Padma’s authoritative voice rang through the salon.“Kondi!”
“Go on,” Adam said with a nod.
Ellie shook her head, coming out of a momentary fugue.“Yes, don’t mind us.”
With a curious frown, Constance left them behind.
Padma looked perfectly regal in a mauve sari with a Rajput drape.Jewels glittered at her nose, ears, and wrists.She dismissed a bevy of other bejeweled aunties with a few gracious words before drawing Constance aside.“Why do I feel like you’ve been avoiding me?”
“I wasn’t avoiding you,” Constance protested.“I was sleeping!It has been a very busy week, Aai.”
Padma’s eyes glittered like the gold at her wrists and ears.“You and your companions did well.”
Constance set her hands on her hips with a righteous flash of temper.“Then where does the favor tab stand?”
Padma’s expression was as serene as the goddess Lakshmi as she responded.“I believe we can call it even.”
Constance felt a wash of relief.
“And have you learned anything from your adventures here in India?”Padma casually pressed.
“Of course.I know a great deal more about municipal water systems.And Subhas’s friend Jignesh showed me some very interesting new knife maneuvers.”
Padma’s gaze drifted over to where Neil was buried under an additional three children.“That is not exactly what I had in mind.”
Constance’s nerves jumped.“It’s not?”
“Oh!”Padma exclaimed lightly.“That’s the nephew of the Maharaja of Sonepur over by the dessert table.Not too hard to look at, is he?”
Constance involuntarily jerked her head toward the fellow in question, an admittedly handsome man with gleaming hair and a white smile.
“It’s too bad you are set on your English scholar, as Mr.Naru is exceptionally wealthy with an excellent pedigree,” Padma continued.“Though you might at least have a little chat with him.It isn’t too late for you to change your mind, after all.”
Panic whirled up in Constance at her grandmother’s casual suggestion.
Aware that Padma was watching her, Constance plastered an empty smile on her face.“Dr.Fairfax and I are thoroughly devoted to each other, so there’s no need for any of that.If you’ll excuse me?”
The storm inside of her hadn’t settled—only tightened.Constance needed air.
She pushed through the crowd, nearly bumping into Vijay’s younger brother on her way.
She spun past him as he struggled to right his plate of chenna poda.“Sorry, Uncle Balaram!Lovely party!”
Neil glanced up at her with a frown from beneath the pile of her cousins.Constance ignored him, bursting out the door into the night.
She found herself on a pillared passage that overlooked another wing of the palace, framed by a silent courtyard and clandestine gardens.The only light came from a lamp at the far end of the walkway, cloaking Constance in beneficent shadows as she grasped the balustrade and willed her pulse to steady.
The air was softly cooler than it had been in the salon, the sky violet with the gloaming.Distance dulled the roar of the party to a muffled murmur.
The pounding pressure in her head lingered, refusing to release her.
A footstep sounded against the floor.
Constance whirled, instinctively moving into one of her jiu jitsu stances—only to see Neil standing behind her in his saffron scarf and dinner jacket.
“Are you all right?”he asked carefully.
Constance dropped her martial pose.“I’m fine.”
