His Little Courtesan (10 page)

A little smile crept across her face as she looked out
of the window. Memories of her frequent escapes from the manor in England
flooded her mind, as she easily lifted her leg over the sill. The dense jungle
vines provided much better support than the trellis of her past escapes, and
she was on the ground within seconds. Peering around for witnesses, and seeing
none, she slipped into the dark shadows of the old, bent trees.

Choosing the path covered with smooth pebbles, Jane
stepped carefully in her bare feet and picked her way through the heavy veils
of flowering vines that mingled with giant sweeping leaves and delicately
twisted tree trunks. Colorful birds squawked for attention in the branches
above, joined with the hooting of monkeys and the occasional buzz of a flying
insect. Plucking a giant red hibiscus and tucking it behind her ear, she
continued her venture deeper into the gardens until the cottage was no longer
visible.

At a three-way fork, she paused to wipe the dampness
off her brow with the back of her arm. Each walkway looked identical, so she
closed her eyes and turned around three times with her finger pointed.

Go right! With a grin, Jane headed deeper into the
jungle. Another fork, another turn, and soon she was hopelessly lost in a
thicket in which every tree, every branch, and every flower looked identical to
the others.

Calming herself in the knowledge that the servants
would come to her room to bring her food and discover her absence, she resolved
to enjoy the quiet tranquility and beauty surrounding her, and make an attempt
to dispel the anger and humiliation that her 'restriction' had brought upon
her. Stumbling upon an old temple that held a sparkling pool bubbling under a
marble fountain, she drank heartily from the falling rivulet while closing her
eyes to savor the cool, refreshing sweetness. Trees laden with fruit satisfied
her hunger as she sat on the pool's edge and dangled her tender feet in the
rippling, clear water. She looked up into the dense canopy as rain began to
fall gently through the leaves. It was so different to back in England, where
the icy cold drops and sharp winds cut one through to the joints, and left her
feeling chilled to the depths of her soul. No—this rain was warm, gentle,
and fell in large, heavy drops over her face. She opened her mouth, allowing
the sweet, fresh water to wet her lips and tongue, and wished that Philip would
walk in the rain with her.

Philip. He was going to be furious when he discovered
her disobedience. But he broke his promise, she reasoned. He should not have
left her alone again. It was wrong for him to expect her to obey his
restrictions when he would not even keep a simple promise to her. Well, she
would have a few words with him when he returned!

 
The sound
of voices in the distance caught her attention, and she rose to follow them.
She picked her way to a narrow, muddy river where a small boat carrying a
family of fishermen was floating, with nets in the water. She waved them down
and asked them for transportation downstream, hoping that her Hindi was intelligible
enough to be understood. She promised to reward them generously for their
assistance as they helped her into the boat.

The children chatted happily, practicing their English
with her as they floated lazily down the waterway for over an hour. The eldest
man pulled up to the river bank and gestured for her to disembark.

"No more. Raja," he tried to explain in
broken English.

"The Raja is my friend," Jane replied.
"He will reward you."

"No. Go past point." He gestured to a
warning flag. "Death."

"No, I promise. He… oh, very well," Jane
sighed. "Will you wait here so I can bring you payment?"

The old man shook his head and offered a toothy smile.
"
Namaste
, Marchioness."

Jane stared, stunned, and watched as he pulled away.
How did he know who she was? She recalled Rama's words—it was his job to
know everything. With a sigh, she picked her way to the palace docks and waved
down a sentry.

Minutes later, Jane was in a litter carried by two
men, being taken swiftly to the high white iron gates. She entered the palace
and made her way towards the women's' quarters to find her friend and a
sympathetic ear.

"Janie! What are you doing here?" Lynette
squealed, running to greet her. "And what are you wearing? Are those
Philip's clothes?"

"He left for the warehouse this morning. Without
me," Jane said with a pout.

"But you just got married!"

"The business is important. I am just angry that
he refused to allow me to join him. He's so pig-headed that it makes me want to
scream."

"Men's fulfillment comes from their employment
and their cocks. Nothing more," Lynette sniffed in defense of her friend.

"I should have known better," Jane twined
her elbow within Lynette's. "I knew this undivided attention was too good
to last."

"He is going to be very severe with you when he
discovers that you left the cottage and traveled here by yourself. I fear for
your sitting privileges."

"Yes, I know, not that I care. I am just so angry
with him! I cannot believe that the servants locked me in my room like a
recalcitrant child."

"They have been instructed to follow the master's
orders above all things, especially when it comes to you. Your papa is going to
be very cross, young lady," a deep voice said from behind them. "What
are you doing here?"

"Uncle Rama? I can explain—"

"You can save your explanation for when Philip
returns." Rama lifted her chin to look at him. "Through the jungle
and by boat? You ought to be grateful that I'm not your papa, Little Monkey.
Your bottom would be quite unhappy by the time I finished with it."

Jane winced, remembering her time with the powerful
man. Philip had never been that severe with her. At least, not yet.

"Do you have anything you would care to say to
me?" Rama asked, tucking Lynette under his arm and staring sternly at the
fidgeting girl.

"No, sir."

"Then go to the guest cottage and stay there
until you are told otherwise. Hurry, now. I will send word to Philip and the
servants so that they do not worry."

Jane hung her head, trudged through the halls and
outside to the garden. She turned a corner, and collided with the toothless old
woman. "You!" Jane clasped her hands around the fragile upper arms.
"Please, tell me who you are. I know you were in England. Please!"

The woman put her finger to her lips, and then touched
the area between Jane's eyes where the bindi traditionally was placed. She then
reached down into her basket, took a yellow lotus flower into the palm of her
hand and then transferred it to Jane. With gnarled, bony fingers, the old woman
enclosed the girl's hands around the flower—gently, so as not to crush,
but to cradle the delicate petals.

Jane stared at the flower, wondering what the woman
was trying to tell her. She looked into the gentle, wise old eyes. "Tell
me. I am confused."

The woman touched her 'middle eye' again, and cupped
Jane's cheek with her palm.

"Are you trying to tell me that I'm not being
confined, but protected?"

The woman smiled and nodded. She pressed Jane's hands
firmly around the flower, and then gestured to open them. The petals unfurled
slowly, unblemished and uncrushed. She repeated the gesture, this time firmly
holding her hands around Jane's.

"It's suffocating?"

The old woman shook her head, and blew through the
cracks in between their fingers.

"I can feel the air, so not suffocating.
Crushing? No? Please tell me!"

The gesture was repeated a third time, with the woman
spreading her hands.

"The protection is firm, but won't break
me?"

The woman pulled Jane's hand to press against her warm
lips and nodded. She pointed to a pond and gestured to release the lotus into
the water and return it to freedom. Silently, Jane obeyed, and when she turned
back around, the woman was gone.

***

Jane looked up from her book
into Philip's dark, intensely angry, face. She audibly gulped, and slowly
sucked her lower lip into her mouth.

"Papa, I'm sorry.
I—"

"Not a sound from you,
little girl. The only reason I'm not already taking a strap to you is because I
would never lay hand on you when angry or lacking self-control. What the bloody
hell were you thinking? Didn't Rama warn you about the dangers of the jungle?
And catching a boat with strangers—"

"There were children
present!"

"Silence! Are you truly
so naïve as to believe that someone won't harm you because children are around?
Why won't you mind me?" He threw his hands into the air and walked across
the room to look out over the grounds behind the building. Then he slapped his
hands loudly against the wall, making Jane jump. "Must I cage you to keep
you safe? No."

He placed his forehead on his
outstretched hand. "You cannot be confined any more than the monkey you
are named for. I can punish you for this," he said, as he turned to look
at her, "and believe me, I will. But something more needs to be done.
Something to remind you that, above all things, I am, and always will be, your
papa. And that title includes not only watching for your safety, but teaching
you to obey
reasonable
requests."

"I'm sorry," came
the whisper. Searching her memory as far back as when they first met when she'd
been only six, Jane could only recall a single time when she had seen him as
enraged as he was at that moment—and it had not been with her. The
gardener's son had pushed her backwards into the mud and made her cry. Philip
came to her rescue with the hot temper of youth and, after breaking the bully's
nose, he'd carried her to the main house, where he tucked a blanket over her
lap after setting her on the couch, removed her little boots, and retrieved a
cup of hot tea for her to sip. He was no longer that boy, though, and the anger
he felt now was due to her own spiteful actions. Jane's heart sank, as she
recognized the extent of her foolish defiance. She lowered her face and
pictured the golden lotus.

"Philip, the old woman
came to me again. She had a yellow—"

"I do not want to hear
any stories about the goddess coming to give you another flower. Damn it, Jane.
One night! Why is it impossible for you to obey me for one single night?"

"I thought
that—"

"I was not asking
you," he growled, crossing his muscular arms across his chest and squaring
his chin. "You are grounded, young lady. Indefinitely. You will go
nowhere, and do nothing without an escort. And I mean
nothing
. I think it's time we revisited the past. You have no adult
privileges. You will have a set bedtime. You will not speak unless spoken
to…"

"Philip…"

"You will follow every
rule I make to the last letter, or I will take a switch to your bottom until
you can't sit for a week."

Jane's eyes filled with tears.
"We were just married. How could you…"

"No, my dear—how
could you? We will depart in the morning. In the meantime, do not leave this
room. Have I made myself clear?"

"Yes."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Yes, Papa."

Philip turned to leave, then
stopped in his tracks. After a pause, he turned around to his wife. "I
love you, Jane. I love you more than this business. If maintaining ownership of
this company causes me to lose you, then I will relinquish my half to
shareholders. The company is nothing to me if I do not have you."

"I don't
understand."

He stepped forward and caught
her hands in his before kneeling next to where she sat. "I want us to sell
the company. Nothing can come between us, ever."

"You would rather sell
the company than allow me to take my rightful place as your partner?"
Jane's eyes widened.

"No! I would rather sell
it than lose you. Either to an accident or an argument."

"There would be no
argument if you would simply accept my ability to assist you. Philip," she
squeezed his hands, "you gave me the education I needed to become an
efficient and productive business partner. Why will you not allow me to use
what you yourself have given me?" She took his silence as permission to continue.
"You were excited about my joining you. That is, you were until we came to
India. Have I done something to make you question my abilities?"

"No." He kissed the
backs of her hands. "I have never doubted your ability to assist me. What
I doubt is your ability to obey me. Listen carefully to me. With the British
influence growing in the country, and the takeover of the governing forces
here, there are those who seek to destroy any alliances that develop. They view
people like myself… us… as traitors, because we are committed to both
cultures."

"Can you blame them? This
is not an influence, it is an invasion. They have taken over this land,
disrespect the people and their culture, and are forcing political changes
because they think they are better. They don't know better, they are just
stronger."