Cover

Title Page

Cover image: Stately Home and Garden © Cathryn Gallacher, courtesy istockphoto.com

Cover design copyright © 2017 by Covenant Communications, Inc.

Published by Covenant Communications, Inc.

American Fork, Utah

Copyright © 2017 by Anita Stansfield

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any format or in any medium without the written permission of the publisher, Covenant Communications, Inc., P.O. Box 416, American Fork, UT 84003. This work is not an official publication of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The views expressed within this work are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect
the position of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Covenant Communications, Inc., or any other entity.

This is a work of fiction. The characters, names, incidents, places, and dialogue are either products of the author’s imagination, and are not to be construed as real, or are used fictitiously.

ISBN 978-1-52440-227-3

Chapter One

EQUALLY INDIAN

Wiltshire, England—1867

Amala sat on a particularly uncomfortable chair at the edge of the crowded and stuffy ballroom. While trying to keep her back straight—as a lady was expected to do—she fanned her face with the hand-painted lace fan that had been a Christmas gift from her father. He wasn’t really her father, and everyone knew it. In fact, no one outside of the family ever referred to him as her father. But that was how she thought of him and felt about him, and the fan was something she treasured. In that moment she also appreciated the way it offered just enough movement of air in front of her face to keep her from feeling faint. The music was too loud, the room was too hot, and her corset was too tight. Her back ached nearly as much as her feet, and she longed to be at home in her own room, wearing a nightgown and getting lost in a good novel. But a glance at the clock told her it could be hours before that happened, and then she’d surely be too exhausted to read. She wished she hadn’t been required to be here at all, but that was part of the price she paid for being given the gift of such a privileged life—especially when she knew that what her fate could have been otherwise was too unbearable to even think about.