“Which I’m guessing would be a safer option than sending your own people in—and risking Borthwick finding out where they came from,” Adam added.
“Rather,” Mr.Chowdhury agreed.
“I’m afraid this is my first encounter with Brahmi,” Ellie admitted, waving the page with Neil’s transcription.“I’d need access to an extensive library to make any sense of it.”
“You don’t need to make any sense of it,” Mr.Chowdhury corrected her.“His Highness will do that.”
“Uncle Vijay?”Constance piped in with a spark of delighted interest.
“He has made an extensive study of Sanskrit and ancient Indian literature.The royal library at Nandapur will have whatever else he requires,” Mr.Chowdhury explained.
“Royal library?”Ellie’s thoughts leaped excitedly to what she might find in the official collection of a kingdom that had been founded before the reign of Edward I.
Adam’s eyes twinkled knowingly.“Don’t let your fingers get too itchy, Princess.As best I can figure, it’s a solid two-day trip to Nandapur.”He looked to Mr.Chowdhury.“Can we afford that kind of time?”
“Nandapur is also a secure base for planning whatever operations are required next.”Mr.Chowdhury tapped his fingers thoughtfully against the table.“And it is where our resources are focused.That may prove critical.”
That ‘our’ seemed oddly intimate for a man who otherwise uniformly referred to Constance’s royal relative as ‘His Highness.’
Mr.Chowdhury’s fingers stopped tapping.“We’ll go.But we’ll travel separately.It’s best no one associates you with the royal party, especially after tonight’s…complications.I’ll arrange a compartment for you on the eight-thirty train.”
He straightened.“You had all best clean up and get some sleep in the meantime.You’ll find your trunks in your rooms.I took the liberty of having dinner sent up in case you didn’t have a chance to eat.”
“Are we to be left to our own devices for the evening, then?”Constance asked the question with an air of studied innocence.
A wicked spark of hope flared at the thought.Might they finally have a night where they weren’t being thoroughly chaperoned?Ellie would very much like to act on some of the impulses she had been robbed of in the broom closet.
Of course, her brother was unlikely to approve of being made an accessory to Ellie and Adam’s intimacies—even if Ellie could have brought herself to ask him.The very notion of that made her want to pull the throw blanket over her head.
Constance, however, was nothing if not a trusty companion in subterfuge.Surely she could find a way to distract Neil and give Ellie and Adam a chance to spend a private hour together.
Maybe two hours, Ellie corrected as her gaze roamed over to Adam’s sprawled, half-dressed figure.
“Not exactly,” Mr.Chowdhury replied.
A knock sounded at the door.Neil automatically pulled it open to reveal the tall, frowning figure of Mr.Mahjoud.
The dragoman was exceptionally tailored, as always.He carried a slender overnight bag as he crushed all of Ellie’s nascent sensual hopes.
“His Highness the Maharaja of Nandapur is looking for you,” Mr.Mahjoud reported tiredly.
“I’m sure that he is,” Mr.Chowdhury returned with an indulgent quirk of his lip.“I’ll leave you to it, then.”
Mr.Mahjoud took in the scene—Neil’s bloody shirt, Ellie’s guano-stained blanket, Constance’s servant’s uniform, and Adam’s bare toes.
Still sprawled on Adam’s lap, Kalb lifted his head hopefully.
“Are we planning to wash up at some point this evening?”Mr.Mahjoud demanded with an air of resigned disdain.“Or do we harbor ambitions of ruining all of the hotel furniture?”
?
Ten
An hour anda much-needed bath later, Ellie shrugged into her dressing gown.She stepped into the parlor to find Mr.Mahjoud clad in a set of elegant silk pajamas, staring down at the blanket and pillow laid out on the settee—which was at least a foot shorter than Mr.Mahjoud himself.
Mr.Mahoud gave a long-suffering sigh that spoke to the burden of being assigned to mind a batch of messy adults who really ought to be able to handle themselves.
Ellie could hear Constance belting out a music hall tune to the accompaniment of splashing water from the washroom down the hall.
