Page 102 of The Duke's Indecent Match
“I am going to see Mother.Do you want to come?”
She was only a little disappointed, considering what she wanted to talk to her mother about, when her brother shook his head and stepped away.
“I am in the middle of my studies for the day.Father wants me to go to Oxford next year, and I need to make sure I can pass the exam.I just heard you come in and wanted to make sure I did not miss you.”He gave her a doleful look.“This is the first time you’ve come by.”
“Well, you can always come visit me.And meet your sisters.I think you’re going to adore Fiona and her fox.”
Ashwin’s eyes rounded.
“Her fox?”
Kalina could not help but laugh.
“We will have you all over for supper soon,” she promised.“A family event.”As soon as she was certain that her husband’s temper would manage an entire evening with her father.Perhaps she was being overly optimistic in saying soon, but that was what she hoped for.
At the very least, she would find a time when she could introduce Ashwin to her new family.She did not think Nathanial would blame her brother for anything that had happened.
“I look forward to it.”He wrinkled his nose, but she could see the curiosity gleaming in his eyes.He might be torn about the idea of meeting more people, wondering whether or not they would accept him, but the mention of a fox definitely interested him.
Giving her brother one last hug, feeling buoyed by the encounter, Kalina continued on to the kitchens.A familiar but surprising scent filled her nose as she got closer, and her eyes widened.She had not smelled that since India—and even then, they had never had that scent in their own home.It had always been in others.
Quickening her pace, she came to the kitchen and found her mother there with Chef Julliard and one of the kitchen maids, directing them on adding the next ingredients to the curry.The spicy scent brought sudden tears to Kalina’s eyes and an unexpected wave of nostalgia for India.
All of them turned and looked up as Kalina came in, and the chef and maid immediately dropped into a bow and a curtsy.
A wide smile brightened Mama’s face, and she opened her arms, coming around the counter with them spread wide.
“Kalina!”
“Mama.”
They hugged, and Kalina clung for a long moment, breathing in the scent of her mother’s rose perfume combined with the simmering curry.Over her mother’s shoulder, she could see the chef and maid smile and exchange glances before turning back to their task.
“What are you doing here?”Her mother pulled away enough to look her in the face.“Were we expecting you?”
“No.I just… I wanted to see you.”
“Of course.You’re always welcome here.Come, come, let’s go sit down.Chef and Mandy have this well in hand.”Her mother gently shooed her out of the kitchen and along the hall toward the back parlor.
“You have them making curry.”
Her mother hesitated a moment before answering.“I do.”
“Why?We never ate curry in India.”They entered the back parlor, and Kalina went to her favorite chair, sitting down and frowning at her mother.It was not that she disapproved; she just did not understand.
“Because I knew we were always coming here,” her mother said, sitting down in the chair she always took, opposite Kalina.“I wanted to ensure that you and Ashwin had a palate for English food.”She sighed, looking down at her hands.“And I suppose I was doing my best to reject my family the way they had rejected me after I married your father.”
“Why?”Kalina asked.She’d always been curious, and for the first time, it seemed that perhaps her mother was willing to open up and talk about it.When Kalina had been younger, the topic had not been explicitly forbidden, but she’d never felt that she could ask.“Father has been doing his best to work his way back into his family’s good graces… why not you?”
“Oh, I tried.At first.”Mama sighed, a heavy, heartfelt sigh.“They were so angry at me for not following through with the marriage they’d arranged for me.My parents could not handle what they calledmyrejection of them.They did not see it as me claiming my own life; they did not care that I had fallen in love.I had rejected the match they’d made for me, so they rejected me.Very much the same way your father’s family rejected him, but they were far away, and my family was close.I tried, over and over again, but after you were born and my mother would not even look at you, I decided I was done.”
She lifted her gaze now to look at Kalina, sadness and warmth in her eyes.
“I could handle their rejection of me and work to try to change it.I would not let them reject and hurt my children.I stopped reaching out.I decided if they were to reach out to me, I would not reject them… but they did not.”
Kalina’s heart went out to her mother.She had not known all of these details.Her mother had never talked about it before, and she’d assumed it was too painful.Now she could see the anger that simmered there as well before her mother banked it again.
“But why did we never eat curry at home?”Kalina had had it, usually when they’d been invited over to someone’s house for supper.The instances had been rare, but she’d loved both the taste and the smell.It was never served in their house.
