Star of the East: A Lady Emily Christmas Story Read Online Free PDF Page B

clear view of my mother. Colin bent over and kissed me, full on the mouth.
    “She will not tell me how to treat my own wife,” he said, too quietly for anyone but me to hear. “So she will have to come to terms with me kissing you if I am not to be allowed to work with you.”
    An unattractive sputtering sound came from the general direction of the study. I did not give it the slightest notice. Colin went upstairs, and I was off in search of Sunita, who was no longer in the music room. Not seeing her in any of the adjacent rooms, I considered my options. Darnley House had well over a hundred rooms. I had just decided to start by going up to her bedroom when a glimpse of movement out the window caught my eye.
    “Henry!” My son, whom I was beginning to consider something of an expert at escaping from Nanny, was standing in a snowdrift, buried almost to his waist.
    “Lady Emily, is everything all right? I heard you cry out.” Jones entered the room and followed the direction of my gaze. “Oh dear. Fear not, I will send one of the footmen after him.”
    “Thank you, Jones. Have you seen the princess this morning?”
    “I believe she is in the billiard room, madam. If you will excuse me, I shall organize young Master Henry’s rescue.”
    I thanked him profusely, asked him not to mention the incident to my mother, and started for the billiard room, pausing to look out each window I passed until I saw Henry safely in the arms of a burly footman. Sunita, who was carefully positioning a cue over the billiard table when I entered the room, shushed me and took her shot, neatly sending two balls into two pockets.
    “You’re quite good,” I said.
    “Do you play?” she asked.
    “Abominably,” I said.
    “That’s a pity, as it leaves me with no one to play against but myself.” She silenced me again as she lined up her next shot. This time she missed. She returned her cue to the rack on the wall and selected another one. “Important, I think, to maintain the veneer of there being two separate players.”
    “Who taught you to play?” I asked.
    “My brother. He and Ned are devoted to all forms of games and entertainment. When they were in India last year, they tried to force me to play cricket, but I draw the line there. Do you know I read all of Pride and Prejudice in less time than it took them to finish a single cricket match? Admittedly, I devour Austen like cake—she’s my absolute favorite—but I do not think that changes the fact that cricket takes far too long.”
    “I quite agree,” I said. “What else do you like to read?”
    “Your father tells me you spend most of your time reading ancient Greek epics. I am afraid my tastes are far more pedestrian. Vanity Fair and Tess of the d’Urbervilles are two books I cannot read often enough.”
    “I would hardly call either of them pedestrian,” I said.
    “Whenever I pick up Tess I cannot help but be consumed by a longing that this time she won’t come to such an awful end. I know it’s impossible, but don’t you find that the best stories make you ache no matter how many times you read them?”
    “Absolutely,” I said, silently agreeing with the maharini that her daughter ought not be married yet. There was too much about her character that still needed reconciling, and I hoped that the erudite reader would win out over the petulant girl stomping on discarded gowns. “Have you spoken to your brother this morning?”
    “Not yet, but I have no doubt he will have something to say about the disappearance of the dreaded Star of the East.”
    On this front, she was quite correct. Before a quarter of an hour had passed, we heard a commotion from beyond the door. Ranjit, resplendent in a frock coat and scarlet turban, entered.
    “This bloody diamond!” He sank into one of the deep leather chairs at the far end of the room. “Do forgive my language, Emily. You are quite sure it’s gone, Sunita?”
    “Of course I am—how stupid do you think I am? The