She didn’t want to break with her family. It wounded her heart to even think about. But if it were a choice between being carted home to Koch Bihar and spending the rest of her life as a virtual prisoner or never seeing her father and brother again, she would have to do what she could to save herself.
“I think we should attend the ball,” Jogendra said into the silence.
When Priya glanced up, he was staring at her with a curious look.
“What is this?” her father asked, clearly annoyed at the way his friend contradicted him.
Jogendra continued to stare at Priya for a moment. Priya dared herself to meet his eyes, and to silently plead with him to support her.
“I think the only polite thing to do is to attend the ball,” Jogendra went on, glancing away from her and smiling at her father. “Lord Vegas is correct. It would be a brilliant way to show these Englishmen the way things are done. And as I understand it, a great many luminaries of British social life will be in attendance. But, of course, the very best argument in favor of attendance is the fact that I have never been to a real, London ball before.”
He looked as though attending a ball were the equivalent of being handed a casket of golden jewelry to play with.
Priya’s father scowled as he glanced from Jogendra to Priya, and even to Jeetan. He growled slightly, then said, “Clearly, I am outnumbered in this.”
“You are,” Jogendra told him cheerfully. “So I suggest you surrender gracefully.”
Her father huffed and rubbed a hand over his face. “Very well, then,” he said. “We will stay long enough to attend the ball. But we will depart immediately in the morning for Lisbon so that we might board our ship home, as Lord Vegas suggested.”
“Thank you, sir,” Lord Vegas said as if acquiescing were her father’s way of paying him a compliment.
“If you will excuse me,” Priya said, rising. “I must make preparations for this ball.”
She nodded to the men in the room, then turned to go. In truth, she had preparations to make for her contingency plan, should Francis fail to convince her father at the eleventh hour to set her free to follow her heart.