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4
    Alex stood in the center of the
front shop, her hands pressed
    to her midriff and willing her
heartbeat to slow. It was absolutely
    ludicrous to run away from a man
in your own home.
    Especially a man who was there to
protect you and those for
    whom you were responsible. She
simply had to gain some
    measure of control over her
reactions to Aiden Terrell. She
    was the employer and he was the
employee. She'd been the
    royal tutor, for heaven's sake;
she'd had hundreds-perhaps
    thousands-of relationships with
subordinates before. This
    one was no different from any of
the others. She closed her
    eyes and took a deep, steadying
breath. "Cool distance," she
    whispered. "Cool, cool distance."
     
    The sound of his footfalls on the
stairs sent her heart back
    into her throat and shattered her
mantra. Letting her hands fall
    to her sides, Alex opened her
eyes and faced him squarely, resolved
    to take command of the situation
before he could.
     
    He was just coming off the last
step when she gestured to
    the goods surrounding her and
crisply said, ''As you've no
    doubt surmised, the main floor is
devoted to the sale of
    goods. I've tried to arrange
things so that my customers can
    easily visualize the various
objects in their own homes."
     
    He nodded and let his gaze wander
over the displays. ''Did
    you bring all of this with you
when you came out of India?"
     
    "Very little of that initial
shipment remains," she supplied,
    vastly relieved by the distant
and impersonal tone she heard
    in his voice. "I receive
replacement goods from a trader in
    Dwarka on a regular schedule. One
is, in fact, due any day."
     
    Casually rubbing a paisley
cashmere shawl between his
    fingers, he said, "If he
knows where you are-"
     
    "He's Mohan's favorite uncle
and can be trusted."
     
    Again he nodded. This time,
though, the gesture was accompanied
    by first a humming sound and then
a pronounced
    silence. After several moments,
he turned to face her,
    crossed his arms over his chest,
and asked, "May I pose a
    more personal question?"
     
    "I suspect that refusing
wouldn't make any difference in
    whether you ask or not."
     
    ''True,'' he admitted with a grin
that sparkled all the way to
    his eyes. "Let me more
accurately restate the question. If I
    asked you a personal question,
would you give me a straight
    and honest answer?"
     
    "I can't know the answer to
that," she countered warily,
    ''until I know what the question
is."
     
    "Fair enough." He
picked up an ornately carved picture
    frame and studied it as he asked,
"Why the shop? Why London?
     
    Mohan's father could have bought
a country estate and
    tucked you both neatly away in
safe seclusion. Why didn't
    he? Why did he choose to
establish his royal tutor as a merchant
    in the heart of a huge
city?"
     
    He considered this a personal
subject? God was indeed
    merciful and caring. Alex leaned
her hip against the writing
    desk and relaxed, suddenly much
more confident in her ability
    to manage both the conversation
and Aiden Terrell.
     
    "While, in recent years, the
East India Company may have
    crumbled as a governing body of
India," she said, "it's apparent
    that British control isn't going
to be surrendered anytime
    soon. The rajas know this, of
course, and believe that in order
    to effectively exercise their
power within those parameters,
    they must understand the ways of
Britain herself." .
     
    He set aside the one frame and
picked up another Without
    comment or-most
surprisingly-another question.
     
    "Part of the reason for
bringing Mohan to England," she
    went on, watching him caress the
carving with the pads of
    his thumbs , "was to immerse
him in British ways so that he
    would be a better leader when his
time comes. Ensconced in
    at a country estate wouldn't have
accomplished the larger
    goal. London is the center of the
empire and so it's London
    that Mohan must experience in
order to learn what he must
    to rule effectively." "
     
    "A partial answer. A quite
acceptable one,