The Bad Luck Bride (The Brides of St. Ives #1)(6)
“Indeed, India is very different from England,” Henderson said.
Oliver came into the room at that moment, and her brother was looking thunderous. “I couldn’t find the lout.”
“Oh, Oliver, please do tell me you haven’t been scouring London looking for Lord Northrup.”
“Of course I have, I—” He stopped, bringing back his head in shock. “Henderson! By God, we all thought you’d never set foot on English soil again.” Oliver went to his old friend and gave him a hearty handshake.
“He was just about to tell us about his time in India,” Christina said. She sat forward, looking as if she were near to bursting to involve herself in the conversation, and Alice found herself oddly relieved. It seemed, suddenly, such an effort to converse about anything. Perhaps she should have immediately gone to her room and had herself a good cry. “Please do tell us about India. I’ve heard such wonderful tales about it,” Christina continued.
Henderson gave her younger sister an indulgent smile before he winked at Oliver. “I’ll fill you in later, shall I?” he said to his old friend before turning back to Christina. “What would you like to know?”
“Do elephants walk in the streets? Are there truly man-eating tigers roaming about? And I’ve heard it’s dreadfully hot there. Oh, and the palaces. I’ve heard there are the most fantastical palaces, exotic and marvelous. Have you ever been in one? And was there really a party where sixty thousand people were invited?”
Henderson laughed. “So many questions, Miss Hubbard. Where shall I begin?”
“With the elephants,” Alice said, finding herself caught up in her sister’s enthusiasm. The only elephant she’d seen, of course, had been in the zoo.
“Then, yes, there are elephants, though they’re not as big as our Jumbo. The natives use them to help farm and move things. They are highly trained and wonderful creatures. I rode upon one when I first arrived.”
“Did you?” Christina gushed.
“I did. And I have to say I’d much rather ride a horse any day of the week. It’s rather disconcerting how very high up you are when on an elephant and they are not nearly as easy to steer. Still, they are magnificent creatures.”
“And the tigers?”
“I saw no tigers. Only dogs. Hundreds of them. Very fat and well-fed.”
Something about the way Henderson said this last gave Alice pause. He seemed very nearly angry about the well-fed canines.
“If you’d rather not talk about India…” Christina must have heard the same thing in his tone.
Henderson smiled, and Alice found herself relaxing slightly, for at that moment, he looked like the man she remembered, that teasing, happy-go-lucky boy she’d found herself infatuated with as a girl. Now thinking about how her heart had fluttered when she’d go into the library and see him there, book in hand, reading the sort of novels her mother would never allow her to read, she felt only embarrassment. No doubt Henderson had been annoyed with her constant presence, but he’d never let on. He would always put his book aside, or read a particularly titillating passage (he adored reading adventure novels) so he could laugh at her shocked expression. He once read Robinson Crusoe to her, but the book was far too short. She’d loved listening to him, his soft baritone, the way he made it seem as if he were the narrator. On the evenings she found the library empty, she’d been dearly disappointed. In truth, she’d been devastated the way only a young girl can be when the young man she’s infatuated with is likely with an older, more sophisticated woman.
“I don’t mind talking about India, but I don’t want to bore you.”
“Oh, no,” Christina said. “Please, what was it like?”
“Hot, beautiful. A study in contrasts. I’ve never seen people so wealthy nor so poor. The land is either lush or dead, depending on what part of the country you are in. And the people are wonderful or unbearably cruel.” He stopped. “Actually, I’d rather not talk about India at the moment, if you don’t mind.”
The room took on a heavy silence.
“How long have you been in England?” Alice asked before taking a delicate sip of tea.
“Surely you cannot be ready to have a polite intercourse on my travels when you have just returned from your wedding sans husband.”
“What else shall we talk about? The weather? I’m already dreadfully bored thinking about what occurred this morning. So, please, sir, do tell us how long you’ve been home.”
Henderson narrowed his eyes, but his lips turned up in a smile. “As a matter of fact, I arrived in London just this morning and haven’t even been to visit my grandparents.” He laughed aloud at what Alice knew must be a shocked expression.
“And you hurried over to a wedding, to which you had not been invited, before even going to see your own family? Whatever possessed you?” Alice asked.
Henderson looked at each person in the room before replying succinctly, “I’d hoped to stop the wedding.”
Chapter 3
The Hubbards’ reaction to his pronouncement that he’d arrived that morning hoping to stop the wedding was not at all what Henderson expected. He’d thought perhaps a gasp or two. A shocked look, particularly on Alice’s face. Anger, for suggesting something that would have likely turned into a terrible scandal. But to a one, they all burst out laughing. He supposed the man he’d been four years ago would have been joking about such a thing. There was nothing to do but join in and ignore the little stab in his heart that Alice was nearly in tears from mirth.