Courting Trouble Read Online Free PDF Page B

aware of the curious stares they were attracting.
    Esme blushed. Even a street dog had stopped in its direct line to the butcher’s stall to stare at them.
    “Let’s adjourn to the Chai House.” Jed took hold of Esme’s bike, kicked up the stand and began wheeling it.
    “It is very public,” Gupta objected hesitantly.
    “Are any secrets kept successfully in Bombaytown?” Jed asked.
    Lajli clapped her hands. “That is good. We shall be bold and the villains will flee.”
    Jed’s mouth twisted wryly. “As you say. At least we shan’t skulk in shadows.” He looked at Esme. “If something’s worth having, it’s worth fighting for.”

Chapter Four
    “We must be cautious.” Jed held Esme’s chair, seating her carefully before sitting beside her at the small table on the veranda of the Chai House.
    He hadn’t expected to see her in Bombaytown, but now that he had, he was committed to last night’s plan. It was doubtless unchivalrous of him, but the devastation in her eyes when she thought he’d betrayed her with another woman had set his heart singing. It reassured him that he was important to her. Now, if only his plan worked as well, he would show her that she had his respect and that he could, would, allow her to face danger with him—as long as she never learned that he considered the danger to be nonexistent.
    The Chai House was a Bombaytown institution, the place to see and be seen, with Indians and Europeans mingling easily. Lazy ceiling fans were idle yet. They’d come into their own in summer’s heat. Intricately carved screens provided an illusion of privacy for the tables inside, and carved statues of mischievous monkeys guarded the conversations.
    He’d chosen to sit outside. This early in the day, the west-facing veranda was empty of guests and potential eavesdroppers. It looked across white sand dunes held in place by tough sea grass and then to the endless blue of the Indian Ocean and the wide cloudless sky.
    “I would like cakes with my chai,” Lajli announced.
    The waiter took their order with a smile, a friendly greeting for Esme and a curious glance at Gupta’s nervous face.
    Jed suffered a pang of conscience at the young man’s worried expression. Lajli treated his dark murmurings as a lark, but Gupta believed every word.
    Hopefully, the boy would one day understand this was for the greater good—that is, for restoring Jed to Esme’s esteem. All’s fair in love and war —and with Esme, he had both the passion and the war of the sexes.
    He brought her up to date on Lajli’s theft, the man who followed her to Swan River, and the papers.
    “Why bring the papers to you?” Esme stripped off her gloves.
    The waiter brought two plates of cakes and their cups of chai.
    “I suspect because I’m an inventor and the papers are blueprints and notes,” Jed said. “Written in an abysmal scrawl.”
    “Ah.” She sipped her chai.
    Lajli was already halfway through a green-tinted cake of shredded coconut. Jed tasted his own chai. The sweet, milky tea spiced with cardamom, cinnamon and who-knew-what wasn’t as good as a hot, bitter coffee, but it would have to do. He was tired after a nearly sleepless night.
    On the other hand, Esme was sitting beside him, listening intently and not giving him the cold shoulder. It was worth the sleepless night of planning and scheming.
    “What do the papers s-say?” Gupta demanded.
    “They describe a device to shatter objects using sound waves. Built to the dimensions in the blueprints, it would be more powerful than Nobel’s explosive dynamite.”
    Lajli broke the appalled silence. “I told you the papers were bad.”
    “Very bad, if they’re true.” Jed watched Esme’s expression. The device couldn’t be anywhere near as powerful as the notes suggested. But the notes were a handy tool to lure in his wary suffragette prey. “I wish I knew more about the physics of sound. As it is, I must study up. I need to know if the principles of the