I thought of Edward’s admission aboutdatura, a poison, and I thought of the letter within my grandfather’s study regarding my father’s demise.
A shiver rippled through me. Such perilous entanglements—far more dangerous than any scandal within Almack’s Assembly Rooms or the London opera house. I did not understand this world of secrets and shifting loyalties.
What were the odds both men were poisoned?
He smiled, perhaps to relieve me. “But you are safe here, Katherine. As the director of the East India Company, my security remains the highest priority. One day, you and Sebastian will lead India into the future, although certainly not by clinging to the past. Besides, Charlotte is eager to have another woman in this house.”
I bit the inside of my cheek, sensing caution might be best. My usual saucy replies, intended to goad Grandfather, might not suit me well here.
I needed allies. Not enemies. And I would tread carefully here, unlike my days in London. Such painful lessons had scarred me.
“I should like to go to market,” I said, changing the subject.
“No doubt your doting husband will show you sights,” Lord Sinclair said. He frowned. “I should have thought he would be with you this morning, newlyweds that you are.”
Suddenly nauseous after our first married fight, I rose, offering something appropriate before making my exit.
Outside the dining room, in the vast hall, I breathed deeply and turned resolutely toward my chamber, where I would retrieve my reticule and begin my search. I was determined to discover the truth of what had happened to both my parents.
My thoughts burned as I approached the stairs leading to the second floor, teeming with bedrooms. In my haste, I pushed on the wrong door, opening into a decadent room filled with the heads of strange animals pinned to the walls. Books lay in scattered disarray around a hookah, and a strong musk scent clung to the room.
This was not Sebastian’s chamber. Gulping, I stood transfixed, my gaze helpless as I stared at the creatures frozen on the green wall, their open-mouthed agony preserved for generations to come.
“What are you doing here?” a guttural voice said behind me. I whirled to see Julien in shirtsleeves, his bronzed neck exposed and his eyes darkening at my intrusion.
“My pardon. I was lost.”
Julien tipped toward me, his dishabille all the more disconcerting with the two of us alone. “Were you now?”
“The house is quite a labyrinth, Mr. Sinclair.”
“Julien,” he grated. “That’s the only informality I will grant you. No one risks entering my Bluebeard chamber, especially not sisters.”
The glitter in his eyes was anything but brotherly. Worse, those pupils appeared enormous and black.
“Do you keep an assortment of wives hidden along with your hunting trophies?” Despite my flippant answer, I found myself inching away.
“I leave the wives and the women to Sebastian,” he said with a sneer.
I backed out with unsteady steps, just as he slammed the door mere inches from my nose.
But that encounter was not the only fear that brought a trembling to my limbs.
No. I had seen the contorted figure of a goddess, black and oiled, her hands poised to strike like asps, perched on a desk.
Kali. The Hindu goddess of death.
30:Sebastian
My affections and wishes are unchanged,
but one word from you will silence me on this subject for ever.
JANE AUSTEN,PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
Most husbands did not sleep with their wives within a shared chamber, but I missed the small cabin in the ship where Kitty lay next to me. I missedher.
I woke up the next morning in a luxurious bed, very much alone and out of sorts—combing my mind for how to rectify matters between us.
