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“How far do I need to move up this wedding?”

A bead of sweat rolled down Leo’s spine. “I… I don’t—”

He tilted his head forward a glint of steel in those blue eyes. “You know what I’m asking.”

“Ah.”

“I saw you both walking in the garden last night after dinner,” he said, and Leo’s stomach lurched dramatically. “But more importantly I saw the look on your face when she entered the room. I know that look and what it means.”

“Sir—”

The captain held up a hand to silence him and Leo closed his dry mouth.

“My daughter is happier than I’ve seen her in years, and you seem determined to not only marry her but serve her as well, so I have no need to call you out.

But I need a frank answer from you sir. I won’t have her name besmirched. ”

“We should not require a special license if that is your concern.” Leo replied.

“But?”

“But if we are not walking down the aisle in three weeks’ time, I will be the second man your daughter kidnaps to Gretna Green.”

Captain Mason seemed to fight back a laugh at that, coughing into his fist. He nodded.

“Understood.” Then he patted his shoulder and walked away whistling, leaving Leo to catch his breath.

He seemed affable, but there was one thing Leo was absolutely certain of; Regina’s father was the most terrifying man he’d ever met.

*

Regina was meant to be writing a letter.

She had been trying to write it for the past hour, but all she could think about was how handsome Leo had been at dinner.

How deftly he managed to manage her mother and walking the fine line between addressing her concerns and making sure Regina got what she wanted.

A born diplomat, even her father had said so.

He would be a wonderful statesman when the time came.

As a lover… Regina set down her pen and took a deep calming breath.

She had promised him that after last night she would be content to wait until their wedding night to resume any and all intimacies.

But that was before she understood what those intimacies would feel like.

Now she was regretting her promise. After such an introduction she wanted a second taste but if she knew him, he would never agree to it. He’d barely agreed the night before.

“What are you doing?” Lillian asked.

Regina jumped in her chair and spun around to see her sister sitting on the floor beside her in her typical white cotton dress. “I am writing to Ellie and Ada, inviting them to my wedding.”

Lillian nodded and fiddled with the end of her long braid. “He looks like a prince.” She commented.

“Why do you say that?” Regina asked, pleased at least that Lilian hadn’t decided Leo had ‘funny eyes’.

“Because he’s handsome I think. Isn’t he handsome?” Lilian glanced up at her for confirmation.

“He is a beautiful man,” Regina agreed. No doubt he would be even more stunning without clothes. She had managed to touch his bare skin which had been delicious enough, but there was a decent amount of curiosity still left about what his body looked like.

“—And he seems nice.” Lillian finished and to Regina’s mortification she realized she hadn’t heard half of what she’d said. “I think aai and baba like him.”

Their father was certainly warmer towards Leo than Mr. Harrison but Regina had never seen him around her other fiancés to know if that meant anything more.

“Do you like him better than the others?” Lillian asked.

“I do,” Regina said.

“You were sad before weren’t you? I heard what you told baba and aai, about marrying to protect us. I don’t want you to do that. I want you to be happy. Will you be happy with him?”

“I will dearest. Lord Starkley is precisely the sort of man I always dreamed I would marry.”

“When will you marry him?” she asked.

“In three weeks’, time Miss Lillian, one month at the very most,” Leo said, entering the room. Regina turned in her chair as Lillian’s little head shot up in his direction. It seemed everyone was sneaking up on her this morning.

“How did you manage that?” she asked. Her mother had been open to the idea but there had not been anything decided definitively.

“I told you I would speak to your parents. Your father has agreed to those terms, and he will finish persuading your mother,” he said, taking her hand in his before his beautiful eyes roamed over her letter.

“Sending out invitations already?” He asked.

“Only to Ada and Ellie.”

“That’s good. We’ll need to set up an invitation list as soon as possible. If we want your mother to plan a wedding in three weeks, then we must give her the tools.”

“Agreed. I,” she paused and pressed her lips together. It had been something she was afraid to ask for before, but now there was a real chance. “I wish to invite my former headmistress if possible.”

“Are you looking for my permission?” he asked with a frown.

“I thought I should get your opinion. It is your wedding as well.”

“Devika, my only requirement for this wedding is you and our immediate families, all of whom are here. Speaking to preference, I should like if Basil and Richard were there.”

“Well, we should also invite Aunt Theodosia, and her nephew, Albert I believe it was.”

“As you wish, devika,” he replied, dropping a kiss on her forehead.

“May I be a flower girl?” Lillian asked.

He turned to give her a considering look before nodding decisively. “I can’t imagine a better one so add that to my list of requirements, Miss Mason.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Lillian jumped up and grabbed his free hand. “I’m learning to play scales on the piano, do you want to hear?”

Leo blinked at her and then smiled. “Of course, little one, bring me to your piano.”

As he was dragged through the door by her sister, Regina saw him give a small bow to someone out of view.

Then she heard the tinkle of ankle bells and saw her mother enter with a bemused smile on her face.

“Aai.”

“He fits in well I see,” she said in Marathi. Regina grinned.

“She received his permission to be a flower girl, so he is her favorite person now.”

“She is not the only one getting her way through him,” she replied giving her daughter a pointed look.

“Mother, I know it is not your wish. But the longer I have to wait the more uneasy I feel. I just want it finished so I can know that I am his wife, and I can finally live my life. So, we can all move forward. Isn’t that better?”

“I suppose. Although my task has now become even more difficult.”

“Keep it small. Flowers, food and a priest. The guest list will follow in that vein, only the closest friends and family. People who have supported me and us.”

“Regina.”

“It’s not like before aai, that circle includes influential members of the ton.

Two viscounts and a viscountess unless I’m mistaken.

We do not need half of England to attend, and I do not want them to.

We will show that despite our newly elevated status, we are still in our hearts the same people. That our focus is on each other.”

“I suppose love matches are always popular. I heard him call you ‘devika’.”

“Yes.” Regina stood and took her mother’s hand leading her over to the chaise to sit. “Did you know he speaks Marathi?”

“What?” Her mother blinked in shock.

“He knows so much about me, about our culture, he’s not only unashamed of me he celebrates it. We won’t have to hide anymore mother,”

She nodded and patted her cheek. “That is good.”

“It is better.”

She smiled, tears flooding her eyes. “It does me well to see you so happy.”

Regina leaned her head against her mother’s shoulder and closed her eyes.

Never had she imagined this kind of bliss would be hers.

“Do you know, when he revealed himself in that ballroom, I thought he was like Lord Krishna in those stories you told me, coming to save me from marriage to that horrible Mr. Harrison and his mother.”

Madhavi laughed, “He is certainly an improvement, in several respects. But you have one thing wrong,”

“Oh?”

“Mmm, that one isn’t Krishna, he is Ram.”

“What?” Regina lifted her head to look at her mother. “What do you mean mother?”

“King Rama. The king who must subvert his wishes for the benefit of those under his care.” She flicked her under her chin while Regina stared in shock, her mind trying to digest what her mother had just said. “As far as he was your choice, he is a fitting one at the very least.”

Her mother had named her Rajani, a common epithet for the Goddess Durga, but at her mother’s proclamation of Leo being more like Lord Ram, a shiver had passed through Regina.

Lord Ram’s ending with his beloved Sita had not been a good one.

Did that bode ill for her and Leo? Was Ravana still waiting in the wings?

She hadn’t dreamt about Edward Harrison the previous night but that didn’t mean he was no longer a threat to them.

“You think Leo has trapped himself?”

“Not exactly, but he is used to having more control over his life and choices. Titles come with privileges this is obvious, but there are also iron rules. He knows this conceptually, but when he begins to notice the new chains he will not like it. You will have to help him, my duckling, just as Sita did. Both of you must find a path together.”

It was an idea she had never considered before but the more she thought of it the more apt it appeared. Sita and Ram carving their path as one in the unknown of the forest, against all odds. Yes, she could see. “Of course I will help him aai.”