Laura turned from Ganesha to look at him. "What was your father's Christian name?"
"The same as your father's—Alexander." He stopped directly in front of her, close enough to touch but restraining the impulse to do so. The last thing he wanted was to alarm her now.
She took a deep breath. "Very well, Ivan Alexandrovich, I accept." Reaching out, she grasped both his hands in hers. "And I hope to heaven that we don't both live to regret this!"
"I won't," he said with absolute conviction. "And I swear I'll do my best to see that you don't, either."
"Nothing ventured, nothing gained," she said jauntily. "And what do I have to lose but my sanity and peace of mind?" Her icy hands tightened on his and her voice dropped. "I'm terrified, Ian, but I'm also delighted."
With a gratitude too profound for words, Ian raised her hands and kissed them gently, first the left, then the right. In Cambay, he had realized that he must find something to care about if he wanted to survive.
In this golden-eyed girl, he had found his reason to go on living.
Chapter 10
As they road back to Baipur, Ian said, "Unless you object, I'd like to get married as soon as possible. Within a fortnight, if the legalities can be completed and there's a Christian clergyman available."
Laura drew in her breath. "It seems so sudden. An hour ago I was a dedicated spinster and now I'm planning my wedding." Her brow furrowed as she thought. "But it does make sense to marry soon. There's an English missionary who comes to Baipur, and he should arrive within the next week. I'll have finished settling my affairs here so we can be off the day after the ceremony.''
His gaze slanted over to her. For the first time, she realized that Ian always rode with her to his left, the side of his good eye, so that he could see her easily. "Do you prefer to travel fast and light or slow and comfortable?" he asked.
She grinned. "What if I tell you that I can't stir without twenty bullock carts and forty servants?"
"If that's what Lady Falkirk wants," he said stoically.
"Goodness, you really are agreeable," she said, impressed. "But I prefer riding on horseback with few or no servants. Traveling in state makes me impatient, though Papa and I had to do it because of his position. My maid is a native of Baipur and is to marry soon herself, so she won't want to come with me. I can manage alone until we reach Bombay."
He regarded her quizzically. "You really won't miss having an army of servants?"
"Not in the least." She wrinkled her nose. "I know we must have large households to uphold British prestige, and it does provide work for people who need it, but having so many servants is as much nuisance as luxury. Often it would be easier to do the job myself rather than wait for someone of the right caste to be summoned. Once a dead bird lay in the garden for half a day before the right sort of untouchable could be brought in to remove it. It seemed very peculiar, because I was new in India and hadn't learned that none of the higher cast Hindus could touch a dead body without being defiled."
He gave an understanding nod. "As a junior officer, I found it bizarre that a soldier who would risk his life for me without a second thought would refuse to accept water from my canteen. Still, the Hindu rules about cleanliness are healthy."
"My father used to say that all the customs that seem incomprehensible to a European evolved to meet valid social needs," Laura said. "But to return to the subject of our journey to Bombay, it will be simpler and faster if we travel without an entourage."
"Then we will," Ian said. "By the way, we must go through Cambay, though it's out of the way. I told my brother I'd spend a few days with him before going home."
"You've a brother in India?"
"Yes, David's an officer in my old regiment." Ian made a wry face. "My earlier stay in Cambay was so brief that I didn't see any of my old friends. Frankly, I'd just as soon not have to face them all and answer the same questions over and over, but I did promise my brother."
"Then of course we'll go to Cambay," she said warmly. "Tell me about David, and about the rest of your family."
He smiled a little. "You want to find out about them while there's still time to change your mind?"
She chuckled. "Since I have so few relatives of my own, I quite like the idea of marrying some."
With her encouragement, Ian spoke of his family and his childhood for the rest of the journey back to Baipur. It was the longest Laura had ever heard him talk.
She began to develop a picture of Ian's early life. Raised abroad, he had a wider perspective than most Britons. His father, who had been knighted for his diplomatic services, had apparently been brilliant and difficult, while his mother sounded sweet but overwhelmed by all of the strong personalities in her family. As the oldest child, Ian had early developed the habit of looking out for others, Becoming an army officer had been a natural progression.