Page 1 of The Duke's Indecent Match

Prologue

India– 12 Years Ago

Kalina

The whispers followed Kalina as she hurried down the path to her parents’ bungalow, the sun beating down on the back of her neck, as if the cruelty had taken form and was burning her.

Mean whispers.

Waiting whispers.

The whisperers wanted to see her tears.

She would not give them the satisfaction.Her heavy braid bounced on her shoulder as she marched away.

“Why would she think she can play with us?”One of the children asked loudly in English, their crisp British accent distinct, making Kalina’s back stiffen as the ensuing laughter echoed in her ears.It did not matter that her grandfather outranked any of their parents; word of her father’s estrangement had come, even to here.

But she knew better than to turn around.Doing so would only invite more taunts.

Lifting her chin high in the air as if she did not care about their rejection, Kalina turned down the path.The safety of their new bungalow loomed ahead.She had hoped that moving to a new area would mean the possibility of making friends, but it was proving as impossible as it had in Chennai.

Though her father was English, her mother was Indian, and that was enough for the other English children to reject her.Both in Chennai and here.It did not matter how well she spoke or read or practiced her manners, she was always on the outside.Always standing out among them.

She had tried to play with the other Kshatriya children because her mother’s family was Kshatriya, but they did not want anything to do with her, either.Perhaps because, although she looked like them, she was too different from them as well.She spoke mostly English, and her Urdu was accented.

Mother’s family did not speak with her anymore.She had defied them for love, to marry Kalina’s father.Their love shone through everything, even the disapproval of those around them.Kalina loved them just as dearly, though she wished that there were more than just them and her brother to spend time with.

Hearing the sound of children playing, Kalina turned her head to look.

Kshatriya children.She could tell by their dress and the way they were so freely moving around the bungalows.They must live nearby.

She paused, then took a step toward them.

Something about her movement must have alerted them, and the children stopped playing.Two girls and a boy, all looking to be a little younger than her, but that did not matter to Kalina.They were close enough in age.She did not mind playing with children younger than her.She could not.Her younger brother Ashwin was the only child whowouldplay with her, but he was learning how to ride a horse today.

“Good afternoon,” she said in Urdu, smiling brightly to try to hide her nervousness.

The children stared at her.Kalina tensed as their gazes went down her clothing.It was a proper English pinafore in her favorite color, the same rose pink as the diamonds that came from her father’s mine.The other two girls were wearing brightly colored skirts and blouses trimmed with beads.Kalina had always wanted something like that, but her mother always bought English dresses for herself and Kalina.

One of the girls leaned in toward the other and whispered something, shaking her head as she did so.

Kalina felt her heart sink.If she’d been wearing clothes like theirs, perhaps… but the English children thought her too Indian, and the Indian children saw her and thought her too English.

The three turned and ran off, leaving her there alone.

Again.

Always alone.

Dropping her head, Kalina slowly turned back on her path to the bungalow.

There would be no friends here, either, it appeared.

Her mother liked to say that Kalina and Ashwin were of two worlds, but most days, Kalina felt like she belonged to neither.Not for lack of trying, but because neither would accept her.

“There is my little princess!”Kalina’s father appeared in front of her, grinning with pride as he looked down at her.Her heart lifted, and she ran to him, arms up in the air to greet him.He caught her, lifting her against him.“Oof.I swear, little princess, you are getting bigger every day.”

Kalina giggled.