Page 74 of To Break the Rules

There would be those who jeered and tried to hurt her, and those she cared for. That was the world they lived in, and there was no denying it. Yet, she felt it no longer had the power to hurt her in quite the same way it might once have done. She was loved and respected, she had a home, a place where she belonged, and that was an armour of sorts, one she would wear with pride.

“Should you like to return to India one day?” Silas asked her, surprising her with the question.

“I-I don’t know,” she said, smiling as she realised she could. She could go back and revisit the place she’d been born.

“Your father left you the property there, bhanvaraa. It’s yours. You ought to go back, pay your respects to your parents, explore the past now there are no ghosts to haunt you.”

Aashini nodded, realising Dharani was right. She turned back to Silas.

“But would you like to go?” she asked, realising he might not want to travel so far.

“Would I like to go on an adventure with you?” he said, laughing. “What a ridiculous question. Just tell me when.”

She grinned, sitting back against the plush seats of the carriage. “Well, not for a while. There are plenty of adventures to have here, for the time being, I think.” She looked up at Silas from under her eyelashes, intrigued and pleased by the way his eyes darkened.

“As you like, love,” he murmured, raising her hand to press a kiss to her fingers. He turned back to Dharani, still clasping Aashini’s hand.

“And you, Dharani. Will you come with us when we go?”

“Me?” Her grandmother pulled a face and shuddered. “No. The journey nearly killed me the first time, I’ll not go again. Besides, this is home now.” Dharani looked out of the window at a fine English summer’s day, and a blue sky dotted with white clouds before turning back and shivering. “It’s too cold, too grey, and too…drizzly— why can’t it rain properly? —but, anyway,” she said with a sniff, “I’m used to it now.”

“Just as well,” Silas remarked. “I’ll need someone to keep an eye on the staff in my absence.”

Dharani chuckled as Fred huffed and looked a little indignant.

“What are you sulking about?” Silas demanded. “I can hardly go to India without you, can I?”

Mollified, Fred grinned and then looked anxious. “’Ere, aren’t there snakes in India?”

Aashini sighed as she watched a look of pure devilment pass across her grandmother’s face, and settled in to listen to a lecture about all the dangerous and deadly things poor Fred was likely to encounter, from man-eating tigers and stampeding elephants, to scorpions and crocodiles. She knew full well that Dharani had likely not seen half of the things she listed in her lifetime, but Nani maa was having so much fun that she kept her mouth shut.

She could always reassure Fred later.

Chapter 21

Your presence is required for an urgent meeting of the Peculiar Ladies!

Lucia needs us.

―Excerpt of a letter from Miss Matilda Hunt to all the Peculiar Ladies.

4th August 1814. Meeting of the Peculiar Ladies, Upper Walpole Street, London.

“She’s here!” Bonnie exclaimed from her position at the window.

“All right, dear, there’s no need to shriek,” Matilda said, laughing as Bonnie bounded back to where Ruth was inspecting a table groaning under the weight of cake and cream buns.

“Now, where are the macaroons?” Ruth muttered. “I know Cook made some.”

“More to the point, where would you put macaroons?” Bonnie asked, gesturing to the overcrowded table top.

Ruth returned a look of bewilderment. “Oh, I can always find a space for macaroons,” she said, with perfect sincerity.

“Shh! She’s coming,” hissed Kitty, who’d been standing with her ear to the door.

They’d gathered all of the Ladies today except for Alice, who had gone to the country early to escape the heat. Poor Alice would be so disappointed she was missing out again, but she’d been out of sorts, and Nate had decided getting out of the city would do her good. Privately, Matilda couldn’t help but wonder if there was another reason for her friend’s indisposition, but she kept such thoughts to herself.

The ladies all stood arm-in-arm and smothering their laughter, until Aashini walked through the door.