The colonel immediately laid into his grandson, gnawing and tearing him from limb to limb as Jon sagged weakly in his chair. I was next in line, sitting stiffly, and flinched when he unsheathed his claws. “You are thieving trash!” he thundered, shaking a bony fist. “The sari is mine!”
“You can have it!” I shouted, gripping the armrests for support. “That shroud has brought me nothing but misery!”
“Shroud?” he mimicked with a cruel twist of his shriveled lips. He pointed a yellowed fingernail at me. “The sari was bequeathed to me upon her death,” he said snidely. “She left it in my care. Not some penniless orphan.”
“Grandfather…” Jon pleaded. “You promised.”
“I did not,” Colonel Havelock sniffed. “And you were supposed to find her before she crossed the Atlantic. What was the meaning of heading out into that godforsaken wilderness? You could have gotten trampled by a buffalo!”
“You instructed me to keep an eye on her,” Jon sighed, rubbing his eyes. “Grandfather, might I remind you I’m due to leave in an hour?”
“And whose fault is that?”
“Please…”
“Oh, stop begging like a simpering dog!” Colonel Havelock whirled about in his wheelchair, obviously enjoying himself. “You still have not turned in your expenditures for your little adventure.”
“I thought I did.”
“And what is this about the Pinkerton?”
“Anjuli’s brother hired him, Grandfather. We’ve gone over all this.”
Colonel Havelock held up his hand. “It is of no consequence.” His beady eyes narrowed. “We cannot delay. I want you to take Bartholomew with you.”
Jon paled. “I don’t think so, Grandfather. Bart isn’t exactly known for being… discreet.”
“You will do as I say! Think I want that buttonhead to get his hands on that sari? Do you know what he’ll do with it?”
“But Bart—”
“He is armed and not afraid to pull the trigger,” Colonel Havelock sneered. “Unlike someone I know.”
“I am a police officer!”
“I told you not to.”
I could feel Jon losing the battle and jumped in with both feet. “Pulling the trigger and enforcing the law are entirely different things, Colonel.”
The colonel turned on me like a rattlesnake. “Defending your lover? Don’t think I don’t know what you two have been up to behind my back!” He shook his finger. “You’ll marry her one way or another, boy! I won’t have your filth in my house!”
“We’ve already discussed it, Grandfather.”
“Indeed?”
“Yes. As soon as Anne is able, we’ll—”
“I want a church wedding,” the colonel insisted. “None of these impersonal visits to the registry office. Why, it’s indecent!”
“No, Grandfather,” Jon sighed, glancing my way. “We were thinking of a small… ceremony. At the rectory, of course.”
Colonel Havelock nodded. “Vicar Cummings is a good man. I shall speak to him at once.” He turned to me. “What do you have to say for yourself, young lady? My grandson shouldn’t have to do this.”
“I didn’t ask him to, Colonel.”
“No…?”
“I offered,” Jon explained hastily. “It’s the honorable thing to do. Isn’t it, Anne?”
“Of course.”
“Good. Because it’s high time you married, boy.” Colonel Havelock wheeled himself closer. “Think I don’t know you’ve been pining for that bitch?”
Jon paled. “I—I don’t know what you mean, Grandfather," he stammered.
“The hell you don’t! Think I don’t know what she is? Why, she must have given it to half the county before she nailed the barrister.”
“I’m sure she—”
“As a newly engaged man, should you be defending your former fiancée in front of the new?”
“I wasn’t.”
“As for you, Miss Gibson, I should say you ought to be grateful my grandson has offered marriage. Goodness knows you wouldn’t find anyone else to make such a generous offer. Especially with that face. What have you been doing with it? You look as if horses have used it for—”
Jon was on his feet. “Grandfather!” he roared. “Apologize at once!”
“Why?”
“That was unforgivable! If you do not apologize, I’ll—”
Colonel Havelock grinned. “What will you do, boy? Tell your grandfather.”
My betrothed was red and shaking with rage; I was rather awed by the sight. “If you do not apologize to my fiancée, I shall turn the sari over to Mr. Anderson.”
“Is that all?”
“And I shall cut you out of my life.”
“Do you promise?”
Jon took a deep breath, saving the best for last. “And I shall keep where I think Anjuli is buried to myself.” He sat back down with a satisfied nod.
I thought Jon had been too lenient. I would have taken a pair of scissors to the sari and made him watch. Colonel Havelock was oddly quiet for several moments before he spoke. When he finally found his voice, his words vibrated with grief. “No one knows where she’s buried. Not even the best detectives could locate her.”
“Well, they weren’t me.”
“Won't you tell your grandfather?”
“Not until my return.” Jon rose and helped me to my feet. “While I’m gone, you will extend every courtesy to Anne and regard her as my wife. We shall be married as soon as you can arrange the ceremony.”
“Anything else?”
“Yes.”
“What is it?”
“You will kindly refrain from making crude comments about Anne and never raise your hand against her. She will tell me if you do.” Jon swept me up like a knight in a fairytale and carried me gallantly from the room. Once we were in another wing, he swore and set me down on a bench. He then bent over as though he’d run a great distance, panting and heaving as he struggled to breathe. “Did I just say those things to my grandfather?” he wheezed.
“Um… I think you did.”
“Oh, God.”
“It’ll be all right,” I soothed, knowing it would not. “What can he do?”
Jon glanced up. “He could cut me off at the knees.” He shook his head, his breathing slowly returning to normal. “Now we have to go through with it.”
“I thought you—”
“I know. I just didn’t think it would be this soon.” He glanced up sheepishly. “Don’t think this reflects badly on you.”
“Too late.”
“Marriage is a tricky business,” he admitted, sitting down beside me. “I think it was easier the first time around.”
“Why?”
“Because I didn’t know any better, I guess. I’m afraid I was a romantic. I actually believed all that nonsense about flowers and happily ever after.” He let out a rueful laugh. “I had to learn the hard way.”
“What happened?”
“Oh, what didn’t happen? I was a lowly constable. Not much money, you know.”
“I wouldn’t have cared about that.”
“I know you wouldn’t.” He smiled and my heart leapt. “But she did, and so did her father. I’m afraid the engagement ended rather… badly.”
“Was she the one—?”
“I’m afraid so. She wanted a large wedding. A large house. And furniture to fill that house. I couldn’t afford that on my salary.”
“She sounds… delightful.”
He nodded. “I didn’t see what she was like until she started picking out china patterns. When she began picking out antique furniture for the sitting room, I had to pull her aside and tell her I couldn’t afford it. I gave her a reasonable amount she could spend and told her she could choose one item and we could buy secondhand for the rest.”
“What did she do?”
“She threw a priceless lamp at me, stormed out of the shop, and sent her brother over to settle my hash. Isn’t that what you Yankees call it?”
I hid a smile. “I think so. But she sounds dreadful.”
“Would you have been happy with secondhand?” he asked hopefully, as if the offer still stood.
“Who wouldn’t?”
“Then it’s settled,” he said, rising to his feet and sweeping me back into his arms. “We’ll have a house full of secondhand furniture with a new piece added once a year.”
I dared reach up to brush an errant lock of hair away from his brow. “Promise we’ll choose the furniture together.”
“Don’t you want the responsibility?”
“Er… I think a husband and wife should choose their furniture together. It’s good practice for the… um… nursery.”
He peered down at me with a teasing glint in his eye. “We’ll have a nursery?”
“I think so.” I patted my stomach. “The doctor said we should have children as soon as possible. It’s supposed to help… the ailment.” I think I was the color of the sun by the time Jon returned me to my room. He set me on the bed gently and made certain I had everything I needed before he left.
“So, Mrs. Powell,” he said, dropping to his knees before me. “Will you miss your sergeant very much?”
I blushed, suddenly shy. Nodding, I felt him grasp my chin. “What are you—”
It was the first time I had ever been kissed. Hopefully, it would not be the last. After Jon left, I felt his absence so acutely I wanted to weep.
So, I did.
