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Lady Lamb read the note twice before she allowed a small frisson of triumph to lift the corners of her mouth. So, Savage had returned for her after all. If he had obtained a title, his signature on the note gave no indication of it. Even if he had managed to get one it would certainly be of lower rank than an Earl of the Realm. She tried to compare him with Cornwallis, but it was an impossibility. There simply was no comparison. She sighed, knowing if she chose Savage she would never be able to control him, but she simply couldn’t resist the man.
The thing that puzzled her was why on earth he had saddled himself with an old woman and a young girl. Probably some misguided impulse prompting him to think she’d like her family present at their wedding. Eve wasn’t best pleased. Her mother had always disapproved of her, and as for Antonia, what woman in her thirties needed a seventeen-year-old at her side, glowing with youth?
She tapped the note with a long fingernail as she calculated how much time she had. When they arrived they would be hot, tired, and begrimed from the rigors of the journey from Colombo. Sleeping in a tent did nothing for a lady’s disposition or appearance and the dust of the road ruined one’s complexion, coiffeur, and wardrobe. She rang for her women and ordered a lotus-scented bath.
Bernard Lamb had ridden over every inch of Leopard’s Leap that week. He had viewed the thousands of thriving tea bushes and the four-story tea factory. He knew the exact location of the smokehouse that held a fortune in molded sheets of rubber latex, and he knew the workers’ schedules.
Anthony Lamb’s future hung by a precarious thread. As he rode before his cousin pointing out the crops at various stages of harvesting, he had been a tempting target for Bernard’s pistol. Bernard managed to restrain himself, however, because of their location. He did not want the body to be found at Leopard’s Leap. When his bullet found its mark, he wanted his cousin Anthony to fall to the floor of the jungle, where the evidence would be naturally disposed of as soon as darkness fell.
“Well, I think we’ve exhausted the plantation. How about exploring in the jungle this afternoon?” Bernard suggested.
“I’ve always had a native Tamil with me before, but I suppose we’ll be safe enough if we stick together,” Anthony replied. “The flora and fauna are so uniquely exotic, you’ve never seen anything like it. There are scores of different types of palmetto, bamboo, and rattan, all covered with flowering vines and orchids in shades you never dreamed existed. There are monkeys, macaques, flying foxes, and sloths all picking fruit from the high branches of breadfruit trees, Indian dates, pawpaw, pomegranates, and plantain. I followed a path where the leafy canopy blocked out the sunlight so well, moths a foot across sat on the rough bark of the tamarind trees.”
“Do you think you could find that exact spot again?” Bernard asked eagerly.
* * *
It was with great enthusiasm Eve greeted her family when they arrived at the plantation. Anyone witnessing the touching reunion might have been hard pressed not to shed a tear. Mr. Burke was such an observer, but the glitter in his eye was not from tears, it was from cynicism. Eve’s clothes, manners, and demeanor were impeccable, yet Mr. Burke wondered how many hours she had spent before her mirror? How many of her maids had been punished for their clumsiness while dressing her hair?
Eve welcomed them exactly as etiquette dictated, acknowledging her mother first out of deference to Lady Randolph’s age and station. It looked the perfect picture of filial affection, but Mr. Burke knew looks were deceiving and it was usually the ear that picked up the true feelings beneath the surface.
Roz made up her mind to start out on the right foot this time around. Perhaps in the past the animosity between mother and daughter had been her fault. Eve presented her cheek and Roz kissed it gently. “My dear, I am so sorry about Russell. I can see your strength has brought you through it. You look marvelous.”
“I detect your disapproval that I’m out of widow’s weeds,” Eve said sweetly. “How I’ve missed your mothering me.”
Eve turned to her daughter. Antonia stepped forward to embrace her. “Mother, you are just as lovely as I remembered. I’m so thrilled to be here.”
The flawless creature in blue chiffon clearly wished to avoid any physical contact. She put up a small, beringed hand as if warding off an invasion and said, “Antonia dear, you’re so tall. Why, I believe you must be as tall as your brother.” Her gaze swept over her daughter’s dusty and disheveled appearance. “You must bathe and change at once.”
Antonia’s joy began to dissolve. Her mother made her feel as she had when she was six; inferior in every way. Still, there was no denying Eve was a great beauty, and Antonia wished with all her heart that she hadn’t been such a disappointment to her mother.
Eve’s cool gaze fell upon Mr. Burke, whom she had known most of her life. She acknowledged him with one word, “Burke.”
Up to this point Adam Savage had only been an observer, but what he witnessed made him realize what a fortunate escape he’d had. Evelyn Lamb was not cool at all, she was cold blooded as a reptile.
At last Eve was free to turn her attention to the object of her desire. Her lips widened into a smile, she laid her hand on his arm possessively, and she looked up into his face. “Adam darling.”
Savage’s blue gaze was glacial. “Lady Lamb,” he said formally, taking her hand and removing it from his arm. In that moment Eve knew irrefutably that Savage did not want her. How vastly amusing. Too bad! She had him firmly hooked and she intended to reel him in.
Savage bowed to the ladies. “I extend the hospitality of Leopard’s Leap to all of you.” His gaze came back to Eve. “I will intrude no longer, but perhaps we could have a private talk tomorrow?”
Eve inclined her head, then turned her back upon him, dismissing him from her presence, if not her thoughts.
Antonia blushed, knowing Adam would inform her mother that they intended to marry.
Eve saw the blush, saw the radiant look upon her daughter’s face, and experienced a stab of jealousy she’d never felt for any other female.
“Where’s Anthony?” Tony asked eagerly.
Eve waved her hand irritably. “Where he is every day, off at Leopard’s Leap. I believe he covets the, place!”
Roz thought the wordcovetthat dropped from Eve’s lips was most apt. It was clear as crystal that her daughter coveted the wealthy nabob. It was also obvious, at least to Rosalind, that they had been involved. Now she understood why Adam Savage had insisted upon returning to Ceylon. His personal code dictated he make a clean break with Eve before he could honorably marry Antonia. Roz didn’t like it one bit. Someone was going to be hurt, perhaps deeply, perhaps even permanently. Thank God she had decided to accompany her granddaughter. Roz didn’t believe Antonia was any match for Eve’s vitriol.
The next hour was a blur of activity as a dozen servants scurried about carrying luggage, plenishing rooms, providing refreshments, drawing baths, and unpacking for the newly arrived guests at Government House.
The small native girl who attended Antonia while she bathed knelt quietly in a corner with downcast eyes. Tony was used to bathing in private, but this child was so self-effacing, she did not make Antonia feel uncomfortable.
Beneath the warm, scented water Tony’s hand stole to her belly. It was no longer a silken hollow, but mounded slightly without actually protruding. She smiled over her secret knowledge. Adam would never have permitted her to make this long voyage if he had known about the child. Her thoughts drifted to her mother. The baby would make Eve a grandmother. Antonia stifled a giggle. Her mother would consider that a fate worse than death. She had seen Eve place a proprietary hand on Adam. Her mother had never been able to keep her hands off men. Even as a child Antonia had noticed that Eve touched all her father’s friends with intimate invitation. Now that Antonia was a woman, she realized it was just her mother’s way of affirming her attractiveness.
