caught from the air.
“The Mustache?”Vijay’s mouth quirked with amusement under his own elegantly styled facial hair.
“Julian Forster-Mowbray,” Ellie filled in awkwardly.“We had some dealings with him in Egypt, where he was trying to get his hands on the Staff of Moses.”
“He was also Neil’s boss,” Constance added helpfully.
Neil paled with mortification.“He wasn’t myboss,” he emphasized helplessly.“He was just the local representative of the British Athenaeum for—”
Constance cut off Neil’s protestations.“Well, we know Lord Aldbury must have substantial influence over the Order.There’s no other way they would have given an idiot like Julian the job of trying to find an artifact that can darken the skies and turn rivers to blood.”She made a face.“And to think I had tea with that man!”
Ellie startled.“You what?”
Constance rolled her eyes.“How else do you think Julian got pointed in my direction?Mother sought out connections to every eligible bachelor she knew to be in Egypt.She invited Aldbury over to size me up like a heifer at an auction.”
“With such an attitude toward your potential suitors,” Padma commented, “it is truly a wonder that you remain single.One might almost think you were opposed to marriage on principle.”
“Not that there would be anything wrong with that,” Ellie grumbled.
Adam coughed suspiciously.
“I’m not opposed to marriage, Aai,” Constance retorted with a note of exasperation.
“One would hardly know it, looking at your record.”Padma flashed Vijay an apologetic smile.“Our Kondi has been most exacting in her standards for a husband.”Her eyes flashed back to her granddaughter with a dangerous glitter.“Perhaps a littletooexacting.”
Constance’s cheeks drained.
Ellie had nearly forgotten that Constance’s parents had threatened her withconsequencesif she failed to pick a suitor by her next birthday—which was only a few months away.
So far, Constance’s formidable grandmother had appeared to be neutral on the issue.If Padma changed her mind, Constance would be in real trouble—not least because her Aai knew the vast majority of Constance’s secrets and past transgressions.She had been the one to help Constance cover them up—and then add each and every one of those acts of assistance to her running tally offavors.
The same favors that had compelled them all here to India.
Should Padma decide to take Constance’s parents’ side on the marriage debate, she had more than ample leverage to force Constance to comply.The thought was sharply sobering.
“But there will be plenty of time to discuss all that later, once we have taken care of more pressing matters,” Padma smoothly concluded.
Vijay cut in.“And on those pressing matters—Auntie Padma suggested that you four might be willing to assist us with this particular task, though it’s not the welcome to India that I would’ve planned for you.”
“Pretty sure we came out here to help,” Adam pointed out.
“I’ll admit there are some advantages to using you for the job as opposed to my own men,” Vijay allowed.“I doubt Borthwick will suspect anyone is on to him about the theft, but if he does, he’ll be watching for Indians, not Englishmen—or an upper-class lady in English dress,” he added with a wink at Constance.
