Free Star of the East: A Lady Emily Christmas Story by TASHA ALEXANDER Page A

individuals,” I said. “It is a list of colleges at Oxford that admit women.”
    “Yes, that is what I have listed, but I have many friends who are interested in women’s education,” Ned said. “If I recall, I wrote this when a group of us were trying to remember which colleges—”
    “Ned, there is no need for further comment,” I said.
    “There is no need for any of this,” Sunita said. “I am so wounded that you, Emily, would attack me like this, when I thought you were my friend. None of this points to me.”
    “I went into your room as well, Sunita.” I glowered at my mother, who was giving me a look that would have rendered Medusa’s own glare useless. “We will discuss it later, Mother. Included in Sunita’s correspondence was a letter addressed to Miss Dorothea Beale. Miss Beale, I have confirmed after speaking with her on the telephone this morning, is not only the principal at the Cheltenham Ladies’ College, she is the founder of St. Hilda’s Hall at Oxford. She told me you have been in touch with her.”
    “I do not understand any of this,” the maharaja said. “You have been telling us, Sunita, over and over that you would accept any groom we choose, and all the time you have been secretly plotting to find your way to Oxford?”
    Sunita did not reply.
    “Speak to me,” the maharaja said, but his daughter remained silent. “So you are a liar. My daughter is a liar.”
    “She was telling half-truths, your highness,” I said. “She does want to be married, but not to whatever random groom you choose.” Ned shot to his feet again. I was beginning to grow dizzy watching him go up and down. “There is no need to defend yourself, Mr. Drayton.”
    Now Sunita spoke. “It was never his idea. He was so kind last summer when he came to India with Ranjit, and so handsome. He and my brother told me so many stories about the university, and I burned to go there and attend all the lectures they missed. Ned—Mr. Drayton—agreed to help me, and since he left the Punjab, we have been writing to each other nearly everyday.”
    “My intentions, sir, have been nothing but honorable,” Ned said, standing directly in front of the maharaja and pulling himself up to his full height. “I know I cannot offer your daughter wealth, but I do hope that love and, perhaps, Oxford, might prove an adequate substitute.”
    “Now is not the time to discuss this, Mr. Drayton,” the maharaja said. “Did you steal the jewels?”
    “He did not, Father,” Sunita said. “I gave them to him. He was to sell them in order to pay for my studies and our elopement. I thought that my repeated demands to be married would, as they did, convince you that I was not yet ready to be a wife. I knew I could never be happy with anyone but Ned, and I also knew that I was coming to the age when you were likely to begin discussing prospective grooms.”
    “Your deceit is most disappointing,” the maharaja said. “Why did you not come to me and tell me what you wanted?”
    “Would you have agreed to send me to Oxford?” Defiance had crept into Sunita’s voice.
    “No,” the maharini said. “We would not have done.”
    “I am still confused as to why the Star of the East turned up in Emily’s room,” Sebastian said.
    “Once Colin started searching beyond the servants’ rooms, we panicked,” Sunita said. “Ned, of course, had not yet had an opportunity to sell the jewels, and now he was in danger of being caught with them. He decided to put it in Emily’s case.”
    “I could not risk being seen going into Sunita’s room, and yours is very near mine,” Ned said. “Furthermore, I hoped that Sunita might be able to retrieve the set so that we still could sell it as planned.”
    “But you didn’t return the bangle.” Colin, who had been watching quietly, pushed away from the wall against which he leaned and approached Ned. “Why not?”
    “Am I to believe, Hargreaves, that this man still has the bangle?” the