Discovery of Desire by Susanne Lord Page A

husbands. You’ve not heard that expression?”
    Seth shook his head, frowning. “No. Doesn’t sound fitting, anyway. Or nice.” He folded his papers into his pocket. “We can start in the morning, I suppose. I hope you know a man or two that might be more cooperative.”
    â€œOne or two, but they’ll make it understood that I’m overstepping. Bombay may as well be London for men like us.”
    â€œLike me, you mean.”
    â€œLike us, Mayhew.”
    Tom’s words were so bitter, Seth paused in his turn for the door.
    Tom raised a brow. “Why do you think I’m out in the Punjab?”
    â€œThe plantation—”
    â€œI started in Calcutta, at the gardens. The Punjab isn’t Calcutta. It’s not Delhi or Bombay or Madras. It’s the mofussils . Three years out there because I dared to question my superior.” Tom looked dispassionate as he surveyed the room, but when he spoke, his words were hard as steel. “Society is twice as rigid here, Mayhew. But damned if they’ll turn us out with your sister missing. They may treat us as expendable, but they’ll learn we’re not.”
    Despite Tom’s troubles, warm relief smothered Seth’s anger. Tom was going to help him—and not just because of the money. He patted his new ally on the back. “That’s damn right. You might deserve a wife after all. Maybe not Miss Mina, but a wife.”
    Tom shook his head, but a grin tugged at his lips. “Now that you mention her, do you have to flirt with my intended?”
    Seth’s heart plummeted—and it surprised the hell out of him. “Your intended now, is she?” His words came out too loud, so he grinned and blustered through. “She’s accepted your offer then?”
    Tom’s mulish pout was answer enough.
    Seth grinned in earnest, but his relief was damn stupid. Soon enough, Mina would have any man of her choosing. And that man wouldn’t be some wandering explorer without a spare shilling to his name.
    Tom scanned the room. “I wonder where she’s gone to?”
    If Mina were mine, I wouldn’t be all that likely to misplace her. Seth pointed to where she stood with a group of ladies beside a potted sago palm. “There. In that pink frock, she looks like a fancy teacake.” And with that milky skin, he had a strong urge to lick her. “She’s a beauty, that one.”
    â€œYou’ve made clear you noticed, you realize?”
    Confused, he dragged his gaze back to Tom.
    â€œYes, she’s lovely to look on.” Tom studied him. “Listen, Mayhew—”
    â€œCall me Seth.”
    â€œI’m sorry to disappoint, but Miss Adams is here to meet a husband. And that will likely be me.”
    Seth laughed but it came out weak. “I know it. Hell, every lady in here knows I can’t offer them anything by way of a future.”
    â€œCertainly you can. I just meant—”
    â€œI tease too much, maybe, but I never led a woman to believe I could take on a wife and family. Besides, Miss Mina is too fine for the likes of me.” Seth crossed his arms and feigned interest in the crowded conservatory.
    With the ladies so fresh and pretty, every man in here had his head on a swivel. Yet nothing in their faces showed how the men had got here. They were comfortable, proud, believed they were entitled to a wife and children. Believed they could support them.
    Nothing showed, but Seth always recognized the certainty—because he never recognized it in himself.
    A throbbing started in his head and the candlelight stabbed his eyes. Not enough food—that’s why he was getting muddled. Men and their suitoring were none of his business. His business was finding Georgie, and that wasn’t looking too easy a task with the Company men ignoring him.
    And he was suddenly damn tired.
    â€œI suppose it was a waste of my time coming here,” he