Читать книгу Bedazzled - Bertrice Small - Страница 11

Chapter 4

Greenwood House was silent at the midnight hour when India heard the rattle of pebbles at her window. Slipping from the bed she shared with Fortune, she hurried across the chilly floor, and, swinging the casement open, peered out. Seeing Adrian Leigh standing in the moonlight, she called softly to him, “I will come down.” Then, pulling the window shut, she caught up her cape and headed toward the bedroom door. Fortune murmured softly and turned in the bed, stopping her sister for a moment to make certain that her sibling was not awakening. Satisfied she slept, India eased herself through the door, and, pulling her cloak about her, ran quickly down the staircase, through the hallway, and into the library. Pushing open one of the large windows, she summoned her swain to her.

“Adrian! Here!” She beckoned to the shadowy figure.

The viscount climbed through the open window, drawing it shut behind him. Then, pulling India into his arms, he kissed her.

Startled, and breathless, she gently extracted herself from his embrace, laughing nervously. “Adrian! For shame! I have not asked you here for the purpose of dalliance.” She was flushed, and her heart was beating rather more quickly than before. He was so bold, she thought.

“No, sweeting? I am disappointed,” he teased her. “Then, pray, m’lady, why have you summoned me?” He took up her hand and kissed the fingers on it.

“Ohh, Adrian, I do not know what to do,” she cried softly, and did not protest when he pulled her back into his arms and began to stroke her dark hair.

“What is it poppet?” he encouraged her. “Tell me, and I will endeavor to make it better.” He kissed the top of her head. She was so trusting and sweet and rich. He knew she was his for the taking.

“We will be returning home next week. Papa says since I will not choose a suitable man to marry, then he and Mama must pick a match for me. But I don’t want to marry some stranger! Oh, what are we to do, Adrian? They are going to separate us forever,” India sobbed softly. “If they take me home to Glenkirk, I will never see you again! Oh, I know it is bold of me to say it, but I couldn’t bear it if we were parted from one another! I will die. I know I will.”

“I cannot let you do that,” he said as softly, thinking that his soon-to-be father-in-law had just provided him with the very opportunity he required to steal Lady India Lindley away from her overly protective family. When his mother had suggested it, he hadn’t thought it would be this easy.

“But Adrian!” She gazed up into his face, and he thought she was really quite beautiful. “What can we do?”

“Your father has left us with no choice, my darling,” he told her in a calm and most sensible voice. “We must run away and get married before they can take you back to Scotland, India.”

Now she looked up at him, and found herself very torn. He was so handsome with his long, straight nose, and his silky blond hair. His sapphire-blue eyes seemed to look at her with such love and devotion. “Ohhh, Adrian! I do not know. It seems so impetuous a thing to do.”

“Ah, India! Do you not love me?” he asked her in a hurt tone.

“Oh, yes, Adrian! I do love you!” Then she blushed furiously, for she had never said such a thing to him before.

“And I love you, my darling,” he quickly reassured her, knowing such a declaration from her lips required a similar devotion on his part.

“But I love my family, too,” she said, worrying her lower lip with her top teeth in her concern.

“You do not have to stop loving them, my darling, just because you love me,” he told her, “but is it really just of them to keep us apart when we love each other? I know that my mother and my half-brother have brought shame upon the Leighs of Oxton Court, but I am my father’s son first and foremost, India. We are an old and noble family. Is it fair of your father to hold me responsible for Deverall and Mama’s bad behavior? I think the duke of Glenkirk a better man than that, my love. Still, he is a father protecting a beloved daughter, and I do understand how he feels even if I think him wrong. If we are married, then you and I settle the entire matter by controlling our own destiny. I know our actions will anger your parents at first, but when they see how happy we are, they will forgive us. I know it.”

“But where could we go, Adrian, that they would not follow?” India asked, snuggling against him. She felt so safe now.

“We must leave the country,” he ventured, waiting to see what India’s reaction would be to that.

“Leave the country?” She was more than startled by his suggestion.

“There is no other option, India. Where can we hide in England, my love? Your family is large, and scattered all about the whole country. And we certainly cannot go north, can we?” He chuckled, and kissed her on the tip of her nose.

“We cannot go to France, either,” she informed him, joining in with his train of thought. “We have family there.”

“We could go to Naples,” he suggested.

“Naples? Why Naples, Adrian?” His hand was caressing her back now, and it was really quite pleasant.

“My uncle, the Conde di Carlo, lives in Naples,” he said. “We could go to him, and be married there. Then we could remain with my uncle until we had our first child. If we returned home with our son, your father could not annul our union, sweeting.”

“My father’s mother lives in Naples,” India said. “Lady Stewart-Hepburn. Papa’s sister is the marchesa di San Ridolfi. What if we ran into them, Adrian? Then Papa would know where we were!”

“We will be wed privately, my love, and remain safely within the walls of my uncle’s estate. Have you ever met these ladies, India?”

“My stepgrandmama, last summer in France, but not the marchesa,” she answered him. A wave of doubt washed over her. It seemed so rash an action to take, running away and marrying.

“Perhaps you do not love me enough, India, to dare such a bold course,” he subtly taunted her, seeing the indecision on her face.

“Ohh, but I do!” she cried.

“No, I think not,” he replied sorrowfully, goading her further.

“But I do, Adrian! I swear I do!” India insisted.

“Then say you will pledge yourself body and soul to me as my wife, sweetheart,” he said, his voice holding just a hint of pleading. “Say you will marry me and be my wife and bear my children! Say it!” But before she might speak, he was kissing her passionately, his lips hot and hungry upon hers; the hand that had been caressing her back was now sliding beneath her cloak, moving to caress her bosom lightly.

India’s head was spinning with delight. Her lips parted slightly beneath his, and she drew her perfumed breath into her own mouth. When his hand slipped into her nightgown bodice to cup a single breast, she gasped with surprise. No one had ever touched her breasts before! The warmth of his palm was intoxicating, and when his thumb and his forefinger gently pinched her thrusting nipple, she almost swooned, falling back against his arm with a soft moan of distinct pleasure. If this was love, it was wonderful!

Lifting his head from her, he begged, “Say you will marry me, my darling. Can you not sense how I long for you? How much I love you, my precious India? Say it! Say it, or I will fling myself into the river this very night, for I cannot live without you!”

“Yes. Oh, yes,” she breathed.

Immediately he removed his hand, dipping his head to kiss the swell of her bosom over her gown. “Your virtue is a precious jewel to me, my love,” he told her solemnly. “I must cease our loveplay lest I lose control of my passions and shame us both. We have a lifetime before us in which we may pleasure each other, but not until we have married.”

“Oh, Adrian, I do love you!” she told him, wishing he were not quite so noble at this moment in time. She had liked his caress, and his kisses. Her entire body seemed more alive now than it had ever been, but the wet stickiness between her legs in that secret place was confusing. She didn’t know what it was, and she certainly couldn’t ask Mama now.

“Do you know exactly what day your family plans to depart for Scotland?” he asked her in practical tones. “I must find a ship sailing for Naples. I suspect we do not have much time.”

“In three or four days’ time at the most,” India replied. “He has not given the order for our possessions to be packed up yet.”

“I will go to the docks in the morning and find us a vessel,” he told her. “There will be someone sailing for the Mediterranean soon.”

“Go to the O‘Malley-Small Trading Company docks,” India advised. “I will not sail on any other ship but one of theirs. If we trust ourselves to strangers, we could end up murdered for our possessions and thrown overboard, Adrian. Sea travel can be dangerous, but the O’Malley-Small ships belong to my family, and we will be safe.”

“But will these people not recognize you, India?”

“Not if I board the ship in disguise, Adrian,” she told him, feeling quite clever. “You shall be a son of the conde di Carlo, and I your elderly great-aunt, Lady Monypenny, newly widowed and childless, returning home to Naples, my girlhood home, after many years, in order to die. You have been sent by your father, my nephew, to escort me. This will allow us to purchase two cabins without arousing suspicion. I shall keep to my cabin during the voyage so my disguise may not be penetrated by anyone else on board. Am I not cunning, my sweet lord?” She grinned mischievously at him.

“Indeed,” he agreed, a bit surprised by her resourcefulness. Perhaps India’s mind was a little too skillful at deception, he considered, but then he remembered how rich she was, and how beautiful, and how well she had responded to his roving hands. She was tamable. All women were tamable under the right circumstances, and he would not be a harsh master.

“You must go now,” she told him. “Come tomorrow night, and use the same signal to call me. Our plans must be finalized by then.”

Giving India a quick kiss, the viscount opened the casement window and stepped through it into the night. “Until tomorrow, my love,” he told her, and then he was gone into the darkness.

India sighed as she latched the window shut. He was so wonderful, her Adrian, and soon they would be man and wife. How sensitive he was! Not only did he sympathize with Papa, who was being totally unreasonable and difficult, but his carefulness and concern for her person and her innocence showed her that he was a man of excellent character. Her parents were wrong about Adrian. He was the perfect man for her. Leaving the library, she crept back up the staircase to her bedchamber, and slipped easily into bed next to her sister, who was now snoring. She thought she would be too excited to sleep remembering the events of the last hour, but India was soon slumbering as heavily as Fortune.

In the morning she feigned a headache, and kept to her bed until half the morning had gone by, sipping smoky black tea that her mother had brought her to ease the alleged throbbing in her temples.

“We thought we might spend the afternoon at court,” Jasmine told her daughter. “Do you feel well enough to come?”

India sighed deeply. “I think not, Mama,” she said. “The pain is easing, but a trip upon the cold and damp river will but bring it back. We are not leaving London tomorrow, are we? I will get another chance to bid their majesties farewell, won’t I?”

“Your father has decided we will depart on Tuesday,” the duchess told her daughter. “It is only Saturday. You will have the opportunity to say good-bye to the king and queen, India.”

“Then I think I shall remain within the house today,” India replied. “I should be fine by the morrow.”

“Would you mind if we went to Whitehall?” Jasmine asked. “Henry and Charlie have already made some important contacts, and perhaps I shall find a lovely gentleman for you, my daughter.”

India smiled wanly. “There is no one for me but Adrian, Mama.”

“Oh, my darling girl,” Jasmine said, “you must put him from your mind. He is entirely unsuitable, and your father will not hear of it. Jemmie has tried so hard to raise you as Rowan Lindley would have, India, and I know Rowan would agree with Jemmie about your viscount. Put it aside, my daughter, for you will not be happy until you do.”

India sighed. “I will try, Mama,” she murmured.

“That is all I ask of you for now,” Jasmine replied.

When the Leslies had departed for Whitehall, taking Fortune with them as well, India arose and began to pack her own little trunks. Neither she nor Fortune had been allowed to bring servants on this trip. The house was quiet, and practically servantless, for the duke had not bothered to hire extra help on this visit, and only the small permanent staff that lived at Greenwood was in residence. There were five of them. The majordomo, the housekeeper, the laundress, the cook, and the stableman. India now took an armful of laundry to the laundress.

“We are leaving on Tuesday,” she said. “I want to travel with clean undergarments, Dolly. Would you mind doing these today? I’m sure Mama and Fortune will want their things done, too, and this way we will not overburden you by piling everything on you at once.”

“Of course, m’lady, and most kind of you,” the laundress answered.

India hurried to the library, and, opening the false panel where her parents hid their valuables when they were in London, she put her hand into the dark cavity. The chamois bag of coins her father always took when they traveled was quite plump. The duke obviously had already been to the goldsmith’s bank in preparation for their return trip. India smiled to herself, and withdrew her hand, closing the panel. She fully intended taking that bag with her when she left with Adrian. It would be a down payment on her dowry. She would wager after he paid their fare he would have little left and be glad for her foresight. Her father’s gold would keep them quite comfortably for the next year. She returned to her own bedchamber.

Her family had not returned by the midnight hour when Adrian Leigh once again tossed pebbles at her window. India flung open the casement and, looking down, said, “You must be careful. My family have not yet returned from Whitehall, and will be coming by the river. What news, my darling lord? I dare not come down. I can see the river better from here, and you must be gone before they return.”

“You were right, my clever poppet,” he told her. “The Royal Charles, the O’Malley-Small Trading Company’s newest cargo and passenger vessel, departs for the Mediterranean on the morning tide Monday, and it will stop at Naples. I have booked us two cabins as you instructed, and we must be aboard by five o’clock in the morning at the latest.”

“Who is its captain?” she asked.

“Thomas Southwood,” he replied.

“My cousin,” she said thoughtfully. “But as he has not seen me in many years, I expect we will be safe. Especially as I shall be disguised as old Lady Monypenny. Come for me at four o’clock in the morning. I shall bring two small trunks and my jewelry, so do not come in a small werry. You have done admirably, my darling.” India blew him a kiss. “Go now before we are caught. I love you, Adrian!” She drew the window shut, her heart soaring. Just a few more days and they would make good their escape! She climbed into bed, and was already sleeping by the time her family returned home.

The next day was Sunday, and they attended religious services at Whitehall Palace. The king preferred the more Catholic Anglican service despite the grumblings from the many Puritans in his court.

“Go and have your own services then,” he ordered the more outspoken of them. “Do none of you remember that I am pledged to be as tolerant as I may? You do not like England’s church, and you do not like the queen’s faith. Go then, and hold your own candleless plain services with no outward show of faith but your droning voices.”

Coming from the king’s chapel, they saw Adrian Leigh exiting the queen’s chapel.

“And there is another reason you cannot wed with that fellow,” James Leslie said, his hand reaching out to prevent India from joining her chosen swain. “He is a practicing member of Rome’s church, and that is a dangerous thing to be here right now in England as we all know.”

“The Leslies of Glenkirk were once Roman Catholics, and so was Mama,” India replied pertly. “Did not old Queen Elizabeth once say there is but one Lord Jesus Christ. The rest is all trifles?”

“Everyone was once a member of the Roman church,” the duke said patiently, “but times have changed now. While I do not believe God gives a damn how we worship him, as long as we do, and are respectful, we must be prudent, India. This family, and your mother’s family have survived by being careful. We do not involve ourselves in politics, or religious bickering. We keep our own counsel and pay the taxes levied on us without complaint. Nonetheless, it would be unwise, even if Viscount Twyford were a suitable match for you, which he is not, for you to wed a practicing member of the Roman church at this time. It is foolish to draw attention to yourself, for if you do, you will find that many people are easily envious of a wealthy and beautiful young girl such as yourself. Such people will strive to harm you.”

India pulled angrily away from her father. “This is my last day at court,” she said. “Let me do what I want, and associate with whom I choose, Papa. I am seventeen, and I am not some wee lass who needs to be told what to do. If you will take me from the man I love and force me to wed someone of your choice, at least Adrian and I have had this one last day together!” Then with an angry swish of her garnet-colored velvet skirts, she was gone.

“Let her go,” Jasmine advised her husband. “She is a sensible girl, and will make peace with the situation if you do not irritate her any further, Jemmie. She must sort out her feelings by herself.”

“Why is it I want to turn her over my knee and whack her bottom with my slipper?” the duke asked his wife.

Jasmine laughed softly. “Because she has gone and grown up on you, Jemmie,” she teased him. “No father likes to see it happen to his daughter. Not only that, she prefers another man over you these days. What a betrayal to your heart!” She pulled him down, and kissed his cheek. “But I will always love you, my lord duke, and I will not leave you for anyone but death, and then reluctantly.”

He chuckled. “Oh, my darling Jasmine,” he told her, “it is good that you are wiser than I. Come, and let us enjoy the day. We will bid our friends and family farewell, and be gone from this place. There is too much strife here, I regret, with Buckingham deciding the queen is his enemy and the French king sending a diplomat to sort out what the hell is going on that our king, and his pretty little queen, cannot get along. And the Puritans are gaining more influence and power every day. They will be trouble, mark my words. There is nothing worse than someone who truly believes his way is the only way and everyone must conform, or be punished, or perish. I shall be glad to be back in my highlands at Glenkirk. I do not think I will come to London again. By the way, have you spoken to your aunt Willow yet about some young men for India. I want her married as soon as possible. Let her be her husband’s problem. We have one more daughter and five lads to settle before our job is done,” he concluded with a chortle.

“Do you honestly believe that marrying them off absolves us of our parental responsibilities?” Jasmine asked. “I do not care how old they get, they will always be our children, and we will always care what happens to them, Jemmie Leslie!”

“But they’ll be out of the house,” he reminded her cheerfully.

They spent their day making their farewells, and James Leslie was pleased to see India awaiting them at the riverside quai without Viscount Twyford in tow when they were ready to depart. It was just dusk when they reached Greenwood House. Once inside, India asked her brothers to bring down her trunks and place them in the front hall.

“But, dearest,” her mother said, “we are not going until Tuesday morning. There is no hurry.”

“Papa is always saying that I am tardy, and that I keep everyone waiting and make them late being behind with my packing. I decided this time to be ready before all of you. I even had the laundress do my laundry yesterday so she would not be overburdened. I want to see my trunks here in the hall, Mama.” Then she giggled charmingly. “It may be the only time in my life I am ahead of Papa’s schedule.”

“Well, go and get your sister’s trunks,” James Leslie commanded his sons. “If she is ready now, she deserves the credit for it, and we shall all look admiringly upon her trunks here tomorrow as we pack our own clothing for our departure.”

India smiled sweetly at her father as her brothers brought down her luggage. “I was very rude to you today, Papa. I apologize for my discourteousness, but I do not ask your pardon for loving Adrian, even if you won’t let us marry. I think you are being very unfair. You will not even give him a chance, but hold him responsible for the bad behavior of his mother and half-brother. It is wrong, Papa, and I am ashamed that you would do such a thing. You have always been a fair-minded man until now.” She curtsied.

The duke gritted his teeth and held his temper. “You know that I love you, India. You must accept that I know what is best for you. I only want you happy, and damn it, I will see that you are in spite of yourself!” He caught himself. “First love is always the most poignant, but it is not necessarily the most lasting. I want a lasting love for you. You have always trusted me, India. Why will you not trust me in this matter? You are my daughter, and I don’t want you hurt.”

“If you do not let me marry Adrian, I will be unhappy the rest of my life,” India announced dramatically.

“Since you two cannot agree on this point,” Jasmine said, interjecting herself between her eldest child and her husband, “I think it best we do not discuss it again tonight. India, you have done a fine job of getting ready, and since you are, you will help your sister and me to pack our own possessions tomorrow. Now, go to your room, my child, and rest. You know how difficult it is to rest along the road, and we have a very, very long journey ahead of us,” Jasmine concluded.

Kissing her parents, India moved serenely up the staircase and entered her bedchamber. She had given her father one last chance, and she had hoped against hope that he would change his mind and then they wouldn’t have to run away. She sighed. Adrian had been right all along. Her father was not giving them any other choice. Well, this time tomorrow they would be well at sea and on their way to Italy, and all her parents would know from the note she was leaving them was that she and Adrian had gone off to marry and they would not come back until they had.

“Why do you bait Papa that way?” Fortune demanded, entering the room. “He is not being unreasonable. Your viscount really isn’t right for you, India, but you are always so insistent upon having your own way.”

“Papa has never said he disapproved of Adrian, only his family,” India retorted.

“A man is his family,” Fortune replied. “You packed early so you could sneak off tomorrow, and spend time with your swain, didn’t you? Mama saw right through you, and now you’ll have to help us,” she teased her elder sister. “I am very fussy about how my things are packed. It will take you all day between us, I fear.”

“If you are not careful,” India threatened her sister, “I’ll take all your clothing and throw it out the window!”

“Ha! Ha!” Fortune taunted, and, picking up a pillow, whacked India with it.

Within moments, the two were engaged in a pillow fight that ended with them both collapsing into gales of laughter upon the bed.

“I shall miss you, little sister,” India said.

“Miss me?” Fortune looked puzzled.

“When Father marries me off to his dark stranger in a few months’ time,” India quickly said. “God’s boots! Do you realize our childhood is just about at an end? By this time next year we could be both great with child!” She stuffed one of the pillows beneath her skirts and paraded about the room. “Ohhh, I hope it’s a son for my dear lord.”

Fortune giggled. “Why do men always want sons?” she wondered aloud.

“Well, our real father didn’t get one first,” India said. “He got me before he got Henry, and then he got you after he died.”

“Do you remember our real father at all?” Fortune ask wistfully.

India sighed deeply. “I have one tiny memory of this great, big, golden laughing man lifting me up in front of him on his horse and riding me about, but that is all. It really isn’t much, is it?”

“It’s more than Henry and I have,” Fortune answered her. “Our real father wasn’t even alive when I was born, but I do remember Prince Henry a little bit. He was handsome, and could never take his eyes off Mama. Just imagine if he had been allowed to marry Mama. Then our Charlie would be king now instead of his uncle Charles.”

“Mama was considered unsuitable,” India said. She had been older than Fortune, and remembered more.

“Just like Adrian is unsuitable for you,” Fortune responded.

“I am going to bed,” India announced, ending the discussion.

The two sisters washed themselves, put on their nightgowns, and climbed into bed. Across the room the fire burned brightly, warming the bedchamber. India blew out the candle and settled down. If she did not wake up in time, Adrian had promised to throw pebbles at the windowpane again. As her trunks were in the hall by the front door, it would only take her a little while to dress and go down to join him. She wasn’t certain she would sleep, but she did, Fortune snuggled close next to her, making her familiar little sleep noises.

India awoke suddenly in the darkness. The clock in the hallway struck three times. She lay quietly for several minutes and then arose carefully, wincing as her feet touched the icy floor boards. Padding across the chamber, India added some coal to the fire, and it soon after sprang to life again. The clock chimed the quarter hour. She dressed slowly in a black velvet gown, a starched white ruff about her neck. On her feet she wore dark walking boots. In the attics she had found a mourning veil she would wear with her dark gloves and long dark cape. While she dressed, the clock in the hall chimed the half hour, and now was chiming three-quarters of the hour. India stuffed her jewelry pouch in her beaver muff and slipped quietly from the room.

She tiptoed down the staircase, moved as silently as she could through the hallway and entered the library. Going to the panel, behind which her father hid the valuables, she opened it and thrust her hand inside. Immediately her fingers made contact with the chamois bag. Pulling it out, she opened it, making certain that it was filled with gold coins. Satisfied, she pushed it into her muff with her jewelry and closed the panel. Now she hurried out into the main hallway of the house again, and, going to the front door, she slowly, and not without some difficulty, drew the bolts securing the entrance aside. She did not have to wait long.

There came a gentle scratching at the door, and India opened it immediately, allowing Viscount Twyford into the house with another man. He immediately picked up one of India’s trunks and headed back down to the river.

“Take the other trunk,” India instructed Adrian. “I want to rebolt the door so no one notices the door unlocked in the morning and raises an alarm too soon. I’ll go out the library window, my love, and join you in but a moment.”

The viscount took up the second trunk and India shut the door behind him, sliding the bolts back into place. She then retraced her steps to the library and exited through one of the casement windows, pushing it shut behind her. It was unlikely anyone would notice the window was unlatched if it gave the appearance of being closed tightly. Then, without a backward glance, she hurried down the lawns to the quai where her transport awaited her. As he helped her into the boat, she had only a momentary pang, but then her heart soared. They were free!

“Lift your veil, madame, so I may be certain it’s you, and not your papa hiding beneath the gauze,” he teased her.

India raised the silk fabric. “ ’Tis I, my love,” she said.

The werry moved quickly down the river into the Pool, and was rowed directly to a dock at the O’Malley-Small Trading Company. Adrian Leigh climbed from the small vessel and helped India onto the dock. Leading her to a sturdy gangway before a great sailing ship, he helped her to board. India moved slowly and heavily in her guise as an elderly widow. Beneath her veiling she might have been anyone.

“Ahh, Signore di Carlo,” a cultured voice spoke, “you are right on time, sir. And this will be your aunt? My condolences, madame, on your great loss.”

“Monypenny was old. He lived a good life,” came a gravelly voice from beneath the veils. “You are one of Lynmouth’s lads, aren’t you?”

“Aye, madame, I am his fourth son,” Captain Thomas Southwood replied. “Geoff is the heir. John is a churchman, and Charles is married to an heiress. I, however, prefer the sea as a wife. She’s less troublesome, and asks little of a man.”

“Heh! Heh!” came the snicker from beneath the veils. “Then you are like your grandmother, who, I am told, was a pirate.”

“A base canard, madame.” Captain Southwood was smiling. “Now, my steward will show you to your cabin.” He bowed.

“What was all that chatter?” Adrian Leigh asked nervously when they were alone again. “You will give us away before we have even escaped.”

“I am supposed to be a garrulous old lady, and as such it is highly possible that I would know his family. It has put him off guard, Adrian. He doesn’t imagine for one moment that I’m not the old lady I am supposed to be.”

The Royal Charles moved out into the Pool precisely on schedule, and made its way majestically down the Thames with the outgoing tide toward the sea. India remained in her cabin once she entered it. She stood by the small porthole that looked out on the deck, and beyond it, the river. They passed by Greenwich, and the shipyards at Tilbury. The mid-February day was gray, although not stormy. India had thought when they had left Greenwood that she detected the faintest hint of spring in the air. How long would it be before she enjoyed another English spring and summer again? She felt the deep roll of their vessel as the Thames entered the Channel, realizing with singular clarity of mind that her course was set. She could not go back, and for the first time in her life India Lindley wondered if she had really done the right thing. Shivering, she drew her fur-lined cloak about her tightly.