The Duchess (Montgomery/Taggert 16)

Trevelyan shrugged. “It’s their religion. Religions around the world are different. They have different rules.”

“But this rule is hideous. It’s awful. I hope you made a protest.”

Trevelyan laughed. “I was one infidel alone in a sacred city. I wasn’t in any position to stand in the town square and preach Buddhism.”

“Christianity.”

“What? Oh, right. The true religion. Did you know that all people believe their own religion to be the true one?”

She smiled at him. “Play the cynic all you want, but you did save her. When was she to die?”

“This year.”

Claire let out a sigh. “But you took her away from that dreadful place and saved her life.”

“Not actually. Nyssa and her maidens were walking through the streets and just as she passed, I fell down at her feet. Malaria. But Nyssa thought that I’d fainted at the sight of her beauty. She had me carried to her chambers, and when she found out that I wasn’t dark skinned all over, she hid me.”

“And she left the city when you did. Did no one try to stop her?”

“For the five years the girls are priestesses, they’re allowed to do anything they want. They’re given anything they want. Nyssa wanted to leave with me, so she did.”

Claire leaned toward him. “Why did she want to leave with you?”

Trevelyan gave a crooked grin. “Did I tell you about the time we made camp on a village of stinging ants? They came out at night and were all over us before someone woke up and gave the alarm. Six men came down with fever after that and—”

“How did this woman find out you weren’t dark skinned all over?”

“She looked,” he said simply. “Jealous?”

“Don’t be absurd. I was merely curious. You should understand that concept, as curiosity seems to be the ruling force of your life.”

“Nyssa was curious too.”

She looked out the window. “Did she fall in love with you? Is that why she left with you?”

“I think she wanted to see the world. She grew up in a farm village, very poor, and she wanted to see something besides Pesha.”

“Not to mention the fact that they planned to kill her within the year.”

“I’m sure that had something to do with it.”

She looked back at him. “So she left Pesha with you and traveled across the country. But then you died, or Powell thought you were going to die, and he took all your papers and your Pearl of the Moon. Is that right?”

“More or less.”

When she spoke her voice was barely more than a whisper. “Are you going to rescue her now because you love her? Is that why you were so upset when you thought Powell had her?”

“I was upset because I thought Powell might be holding her against her will. On the journey back from Pesha Jack had a tendency to look on Nyssa as something we had caught, something in the vein of a museum specimen. I wouldn’t like for Nyssa to be held prisoner in a stuffy drawing room somewhere.” He gave her a piercing look. “Some women can stand that, but others can’t.”

She ignored his last remark. “How did you view her?”

“As often as possible,” he said, grinning, then frowned. “What is wrong with you? If anyone should hear this conversation they’d think you and I were the lovers and that you were eaten with jealousy over something I did months ago.”

“That’s ridiculous. Of course I’m not jealous. I am…I’m a scholar of Captain Baker, that’s all. Maybe I’ll still write that biography even though you aren’t actually dead, so I need to learn all that I can about you. It would interest my readers to know if you took a beautiful young woman from a sacred city because you were in love with her. Readers would like that story, of the handsome young explorer with the beautiful maiden.”

“When I first met you, you said I was old and ugly. Besides, Nyssa is far from being a maiden.”

“Oh? Promiscuous, is she?”