Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    The Maharani's Pearls: A Bess Crawford Story
    The Maharani's Pearls: A Bess Crawford Story
    The Maharani's Pearls: A Bess Crawford Story
    Ebook54 pages47 minutes

    The Maharani's Pearls: A Bess Crawford Story

    By Charles Todd

    3.5/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Living with her family in India, young Bess Crawford's curiosity about this exotic country sometimes leads her into trouble.

    One day she slips away from the cantonment to visit the famous seer in a nearby village. Before this woman can finish telling her fortune, Bess is summoned back for an afternoon tea with the Maharani, a close friend of her parents'. The seer's last words are a warning about forthcoming danger that Bess takes as the usual patter. But this visit by the Maharani has ominous overtones that mark it as more than a social call. Her husband has political enemies, and she has come to ask Bess's father, Major Crawford, for help.

    As the Maharani is leaving, Bess notices that there is something amiss with the royal entourage. Major Crawford must set out after them—but will he be in time?

    And what will happen to Bess, and the household left behind, when a vicious assassin circles back to take hostages?

    Here is an extraordinary glimpse into the childhood of the Bess Crawford we know from her service in the Great War.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateJul 1, 2014
    ISBN9780062369239
    The Maharani's Pearls: A Bess Crawford Story
    Author

    Charles Todd

    Charles Todd is the New York Times bestselling author of the Inspector Ian Rutledge mysteries, the Bess Crawford mysteries, and two stand-alone novels. A mother-and-son writing team, Caroline passed away in August 2021 and Charles lives in Florida.

    Read more from Charles Todd

    Related to The Maharani's Pearls

    Titles in the series (13)

    View More
    View More

    Related ebooks

    Mystery For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      The Show Boy

      Oct 9, 2019

      The Show Boy
      9 min read

    • Article

      I Finally Feel That I’m Free

      Jan 29, 2020

      I Finally Feel That I’m Free
      11 min read

    • Article

      Jilly Cooper “I Believe In Love”

      Nov 2, 2023

      Jilly Cooper “I Believe In Love”
      7 min read

    • Article

      Jilly Cooper

      Nov 2, 2023

      Jilly Cooper
      7 min read

    • Article

      Getaway Driver

      Feb 10, 2022

      Getaway Driver
      11 min read

    • Article

      A Love Story For The Ages

      Nov 4, 2020

      A Love Story For The Ages
      13 min read

    • Article

      Queen of Hearts

      May 19, 2022

      Queen of Hearts
      3 min read

    • Article

      Four’s A Crowd

      Sep 24, 2020

      Four’s A Crowd
      4 min read

    • Article

      ‘We Are Bridges’: Featured Nonfiction from Cassandra Lane

      Apr 20, 2021

      Lane's memoir, which won the 2020 Louise Meriwether First Book Prize, explores the author's ancestral history in order to give her future child a family history. The post ‘We Are Bridges’: Featured Nonfiction from Cassandra Lane appeared first on The

      8 min read

    • Article

      Every CLOUD

      Aug 31, 2022

      Every CLOUD
      6 min read

    • Article

      Camouflage

      Jun 1, 2020

      Camouflage
      9 min read

    • Article

      Shanda

      Jan 1, 2024

      Shanda
      13 min read

    • Article

      Death On The Limpopo

      Sep 16, 2019

      Death On The Limpopo
      5 min read

    • Article

      Apparent

      Mar 3, 2020

      When my son Henry was a year old I took him to Boston to meet my mother. She didn’t show up. It turned out that she had gone to Foxwoods Casino instead, which sounds bad and maybe was, but it had been three years since I’d seen her or even spoken to

      20 min read

    • Article

      Mrs. Robinson

      Dec 10, 2022

      “Do you think she will like me?” The question slipped from between my lips and hung suspended in the air. My gloved hands were in my lap, and I was wringing them. As the carriage conveyed us and we neared my new husband’s ancestral home, Ashby Hall,

      20 min read

    • Article

      Scenes From A Marriage

      Mar 23, 2022

      Scenes From A Marriage
      6 min read

    • Article

      Winning Letter

      Sep 30, 2022

      I’m a single mother who struggles financially to get through each month. When my washing machine broke I had no funds to repair it, so I asked my neighbours if I could do my washing at their place. On a Wednesday afternoon my bell rang. At the door w

      5 min read

    • Article

      Watching The World Go By

      Aug 3, 2021

      I think almost every house in Kansas had a porch swing. It was 1950 and no one had air conditioning, so we waited until the sun had gone down below the giant elm trees, and then people would wander out to their porches to sit in their porch swings an

      4 min read

    • Article

      Anita Rani

      Jul 25, 2022

      Anita Rani
      5 min read

    • Article

      The Art of Fiction No. 251

      Mar 15, 2022

      The Art of Fiction No. 251
      20 min read

    • Article

      Diamonds

      Jun 4, 2018

      Diamonds
      9 min read

    • Article

      Our Lady Of The Rockies

      Aug 7, 2023

      Our Lady Of The Rockies
      13 min read

    • Article

      Scenes From A Marriage

      Mar 23, 2022

      Scenes From A Marriage
      6 min read

    • Article

      Thirteen

      Jan 30, 2020

      Thirteen
      21 min read

    • Article

      ‘In the Country of Women’: Featured Nonfiction from Susan Straight

      Nov 19, 2019

      In our latest edition of featured nonfiction, we present an excerpt from National Book Award finalist Susan Straight’s new novel, In the Country of Women, out now from Catapult. The post ‘In the Country of Women’: Featured Nonfiction from Susan Strai

      8 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for The Maharani's Pearls

    3.5/5

    35 ratings3 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      This is a prequel to the Bess Crawford stories. Bess is a young girl with her parents in India and becomes involved in an attempted kidnapping. It is thwarted partly by her actions. Its an exciting short story and shows the rising rebellion within the British Raj. Good historical background reading too.
    • 4/5
      Early days for Bess, as she demonstrates the curiosity, courage and resolution that will serve her well later in life.
    • 4/5
      This little short story is an excellent addition to Charles Todd's Bess Crawford series. We get to see Bess as a curious, brave and smart little girl-- a ten-year-old miniature of the woman she will become-- and we can also appreciate the younger versions of her parents. Simon, once again, remains pretty well hidden in the shadows so I'm hoping that one day soon the spotlight will turn on him. There's one thing that may strain many readers' credulity: at a moment of extreme danger, soldiers believe everything that Bess tells them and then allow her to put herself in the line of fire. I have to admit that this did strain my own suspension of disbelief a bit, but I handled it. These soldiers under the command of her father are well acquainted with Bess and would know that she's a level-headed, intelligent child. I can see them paying attention to what she has to say. As for them letting her put herself in danger... I really don't think they could've stopped her short of hog-tying her and locking her in a windowless shed. All readers of the Bess Crawford series know that she's unstoppable when she's doing something she passionately believes is right.This short story is only available for digital download, and the length is given as 96 pages. Be warned. The story is only half that. The remainder is a preview of Charles Todd's upcoming book. I know these "digital shorts" aren't everyone's cup of tea-- especially if you don't have an eReader-- but I enjoy them. The ideas may not be long enough for a traditional novel, but they provide additional insight into characters that I've come to love.

    Book preview

    The Maharani's Pearls - Charles Todd

    Contents

    The Maharani’s Pearls

    An Excerpt from An Unwilling Accomplice

    About the Author

    Books by Charles Todd

    Copyright

    About the Publisher

    The Maharani’s Pearls

    British Army Garrison, Northern India, when Bess Crawford was ten

    "BESS, FOR GOD’S

    sake, what are you doing?"

    It was my father’s batman—­his Army servant—­standing in the tent opening. I was sitting cross-­legged on the dusty carpet, and the fortune-­teller had just finished spreading out her cards.

    Simon, please! I want to hear what she has to say.

    "And your mother will have my head if I don’t bring you back to tea now."

    "Pretend you haven’t found me—­keep looking for another few minutes. Please? I begged. I know I must change before the Maharani arrives. It would never do to appear for tea looking as if I’d just come from the bazaar. But there’s still plenty of time."

    "You will have just come from the bazaar. She arrived early. And you’ll have fleas before you leave, if not worse." He pointed to the dog lying behind the fortune-­teller, busy scratching its shoulder.

    If the Maharani had just arrived, it would be at least another half hour before tea was brought in.

    Simon—­

    I’ll be cashiered, Bess.

    Shhhh. It will only take another moment or two, I begged, then I turned back to the fortune-­teller and said in Hindi, Continue. But hurry, please.

    She bent over the cards, frowning. You will be in danger on the water, she said in that singsong voice that gave the impression she was in a trance. But she wasn’t. It was part of the show one pays for when one has one’s fortune told. And I see a great conflict, not now, but to come.

    So far her guesses were on the mark. I was English, and there was always danger on the water as we took ship to and from home. As for a great conflict, my father was a British Army officer. War was his business, great or small.

    Simon, still in the doorway, said again, in a voice that brooked no argument. Elizabeth.

    I said to the fortune-­teller, Quickly! Who will I marry? And will I be happy?

    But her face had changed as she studied the tattered cards spread across the space between us.

    The life of someone you care for is in grave danger. My child, you must go now. Before it is too late.

    Simon’s life, for not bringing me posthaste to tea? She must have understood what he’d been saying to me. It wasn’t among his duties to play nanny to my father’s daughter, but occasionally it was necessary for someone to look for me when I strayed to the horse lines, the bazaar, the temples, and all the other far more exciting places than our quiet garden, and lost track of the time. It certainly wasn’t going to be my governess. Miss Stewart would have the vapors if she saw me now.

    She didn’t care for India very much. I suspected she’d come out to find a husband, and had taken a position as governess when she failed to meet a young man to her liking. She wouldn’t be the first young Englishwoman to do so. When we left for England on my father’s next leave, she would very likely go with us, and remain in London rather than travel back with us.

    I thanked the fortune-­teller, disappointed. I hadn’t expected truth and wisdom, but I’d hoped for something I could write about to friends who had been sent back to school in England. Half our native staff went to fortune-­tellers and believed in them. I had it on the authority of my

    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1