How strange were the twists of fate where spur-of-the-moment decisions could lead to momentous consequences. Over the years, it was Stella’s chatty, loving letters that had kept alive his connection to India. Now here he was, finally about to step back onto Indian soil – and somewhere on this vast subcontinent she was still here.
Then he chided himself for thinking more of her than of Felicity. He would write to his fiancée once he got to their headquarters in New Delhi.
As dawn broke, business on the dockside stirred. Andrew watched as coolies did their ablutions and heated up pans of chai. Acrid cooking smells filled the air and porters weaved among the squatting tea-drinkers with large bundles balanced on their heads. He’d forgotten the mark of the porter in India: a red cloth wound around his crown to give some modest protection from his burden.
Andrew caught a whiff of aromatic smoke: bidis. He remembered being in the compound at The Raj Hotel trying one of Sunil’s small brown cheroots; it had ended in him having a coughing fit. Charlie Dubois had roared with laughter and promised not to tell Andrew’s parents. His eyes smarted to think he would never see Charlie again.
Below, someone went by singing a high-pitched melodious song in Urdu. The sky over the city was rose pink and the outline of palm trees and ethereal pillared buildings began to emerge. Over the cries of stevedores, he could hear the chatter of exotic birds. He felt a sudden unexpected surge of excitement – India was welcoming him back.
Chapter 38
The Raj-in-the-Hills, early February 1942
For the past few weeks, Stella and the Lomaxes had been marooned in the mountains. The snow in January had been so thick that for several days they had not even attempted to dig their way out. When Tom and Bijal eventually set out, the drifts of snow were chest-high in places.
Only Bijal and Karo had stayed on after December, both hardy Pathans used to the hardships of mountain winters and both discreet, neither passing comment on Stella’s pregnant state.
The news that they had gleaned from the temperamental radio was deeply worrying. Hong Kong had fallen to the Japanese in late December and by January they had overrun Borneo and most of Malaya. Now Singapore was under siege, with bombing raids being carried out in broad daylight. A few weeks ago, the idea of this British-held territory being surrendered to Japan had been unthinkable; now it seemed only a matter of time.
Stella had no idea if Hugh was still there or whether he had managed to escape. She had never replied to his explosive letter and didn’t know if he’d written again – no mail had been delivered since the end of December.
She had been cocooned in this icy, white world, content to hibernate from the dangers beyond it. She knew that her time was running out and she would have to face the world soon. Her thoughts about Hugh still see-sawed from day to day. One moment she clung to the hope that he would make good his promise to marry her and give their baby a name; the next she was filled with anger that he was a married man who had deceived her and left her pregnant.
Esmie was right when she’d said that Hugh might never divorce his wife – and even if he eventually did, it didn’t help her in the here and now. Did she have the courage to brazen out her situation as an unmarried mother in the hopes that he might one day stand by her and their child?
Yet it distressed her to think Hugh might still be in Singapore and in danger. No matter what he had done, he was the father of the child she was carrying and she still cared for his safety. The thought of him being taken prisoner – or worse – seized her with panic.
Only a month away from giving birth, her belly and breasts were large, though the rest of her body was trim. Esmie had made sure that she kept healthy with indoor exercises, simple food and plenty of rest.
The Lomaxes had been like doting parents, cossetting her and keeping her occupied. With Tom she had learnt to draw flowers and found that she could be absorbed for hours – time in which she stopped dwelling on her situation. With Esmie and Karo, she sat on the floor propped up by cushions and stitched patterns of birds and flowers onto a