The Perfect Temptation (23 page)

"It
was interesting," he admitted, nodding
appreciatively.

Apparently feeling as though
he'd sufficiently shocked her,

he turned to leave, adding,
"But I'm certainly glad I'm not

the one who married her."

She couldn't resist the
impulse. "Aiden?"

He stopped and turned back, his
brow cocked in silent

question. And to her dismay,
her wits and courage picked

that very moment to desert her.
One really didn't ask such

things, her conscience virtuously
intoned. It was truly none

of her business or concern.

"No," he said,
chuckling softly, "I had nothing to do-directly-

with the fact that Lord and
Lady Tyndale have

been living separately. The
responsibility for that one belongs

to Barrett. And it was
absolutely spectacular."

Oh, God. She most definitely
didn't need that information.

Wanting
it
was
nothing more than a sign of prurient interest

and low moral character. Which,
of course, meant that

she was a really, really
terrible person.

"We'll be in
shortly," he said, still grinning as he walked

off again. She let
him
go,
grateful that he'd had the decency

to save her from herself.

Aiden toweled his hair, decided
there was nothing to be lost

in asking a few questions, and
stepped from behind the

bathing screen. Preeya was by
the stove, stirring something

steaming and aromatic. The boy
was perched like a long
legged

 
bird on a stool
beside her, "Mohan," Aiden began,

what do you know about how Miss
Radford and her mother

came to your father's court?"

''They arrived when I was just
a baby," he replied with a

shrug. "I do not remember
then or the time before."

That was an odd statement, but
he wasn't going to be

sidetracked by pondering it
"Would Preeya know?"

Again he shrugged but he
chattered away in Hindi for a

moment and then looked back at
him to smile and say

"Preeya wants to know why
you ask." '

"Tell her because I want
to understand Alex, why she is

the way she is, why she does
the things she does."

Again Mohan spoke to Preeya in
their native tongue. The

older woman looked over her
shoulder at Aiden, smiling

broadly and then began
answering. Mohan nodded throughout

and only when she'd finished
did he translate.

"Preeya says that my
father saw Miss Alex in one of the

temples. She was a child then
and stealing the offering food.

He had his men follow her to
bring her and her mother to the

court for justice. Once my
father heard their story, he took

pity on them and brought them
under his protection. Preeya

says that
if
you
seek the story of her life before and after

that, you must ask Miss Alex
for it yourself. It is her story to

tell."

"I don't think she's
likely to share it with me," Aiden ad
mitted.

''No matter how nicely I
ask."

Again Mohan and Preeya
conversed and Aiden watched

the spirited exchange, relieved
that Preeya didn't seem the

least put off or hesitant to
discuss what
were in
his
mind,

anyway-rather personal
questions.

"Preeya says that Miss
Alex tries very hard to make people

believe that she needs no one,
that she prefers
to
move

through the world alone. Preeya
says Miss Alex would be

happier
if
she
were to abandon her illusions. Preeya says that

she believes this must be done
and thinks you are a most capable

man in this regard."

"Thank her for her
confidence in me," Aiden instructed

while thinking that Preeya had
no real reason for such certitude

"Preeya wants you to know
that Miss Alex was raised
in

the women's quarters after she
came
to
the court."

Aiden knitted his brows. ''And
that's important because...
?"

Another exchange transpired,
this one far shorter than the

others.
''I
think
that you must ask Miss Alex that question. I

do not know the answer and
Preeya says she cannot tell you

any more without betraying her
friendship with Miss Alex."

Which was fair enough, he knew.
She'd already told him

a great deal. ''Thank Preeya
for her help, Mohan. I appreciate

what she was able to
give."

But only in certain respects.
The mental image of Alex.

young. barefoot, dressed in
rags, and stealing food to live

bothered him deeply. No wonder
she didn't trust easily; her

life until the raja had taken
them in had been one hard,

painful lesson after another.
Actually, it was a miracle that

if
she was able to trust at all. For that the raja had
to be respected

and commended.

Alex angled her needlework to
better catch the light from

the fire. From the other side
of the salon came the gentle

clicking sounds of the
chessboard being arranged. She cast a

quick glance at Preeya, who
rolled her eyes and smiled.
Yes,

Alex thought,
this is going to be interesting. Best of luck to

you, Aiden.

''All right," Aiden began.
"We'll start with the fundamentals.

You always move
to
protect
your king, Mohan."

Just as Alex expected, her ward
crisply said, ''The king is

most important. He is all that
matters."

"Not in chess. When the
queen's captured the game's

fairly well over."

"Why?" Mohan
demanded. "Men are more important

than women."

"What would men do without
women?"

"Whatever they
wanted."

"Which would rarely be
intelligent, thoughtful, or appropriate."

Aiden pointed out. ''There
would
be
no such thing as

civilization without the
influence of women, Mohan."

The boy snorted, and at the
edge of her vision Alex could

see that he'd punctuated the
derisive sound with a dismissive

wave of his hand. "My
father does not ask my mother or

his other wives or his
mistresses for their opinions or advice

on his actions. He is the raja
and they are his subjects."

Alex put in a stitch and
waited.

"Well, just guessing,
Mohan," Aiden drawled, "but I'd

say that your father's always
aware that what he does is

noted by the various females in
his life and that he's going to

have to answer for his actions
one way or another."

She smiled and laid in another
stitch, thinking that, for an

unmarried man, Aiden Terrell
had a surprisingly fine grasp

of domestic politics.

"Ha!" Mohan scoffed
with another wave of his hand.

"Am
I
 
right,
Miss Radford?"

"Very much so," she
offered.

Aiden nodded in vindication and
then went on. ''There's'

something else you need
to
know
about women, Mohan. They

talk to each other. And in a
way that's very different from the

way men do among themselves.
Women are masters of the

coordinated action. Should they
ever decide
to
create armies

of their own, men are going to
be
in
very serious trouble."

"How do you
know
this'!'
her ward asked, clearly skeptical.

"I
 
have a mother and six sisters.
Thankfully, they're kind

women because my father, my
brothers, and I are completely

at their mercy .. My father
makes pronouncements, but

unless my mother seconds them,
they're largely empty in the

end."

''Then your father lacks a
spine."

It was Aiden's turn to snort.
"If
he
were here, you'd be

pinned against the wall and
sincerely regretting having suggested

he was anything less than a
force to be reckoned

with."

"Your mother would
intervene and make him apologize

for so roughly handling
me."

"No she wouldn't," he
countered, every bit as
firm
in his

convictions as Mohan was in
his. "She'd let him go, figuring

that you were getting what you
deserved and learning a

valuable lesson about keeping
your mouth shut and your uninformed

comments to yourself."

''Then she is the puppet."

Alex wasn't at all surprised
when Aiden heaved a sigh of

frustration and turned to her.
"Could you possibly have a go

at explaining this? I'm not
doing too terribly well with it on

my own."

Of course he wasn't. Mohan
wasn't a child who accepted

pronouncements; he had to
reason his way to conclusions.

Especially those that
significantly challenged his view of the

world's natural order. She
smiled at Aiden and placed her

needlework in her lap.
"Mohan," she began
.
"Do you remember

when your father brought Kali
into his household?"

"Yes."

"What was it like in the
palace while she was there?"