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a neutral enough comment. The
very last thing he
    wanted was for her to make a
retreat into silence.
     
    "Actually," she replied.
moving objects around the shelves
    as she spoke, ''the lesson comes
in weighing public appearances
    and private realities. Mrs.
Walker-Hines is a perfect
    example. Publicly she presents
her situation as being the epitome
    of financial solvency. Just this
morning she had her maid
    carrying purchases out of
Emmaline's shop for all to see. Privately,
    however, she's selling silver to
pay those bills and
    many others."
     
    "With the
servants doing the actual selling," Aiden supplied,
    watching her, noting the easy
smile on her face. It was
    serene and yet somehow bursting
with life and energy.
     
    "Of course. She has
appearances to maintain. If the selling
    somehow becomes public knowledge,
she can always
    claim that she knew nothing of it
and have the servants
    charged with theft."
     
    "A rather
low tactic," he observed, leaning his shoulder
    against a shelf support and
crossing his arms over his chest.
     
    Damn if she wasn't fascinating to
watch. She didn't touch
    things, she caressed and cajoled
them.
     
    "To the Rose Walker-Hineses of this
world, appearances
    often matter more than loyalty,'" she explained, apparently
    unaware of
his appraisal. “It’s a lesson Mohan isfinding
particularly
    difficult to understand.
Pretensions are quite foreign
    to his native
philosophies."
     
    He disagreed; so far Mohan had
given him the impression
    of being quite wedded to
pretenses. But he knew better than to
    share that view. Alex Radford tended to be a bit protective of
    her tyrannical
charge . " Philosophies?" he repeated,
deciding
    it might be a
safer topic of conversation. "He has more than
    one?"
     
    She nodded and went on with her rearranging.
"Hinduism
    is a complex and ever-so-flexible
system of beliefs and practices.
     
    We maintain one steadfast
religious prohibition in this
    household though and that's regarding
the consumption of
    beef. If you find
yourself yearning for it. you ' ll
have to dine
    out. Other than that concession,
my objective is to make Mohan's
    daily life as English as
possible."
     
    "How does
he like it?"
     
    "He's a typically tolerant
child. With the typical Indian
    view of the world."
     
    "Enlighten me as to what
that might be," he pressed, genuinely
    curious, genuinely liking-to his
surprise-the sound
    of her voice.
     
    She pursed her lips for a moment
as though concentrating
    and then smiled serenely.
"In its simplest form ... The universe-
    and all that's in it-is in a
constant state of change.
     
    What there is, is and there is
nothing more at the moment.
     
    What comes, comes. What goes,
goes. Within that acceptance,
    one can shape one's destiny for
the next lifetime
    through the exercise of good
thoughts, words, and deeds. The
    tasks, lessons, and challenges of
this lifetime are set at birth,
    determined by the actions of the
life lived before, and thus inescapable."
     
    "Sounds rather fatalistic to
me," he confided.
     
    "Only on the surface."
     
    He drew a deep breath and stepped
out on a limb. "Do
    you subscribe to that
perspective?"
     
    She laughed. Softly, lightly. And
like her whisper in the
    upstairs hall, it washed over
him, igniting his senses. "I'm
    British," she said, mercifully
not looking at him. "And like
    all Britons, I believe that I'm
the complete master of my
    own destiny. My task as the royal
tutor is to attempt to infuse
    some of that perspective into
Mohan's Indian one."
     
    "Is he learning?"
     
    ''There are good days and bad
days, Mr. Terrell."
     
    As with all things. If he only
considered the last few minutes,
    he could call it a very good day,
indeed. They seemed
    to have stumbled on a way to
converse without outright conflict.
     
    "Do you suppose you could
call me Aiden?" he asked,
    trying to strengthen the tenuous
bridge. "When it's just the
    two of us, of course. 'Mr.
Terrell' always makes me think my
    father's about