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exhausted you? Would you prefer to postpone this discussion until you are rested?’
    â€˜No.’ She smiled reassuringly, for the Prince looked genuinely concerned. ‘No and no.’ Constance sat up, wrapping her arms around her knees as butterflies started up in her stomach again. ‘Please continue.’
    â€˜Very well,’ he said brusquely. ‘First of all, I should inform you most regretfully that there were fatalities. Twenty-seven—twenty-six, now that we know you are not one of them, a small percentage from a ship’s complement of six hundred. The captain managed to steer close enough to our waters for our fishing dhows to rescue the vast majority of people on board, and to recover the bodies of all those unfortunate souls who perished. You are the only one who seems to have been swept so far from our main port. The piece of broken mast you were found clinging to in all likelihood saved your life.’
    â€˜Is Captain Cobb among the survivors?’
    â€˜Yes, it is from him that we gained some basic knowledge of you. Your name, your place of embarkation, your destination, and your companion for the journey. I am afraid, Lady Constance, that she was one of the souls who perished. Please accept my condolences for your loss.’
    â€˜Oh, dear. Excuse me.’ Constance dabbed at her eyes with the sleeve of her tunic. ‘Mrs Peacock was returning to India to rejoin her husband after an extended visit with her family in England. Poor woman.’
    â€˜We had assumed she was a relative.’
    â€˜No, I met her only the day before we boarded, but I am truly sorry to hear that she has perished. My father paid her to play companion to me. We shared a cabin. It would not have been proper for me to have travelled alone.’
    â€˜Your father is in England, then, and not in Bombay?’
    â€˜Both my parents are in England. Why do you ask?’
    Prince Kadar looked grave. ‘A full report of the fate of the Kent, its cargo, its passengers and crew, and the numerous steps my kingdom has taken to provide assistance, has already been sent to your Consul General in Cairo. I am not sure how long it will be before that report arrives in England, but I fear it will be before we can have an addendum sent.’
    â€˜Addendum?’
    â€˜Lady Constance, in my report you are listed as missing, presumed dead. Yours was the only body from the ship’s complement unaccounted for. As time passed it became ever more certain that you had perished, unfortunately.’
    Constance stared at him in dismay. ‘You mean my mother will be informed that I have drowned?’
    â€˜I am afraid so. And so too will whoever was to receive you in Bombay when Captain Cobb arrives to break the news.’
    â€˜Captain Cobb? Arriving in Bombay? But...’ Her head was beginning to reel. ‘I’m sorry, I don’t understand.’
    â€˜We were most fortuitously able to provide the captain with a replacement ship. He was most anxious to reach his destination, and since all hope of finding you alive had been abandoned, there was no reason for them to delay their journey further. They set sail almost a week ago.’
    â€˜A week! A whole week! Then there is no chance of my joining them?’
    â€˜No chance whatsoever,’ the Prince replied with an air of finality. ‘May I ask, Lady Constance, why you were aboard the Kent ? These East India ships have a very high attrition rate. Your parents must have been aware of the risks when they made arrangements for you to sail east.’
    â€˜They were assured that I was in safe hands, since Captain Cobb enjoys an excellent reputation as one of the finest captains in the entire fleet and—and it seems it was deserved, for to only lose twenty-six lives from six hundred, when it could have been so much worse, is admirable seamanship.’
    â€˜Assured by whom?’
    â€˜The man who arranged my journey, who as a major