Ellie raised a skeptical eyebrow.“Since when have you been running off to wild clubs?”
Constance waved her fan airily.“I didn’t say I’d been.I’ve just heard of plenty of them.”
“I believe this one has a golf course.”
Constance snapped the fan shut, grimacing.“Definitely uptight, then.”
She grew uncharacteristically quiet as they rode past the tidy facades of some of Puri’s finer houses.
“I suspect Aai might be preparing to join the fray over my marriage prospects,” she offered at last.
The driver cheerfully ignored them.It had been clear when they were loading into the tonga that his English was limited to directions and monetary exchange.
“You’re thinking of that comment she made on our way to the festival,” Ellie elaborated.
Our Kondi has been most exacting in her standards for a husband… perhaps a little too exacting.
“It’s more than that,” Constance returned tautly.“I know when Aai’s preparing to take sides on an issue.One can hardly grow up with her in the house and not learn to read the signs.It’s more or less a survival mechanism.”
“What does that mean for you?”Ellie pressed worriedly—because shehadbeen worried for her friend ever since she had learned of the deadline Sir Robert and Lady Sabita had set for their daughter to choose a husband or risk facingconsequences.
Pressure from Constance’s parents was bad enough, but the prospect of her royal grandmother wading in was another kettle of fish entirely.Padma was formidable at the best of times—and shealwaysgot what she set her mind to.
Constance’s mouth firmed into a grim, determined line.“It means that it’s time to consider more extreme measures.”
Ellie felt a thrill of alarm.“Such as?”
“An engagement with your brother.”
Ellie’s mind took a moment to catch up with her ears.Then she choked.“You… what…?!”
“Not for real!”Constance rolled her eyes.“Just for a little while.We’d find a way out of it when it was no longer necessary.”
“How?”Ellie squeaked wildly.
Adam glanced up with a concerned frown from the other tonga, which trailed just out of earshot behind them.
Ellie gave him a wave, plastering a reassuring smile on her face.
“I haven’t worked out all the details yet,” Constance breezily dismissed.
Ellie fought down a low hum of panic.“And Neil is… amenable to this?”
“I’m sure I can talk him into it.”
Ellie paled.“So, you haven’t actually spoken with him about it yet.”
“I haven’t determined whether it’s strictly necessary.Why alarm him in the meantime?You know how he can be.”
Ellie knew how he could be.
“But whyNeil?” she pressed desperately.
“If you hadn’t noticed, we aren’t exactly overflowing with eligible men in our traveling party,” Constance pointed out.“It’s not like I could ask Adam to do it.That would be terribly odd.”
“It’s not odd to ask Neil?”
“Not really,” Constance returned lightly.
