she had asked to stay on, Tom’s mood had improved. He started painting again and on days when he wasn’t, he suggested that he and Esmie went for walks with Stella riding beside them on a pony. They never went far, but Stella relished the sharp air and the sight of glistening white mountains under a deep blue sky. On such days, she was optimistic. Hugh was her fiancé and one day soon they would be together – it’s what they had planned.
Shortly afterwards, on a day of snow flurries, when Stella was sewing a patchwork blanket with Karo, she heard Esmie call out, ‘We’ve got post!’
Stella leapt to her feet and pulled on a thick coat that Esmie had lent her. She felt the baby punch with a tiny fist or foot. The women went out together to meet the chaprassy. He handed over an airmail letter and then went to claim a hot drink from the kitchen.
‘It’s from Tibby,’ said Esmie with a pitying look. ‘Sorry, Stella.’
Stella could not hide her disappointment. She’d been so certain that Hugh had finally written to her. Feeling overwhelmed with sadness and disappointment, she returned inside. Perhaps Hugh would just turn up without warning like he had in Rawalpindi. Had she made a mistake hiding out in the hills instead of going back to the city? He was more likely to be able to snatch a visit to The Raj Hotel than up here. But as far as she knew he wasn’t even in India, so the chances of him coming to the Punjab, let alone Kashmir, were slim.
Minutes later, Tom was bursting through the door waving the airmail letter, Esmie at his heels.
‘He’s coming home!’ Tom cried, pumping the air with his fist.
‘Who is?’ Stella looked up in confusion.
‘Andy!’ Tom’s lined face was creased in a broad grin. ‘Tibby says he’s been sent east to join the Second Battalion, the Borderers. They’re stationed at Taha in the North West Frontier.’
Stella gasped. ‘That’s wonderful news!’
‘Isn’t it?’ said Esmie, clutching onto Tom in delight.
‘No doubt they’re beefing up the numbers against the rebelling Waziris before another spring offensive,’ said Tom. ‘According to Tibby, Andy didn’t want to tell us until he got to India in case we worried about the dangers at sea. But she thought we’d be cheered by the news and should know.’
‘When will he get here?’ Stella asked.
‘Tibby doesn’t say,’ said Esmie. ‘And he might well be sent to the Borderers’ headquarters in New Delhi first, so we mustn’t be too impatient.’
‘And that’s not his only news,’ said Tom, waving the letter. ‘My boy has got himself engaged!’
Stella’s hand instinctively went up to her mouth in surprise. ‘Andrew’s getting married?’
‘Well, in time,’ said Esmie. ‘Tibby said it was a spur-of-the-moment thing before he left.’
‘Who to?’ asked Stella, still not quite able to believe it.
‘To that Felicity Douglas that Tibby wrote about,’ said Esmie. ‘Rich local family.’
‘That’ll please his mother,’ Tom said with a note of derision.
Stella recognised the name; she was the girl who had been with Andrew when he’d met Hugh in Edinburgh – the girl who’d suspected Hugh had been with someone else’s wife. She tried to stifle her disquiet. How ironic it was that both she and Andrew should undertake hasty engagements within months of each other. She was certain that he wouldn’t have left his fiancée alone and pregnant. The Andrew she knew was kind and honourable. Felicity Douglas was a lucky young woman.
Suddenly Tom let out a strange sound; part groan, part sob. Esmie quickly put her arms around him.
‘I know, I know, it’s a shock,’ she said softly. ‘But a happy one.’
Tom nodded, his eyes brimming with tears. ‘Our boy is coming home,’ he repeated in a voice raw with emotion.
The electrifying news of Andrew’s imminent return was swiftly followed by alarm at the shocking turn of events in the war. A belligerent Japan had made a surprise attack on the American naval base of Pearl Harbour in Hawaii, badly damaging the US fleet and killing thousands. Within days, Japan declared war on America – and Britain declared war on Japan – as Japanese forces landed in the Philippines and Malaya.
‘Malaya?’ Stella’s head reeled. ‘But Hugh . . . ?’
‘We don’t know if that’s where he is,’ Tom said bluntly. ‘He could still be in Burma – or back in Singapore.’
‘I need to know he’s safe,’ Stella cried. ‘I can’t bear this not knowing!’
But daily the news grew more alarming.
Tom stopped Stella listening to