Page 3 of A Lord in Want of a Wife (Daring Debutantes #2)

L u-Jing was not terrified.

Fear wasn’t the worst feeling. Indeed, she was so used to it that it barely penetrated her thoughts until the sensations lessened.

This morning, she noticed her belly did not clench painfully. She took a breath that expanded her chest. And when she looked around her, she did not see dangers lurking in every corner. Every other corner, perhaps, but not each one.

What a difference a month at sea made. A month where she wasn’t constantly hiding in the temple from the dangers in Canton.

A month where she, Nayao and their adoptive father got to know one another aboard a merchant vessel.

A month where she expanded her ability with English and tried not to be afraid of what lay ahead.

And so far, the only cost had been their names.

Nayao was now called Grace in a rough translation of her name.

Lu-Jing became Lucy because of the similar sound.

All in all, it was an easy trade. After all, no matter what they called her, she would not forget where she came from. Much though she might wish to.

They had five more months of travel to their father’s homeland.

Today’s stop was in Bombay, a foreign city that produced a cacophony of noise heard even here on the safety of their boat.

It was the noise of a thriving city and Lucy need only close her eyes to imagine the living beat of the marketplace.

That was the place she felt most at home, at least in Canton.

But they were in India now, and as much as she longed to go ashore, the rest of her was tense with renewed fear.

Marketplaces teemed with danger.

‘But you have to come with us,’ Grace said. ‘We need stores for the ship. And you can negotiate—’

‘I don’t speak the language.’

‘Neither do we! And when has that ever bothered you?’

Never. The language of commerce worked in hand signals, grunts and sidelong glances. She understood the money here, knew the value of most goods and could do the math in her head. But…

Marketplaces were dangerous.

Her sister sighed and gently took Lucy’s hands. ‘It has been two years since you were attacked—’

‘In the marketplace!’

‘Two years,’ Grace repeated. ‘You have hidden away in the temple since then, only venturing out when you had to—’

‘And when I left the temple, I brought monks with me.’ No one attacked monks. It planted bad karma. Plus, they rarely had anything worth stealing. But there were no monks here to give her the feeling of safety. ‘Grace, you know it’s not safe to go anywhere strange as a woman!’

They both had hidden their sex as long as possible, binding their breasts and wearing boy’s clothing. And even so, Lucy had nearly died the last time she ventured alone into a marketplace.

Back then she’d been bold. She’d imitated Grace’s fearlessness and taken big risks, strutting into the marketplace as a boy to bargain for goods.

She’d made herself valuable in the Thirteen Factories district.

Most merchants didn’t want to sully themselves by negotiating directly with the whites, but a half child was already cursed.

She’d served as go-between whenever and wherever she could, making coin that could not be gotten legally. At least not by a girl.

But she had taken one risk too many, slipping into the district at night when the most lucrative deals were made. They were discovered by the officials, and she’d been hurt as she ran. Hurt badly enough that she nearly died. Bad enough that she’d never be able to run that fast again.

And that made her lose her nerve.

‘Do you know what can happen to a woman in a strange city?’

Grace was undeterred. ‘We took a big chance, you and I. We met Father and are now going to a new life. That has worked out, yes?’

‘So far.’ Their father seemed honest. Their future together might include a good life. But it was too new for her to believe in yet. And she certainly didn’t want to risk everything by going to a marketplace! ‘I’ll be there to protect you,’ Grace promised. ‘Father, too.’

‘Father’s going?’ Damn it, what would happen to them if something happened to him?

They were on this boat by his coin. They were going to a new future with him as their father.

She couldn’t risk being separated from him just as she hadn’t been able to risk being separated from Grace.

But still she trembled at the thought of going ashore.

‘I knew what my job was in the temple. I knew what to do, who to talk to and where to hide. I know nothing about Bombay.’

‘We won’t be alone. The sailors will carry the goods—cook can manage the money—’

‘No, he can’t!’ Lucy was a middling pickpocket, and even she could lift his purse.

‘Then you carry it. I won’t let you out of my sight. I swear!’ Grace had spent years on a ship. She had travelled all around the China sea. She was a bold, confident woman, whereas Lucy had spent the last two years keeping herself small, quiet and completely overlooked.

‘Why is Father going?’

‘He’s looking for medicine. For his cough.’

‘They’ll sell him dog’s piss and claim it’s a miracle.’ In one month, she had come to adore her adoptive father, but she also thought him incredibly naive at times. His first instinct was to believe what he was told whereas she and Grace knew that most people lied.

‘Help me protect him,’ Grace pressed.

It was laughable to think that Lucy could protect anyone.

She hadn’t the fighting skills that Grace did.

She had a slender build and couldn’t intimidate a fly.

Her greatest asset in bargaining was that she appeared too timid to argue.

She stated what she would pay and then cringed away when someone thought to bargain with her.

They would meet her price—gently—or she would buy from someone else.

It was pretense—mostly. She had strength in her, but the fear was real.

‘We’ll stay together,’ Grace promised. ‘We’ll help Father.’

Lucy couldn’t argue against that. So she agreed—reluctantly. She stayed close to Grace and their father. She didn’t hide in the trees to watch the exciting bustle of the square. And she discovered that she could barter as easily in India as she had in China.

It was a good day.

But far from making her more relaxed, the success made her more suspicious. Thieves attacked when one was relaxed, when one’s arms were full of goods, when one smiled and thought that today was a perfect day.

So she was wary as they turned back for the ship. She watched everywhere at once until her body ached from the anxiety.

Then she saw him .

An Englishman with a delicious laugh and the kind of broad-shouldered height to make him stand out in the crowd of stooped natives.

In truth, he wasn’t head and shoulders taller than the rest. He just didn’t hunch over his purchases or curl protectively around a purse, so he stood tall.

He had no weapons that she could see, and when a child snatched his purse, he laughed even as he caught the boy.

His companion possessed a thicker body and an angry growl. He was going to cuff the boy, but the tall one stopped him. She knew enough English now to hear their conversation.

‘Leave off, Graham. He’s just hungry.’

‘You cannot allow even one. We’ll be mobbed within a second.’

The tall one should listen to the growly one named Graham. Lucy could see street children creeping forwards, waiting to see what he would do with the squirming thief.

He bought the child a meat pie.

‘Cedric! What the bloody hell are you doing?’ his companion cried as the boy grabbed the food and dashed away. ‘That’s your last coin, you oaf.’

She liked the sound of his name. Cedric.

‘It is,’ Cedric admitted as he cheerfully waved the beggars back. ‘I’m done here. All let out.’ He turned his pockets inside out to prove it.

‘You’ll have to pay for your food on the ship,’ Graham moaned. ‘How are you going to eat for the next five months?’

Cedric shrugged. ‘I’ll figure something out.’

‘No, you won’t,’ the companion groused as he hunched his shoulders. ‘You’ll remind me of all the good times we had together in school and then call me a jolly good chum when I pay your way.’

‘What?’ he said with a charming twinkle in his eyes. ‘I hadn’t thought of that, but you are a jolly good—’

‘Oh, stuff it. It’ll be worth it to send your arse back home.’

‘Don’t be like that,’ Cedric said. ‘We’ve had a wondrous time together, haven’t we? I’ve learned a lot.’

‘You have. We have.’ Then he grabbed Cedric’s wrist and pulled him around. ‘Stay in India with me. We’ll find a job for you, I swear.’

‘I would if only to watch you sweat in this heat.’

Graham pulled out a handkerchief to wipe his face. ‘It’s beastly, simply beastly.’

‘But you know I can’t. Besides all the nonsense at home, I won’t browbeat a bunch of peasants all day. I’d much rather go drinking with them.’

His companion shook his head. ‘That’s your problem then. You’ll drink with anybody.’

‘I will. And have a right jolly time of it.’

Graham snorted and tugged his companion along. It was fortunate that Lucy was headed in the same direction. It allowed her to follow their conversation. And when her sister noticed what she was doing, Lucy whispered, ‘I’m practicing English.’

It was a lie. The pair of Englishman intrigued her.

Or more accurately, Cedric did. He was good-natured in the way of the best kind of wealthy men, and yet it appeared he hadn’t a coin for his meals.

She didn’t know what the word browbeat meant, but she could guess.

She’d received her own share of beatings.

It was common for a half white, half Chinese girl like her, even in the temple where she was raised.

That he disdained such a thing reinforced her belief that he was a kind man very much like her adoptive father.

Were all Englishmen like that? If so, then England must be a land of generous plenty.