Jane wrinkled her brow. “What of your suitor? Why didn’t he offer for you?”
“I actually received eight offers of marriage the following day. He was one of them,” Georgiana said without boasting. “But I made Father turn them all down.”
“What?” Jane yelped. “The man who ruined you offered for you, and you turned him down?”
Georgiana smiled. “I did. I told my father that I would never reveal his name. And I never will.”
“I think I finally understand why your father sent you away,” Jane said. “You’re a danger to yourself.”
Georgiana chuckled. “That’s exactly what he said. But I didn’t want to marry someone because of a momentary lapse in judgment. In fact,” she said frowning, “that seemed the worst way possible to start a marriage.”
“But you could have had your Adonis,” Jane protested.
“Well, yes,” Georgiana agreed. “Until he discovered he didn’t like me. Or I him. Just because we found kissing pleasant doesn’t mean we would have been a good match.”
Jane sighed wistfully. “I admire you, Gi, I really do. I don’t think I could have given him up so easily.”
Georgiana’s violet eyes became suddenly shuttered. “I wasn’t his only interest. And the thought of my Adonis seducing other women because he was bored with me made it easy enough.”
“So none of it’s true except the kiss?” Jane asked slowly. “Wait, none of it?”
Realization dawned on Jane, and her purpose crystallized. “That settles it, Gi,” she said as she grabbed her cousin in a hug. “You have the reputation—you might as well have the fun. And Simon Ashford is perfect for the task at hand.”
Jane raised her hand to stop Georgiana’s protests. “He’s delicious, Gi, he’s charming, and he had enough reputation as a rakehell that he likely knows what he’s doing under the covers.”
“Janie!” Georgiana exclaimed, sounding mortified. She shook her head. “He’s Nath’s best friend.”
“Even better,” Jane snapped her fingers. “Seducing Nath’s best friend would be nice retribution for Nath’s role in your ruination. Don’t tell me you don’t find Simon attractive, Georgiana. I see you peeking when you think nobody’s looking.”
“That’s not the problem. Simon doesn’t like me,” Georgiana stated tiredly.
Jane giggled. “We’re talking seduction, darling. He doesn’t have to like you. He just has to desire you. Which he does, of course.”
Georgiana groaned. “I don’t want to talk about this. I have an entire week’s worth of notes I must transcribe, a ledger to balance, fieldwork to complete, and correspondence with the Asiatic Society that must be answered if we ever hope to publish this latest monograph. Not to mention in a day or two I will likely have to attend a dinner party for my brother, who happens to despise me. I really don’t think this is the time for an affaire.”
“On the contrary,” Jane argued. “This is the perfect time! A little fun would make it all more tolerable. Besides, why shouldn’t you and Simon have an affaire? Neither of you is married, and by the looks on your faces I’m pretty sure you could both use a good tupping.”
Georgiana looked at her with an expression that was a mixture of horror and skepticism, so Jane took another tack. She smiled sweetly at her cousin. “Fine, Gi, do as you see fit. But if you’re not interested in Mr. Ashford you won’t mind if I have a little fun with him, will you?”
Jane knew at once that she had hit her target. Georgiana’s jaw tightened and her cheeks flushed. She looked ready to snap in half. “Do as you please,” Georgiana said through gritted teeth.
Jane’s smile softened. “I knew it! You do have an affection for him.”
Georgiana glared at her, but the tension seeped from her limbs. “That was indefensible,” she muttered.
“Of course it was,” Jane soothed. “But it was also enlightening, don’t you think?” She took Georgiana’s arm and walked back into the study. “If there’s one thing I learned from Henri’s death, it’s that our time together is too short. We must enjoy what little of it we are allotted. It’s all right for you to live up to certain parts of your reputation, Gi. People already think you do, so you may as well enjoy it. Better still, enjoy Simon.”
Her cousin gestured helplessly. “I wouldn’t even know how to begin seducing him,” Georgiana said.
“Just kiss him,” Jane waved dismissively. “He’ll do the rest. I promise! All you need to do is lie back and enjoy his attentions.”
Georgiana chewed her lip, which meant she was working things out in her mind.
“You don’t need to decide right now, darling. Just think on it.” Jane patted her on the arm and kissed her on the cheek. “Though if you do decide to seduce him, don’t stay up too late tonight working on the journals. You’ll want to be well rested.”
Chapter Seven
Georgiana looked out over the river’s edge, trying to focus on her note taking. Baljit had helped her down the narrow path Simon’s crew had made in the steep riverbank, and now the boy was helping her examine some of the aquatic lifeforms while the river was still a slow trickle. Once the monsoon came, he promised, the swirling water would make it unsafe to do so.
After her scandalous discussion with Jane last night, an odd sensation had taken hold of her. She felt impatient, as though she were waiting for something. Likely it had to do with the oppressive heat. Everyone seemed to be waiting, she thought. Once the rains came, the feeling would no doubt pass.
She turned her head just enough to glance up the bank again. Through the sun-ravaged reeds wilting in the relentless heat she managed to glimpse Simon, far off to her right. Her heart sped up as she watched him move. Funny, she mused, how she seemed to know instinctively where he was, as though she could sense him. It was unnerving.
Georgiana considered her cousin’s advice. Jane had made a valid point, she admitted to herself. Nothing, not even the most virtuous behavior, was going to save her reputation. It didn’t matter one whit to anyone if she’d earned her infamy or not. It was a difficult truth to face—somehow she had convinced herself that if she behaved properly, people would come to understand that they had misjudged her.
But Jane was right. People were always going to look at her and assume she was naughty, whether she was or wasn’t. She knew the truth—as long as she didn’t offend her own sense of integrity, should it matter what anyone else thought?
Forcing her mind back to her work, she smiled as Baljit captured a wriggling lizard from the reeds. He was a wonderful resource. Especially when she challenged him to find things she had never before seen.
He held up the reptile for her examination. It was dotted with gray and yellow spots and had a white belly, crossed by several dark bands. “This is a baby gooshap,” he said. “Some people think they are poisonous, but they are not. When it grows up, its spots are darker and its stomach turns gray. Adult gooshap can be about one hundred fifteen centimeters.”
“What do they eat?” she asked him, jotting it all down.
Baljit shrugged, letting the lizard go. “Fish, insects, snakes. They are very good swimmers, but they can also climb trees.”
“Fascinating,” Georgiana murmured, writing as fast as her fingers would allow.
Baljit rolled the bottoms of his trousers over his knees and stepped gingerly into murky water of the river. “If you like,” he said, “I can find a turtle.”
“Catch me a crocodile, will you?” Georgiana teased.
“Miss Georgiana,” Baljit said with some degree of exasperation. “I have told you several times that there are no crocodiles at this part of the river. If there were crocodiles here, I would not be foolish enough to enter the water.”
“I know, Baljit,” she said. “But I like how your face wrinkles when you’re annoyed with me.”
&n
bsp; Baljit muttered something about ignorant girls, and Georgiana’s grin deepened. She settled herself on the reeds of the embankment, about halfway down where the land curved in a bit, and leaned back on her elbows without giving a second thought to her gown. If she lay back just so, she could almost see over the top of the bank without straining her neck. Her eyes drifted up and she listened for Simon, who was busy in discussion with his crew. Though she couldn’t hear the words distinctly, by his tone she could gauge that he was arguing with his foreman.
He’d been cranky these last few days because the final weir wasn’t finished, leaving the entire irrigation system at risk of being washed away once the monsoons came. They were close to finishing it, perhaps only a day away, and his crews were working around the clock. Georgiana bit her lip, pushing down a tide of rising guilt. If she hadn’t dragged him to the marketplace every other day, his work might be finished. Of course, if Simon had told her he was behind, she would gladly have put her trips on hold. Instead, Baljit had come to her, without Simon’s knowledge, she was certain, to explain, “Mister Simon needs to finish the dams now.”
Looking back at the boy playing in the water, Georgiana was struck at how fond she’d grown of him. He was submerged to his waist, grinning from ear to ear, waving and showing her a small turtle.
She waved back, her smile freezing on her face a moment later. The log that had floated downstream and caught in the tall grasses on the far bank had just moved—she was sure of it. Georgiana swallowed hard and prayed her eyes were playing tricks. Still, she wasn’t one for chance. Jumping to her feet, she started picking her way farther down the slope to the water’s edge.
“Baljit,” she called as she moved. “Come back now.”
Baljit looked at her funny. Something in her demeanor or tone must have reached him, because instead of arguing as she expected, he began making his way to the river’s edge.
Sure enough, the log moved again. Panic seized in her chest. She had seen enough crocodiles in the Nile to know this wasn’t her imagination. Georgiana didn’t take her eyes off the reptile floating lazily toward the boy as she half-ran, half-slid down the rest of the bank. Baljit was plodding through the water, now just knee deep on him, when it suddenly disappeared.
Bloody hell.
“Out of the river!” she yelled, running toward him and sinking into the ankle deep muck that lined the bank. “Get out of the river!”
She yanked him by his arms, pulling him up with a splash. She toppled backward and Baljit landed by her side. They scrambled upright, but their wet, muddy feet made the steep embankment too slippery to scale. Without warning, the crocodile shot out of the water. Giant teeth snapped at them, very nearly catching Baljit by the foot. Georgiana heard screaming and realized it was coming from both of them as they scrabbled to get away from the beast.
“Higher!” she screamed. “Get higher!”
“I’m trying!” he said on a sob.
If they could just get a little farther up the steep slope the creature wouldn’t be able to follow. She had managed to climb high enough, but Baljit, covered in muck and soaked from the waist down, couldn’t find his footing. Georgiana grabbed the boy’s arm and tried to pull him up the bank. In the process, she slid right back down to where she’d started. Grabbing a handful of reeds, Georgiana hauled herself up, praying the dry plants wouldn’t break off in her hand. The river monster lunged again, thrashing about, snapping and gnashing at them.
Still screaming, she kicked and flailed her way up the slope in a graceless heap, cursing her skirts for the limited movement they allowed. Baljit had slipped back down, and Georgiana grabbed his arm and forced him up again. She slid once more, lower than before, and the croc nearly nipped her toes.
“Miss Georgiana!” he screamed.
“Higher!” she yelled at him, blind with panic, twisting and pushing herself up to regain her lost ground.
Baljit, still screaming, was throwing rocks at the beast as he fought to climb the slope. Just a little higher and he’d be out of reach. Georgiana found his foot and, taking it in both palms, she shoved him with all her might. Baljit disappeared over the top of the embankment.
Georgiana, however, found herself sliding perilously close to the hungry crocodile’s jaws. She clawed at the ground, desperate to take hold of anything. Somehow, miraculously, she managed to stop her downward slide. The croc, determined creature that he was, decided he’d had enough fun and flew at her again. Georgiana screamed and kicked out of the way, just barely.
She twisted herself around and began climbing as quickly as she could, not daring to see how close she was to those giant teeth. It didn’t seem to go much better, especially now that she was muddy and sweaty and exhausted. She reached up and prayed for another clump of reeds.
Instead, a warm, calloused hand caught her wrist, biting into her skin. She looked up to see Simon, his face drained of color, glaring down. He shot his gaze past her as he barked in a voice that sounded nothing like him, “Climb, dammit!”
Georgiana managed to find her feet. Within a moment she had dragged herself high enough for Simon to yank her up and over the top of the bank. They collapsed side by side in a graceless, panting, sweaty heap until the sound of men shouting followed by a volley of gunfire made her jump and shriek. Simon sat up and pulled her into his lap.
“Shhh,” he said, stroking her hair and rocking her softly, like he would a child afraid of the dark. “You’re safe. You’re both safe.”
She glared at him, knowing tears were pouring down her face and hating that she couldn’t stop them. “You couldn’t have shot the damned thing while it was eating us?”
Simon let out a huge breath—whether a laugh or a sob, Georgiana couldn’t tell—and hugged her tightly to him. “We couldn’t risk shooting you or Baljit.”
“Perhaps you need better shots,” Georgiana snapped.
“Perhaps you need climbing lessons,” he returned, though his tone was gentle. He rubbed his face with his hand and blew out another huge breath. “I swear you just took ten years off my life.”
Without warning a small figure tackled them, knocking them both to the ground. Baljit hugged her, then Simon, then her again. Simon managed to push his way up so that he was sitting, but he didn’t chase either of them off. In fact, Georgiana felt his grip tighten around her waist when she attempted to resettle herself.
The boy was crying, just a little, but enough to make Georgiana’s eyes start watering all over again.
“You pushed me up the hill, Miss Georgiana,” he whispered. “And then you fell back down. And the crocodile was so big and I had told you there were not any. And I thought...I thought—”
“I’m fine, Baljit,” Georgiana soothed, hugging him and stroking his muddy back. “We’re both fine.”
Georgiana looked at Baljit, knowing how mortified he would be if she got syrupy on him. So instead she hugged him tighter and said, “I didn’t really mean for you to catch me a crocodile, you know.”
The boy began laughing and crying at the same time, just as Jane and Lieutenant Tolley appeared over them. Jane dropped to her knees and threw her arms around Baljit and Georgiana, weeping into Georgiana’s neck.
Above her, Georgiana heard Lieutenant Tolley say, “It’s dead, sir. It was a big one too. Looks to be nearly five meters from tip to tail. One of the native men said when the monsoon is late like this the animals start starving and move out of their regular hunting ground.”
Georgiana shuddered. Simon stroked her back and said, “Thank you, Tolley. I need you to accompany Mrs. Fairmonte and Baljit back to the cantonment. Mrs. Fairmonte, will you please see that Baljit gets a bath and a hot meal?”
Jane nodded, dried her eyes and pulled herself to her feet. She offered her hand to Baljit, who stood reluctantly. The mulish set of the boy’s chin suggested an impending mutiny. Simon, howe
ver, shook his head and raised a stern finger at him.
“Don’t argue,” he told Baljit firmly. “You need rest. And I need you to make sure Mrs. Fairmonte is not overset by today’s adventure. I’ll be home as soon as I can.”
Baljit threw his arms around Simon one last time and Georgiana saw Simon’s jaw tighten. At last Baljit rose to go with Jane and the lieutenant.
“Did you want Miss Phillips to accompany us, Major?” Tolley asked. His face was perfectly stoic but Georgiana thought she heard the slightest trace of a smile in his voice. She realized she sat sprawled somewhat inelegantly across Simon’s lap.
When she stirred to rise, his large, warm arm tightened around her waist to keep her pressed against him. Simon stood, hauling her up with him. Without warning, he scooped her up into his arms, ignoring her shocked protest.
“Miss Phillips is too distraught to be moved at the moment. Once she has recovered her senses, she and I need to have a chat about which future activities will be deemed safe for her and which will not.” Simon looked pointedly at her. “Obviously crocodile wrestling is in the ‘not’ category.”
Georgiana huffed and crossed her arms. “Of course,” she muttered. “The crocodile that was trying to eat me was my fault.”
“Well you do look rather tasty, Princess,” he returned, low enough so only she heard him. “Can’t say I blame the poor creature.”
Georgiana barely suppressed the shudder that ran down her spine. Lieutenant Tolley saluted as Simon strode past him and up the gentle slope. The officers and workers all scurried back to their posts, quite obvious in their efforts to ignore the couple. Georgiana sighed. This was certainly not going to do the remaining shards of her reputation any favors.
They reached the huge white tent that served as Simon’s field office. With a flick of his wrist, he closed the opening, leaving them all alone in an entire battalion of Company workers.
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