The Sapphire Child (The Raj Hotel #2) - Janet MacLeod Trotter Page 0,106

blanket for the baby.

By the middle of February, when a slight thaw began, Tom made plans to go into Srinagar.

‘I can’t bear this waiting,’ he said. ‘I need to find out what’s happening and where Andrew is.’

Tom was the epitome of a loving father. No matter that Andrew was now grown up, Tom still worried about him and loved him with the same fierce intensity that he had when he was a boy.

The night before Tom set off to trek into town, Stella lay sleepless and uncomfortable, her hands resting on her large belly. She’d had sharp twinges on a couple of occasions that Esmie had reassured her were normal in the late stages of pregnancy.

With Esmie – an experienced nurse – and Karo there to help her through the birth, Stella didn’t fear it. But thinking of her life once the baby was born kept her troubled and awake. Slowly in her mind a plan began to form.

She hardly slept more than an hour or two. When she heard the Lomaxes stirring, she got up, wrapped a blanket round her and went to join them.

‘You didn’t have to get up to see Tom off,’ Esmie said with a fond smile.

‘No,’ Tom agreed. ‘Go back to bed and keep warm.’

Stella stood facing them, her heart pounding. She screwed up courage to say what she’d decided in the night.

‘I want to ask you something,’ she began. ‘A very great favour.’

‘Of course,’ said Tom. ‘What is it?’

‘I’ve finally come to accept that Hugh is not the man for me or my baby. I don’t think he will stick by me – but even if he intends to, I can’t be sure he won’t reject our child or come to resent us both.’

‘I’m glad you’re not going to be taken in by that man’s empty promises,’ Tom said. ‘I’ve been worried that—’

‘Tom,’ Esmie interrupted, ‘let Stella speak.’

Stella swallowed. ‘Mr Lomax, you and Esmie are the kindest and most compassionate couple I know. I’m asking, for the sake of my baby, whether you could . . . whether you would agree to be parents . . . to him or her?’

They looked at her open-mouthed in astonishment and confusion.

‘What do you mean?’ asked Tom.

‘Stella, are you saying you want to give up your child?’ Esmie gasped.

Stella began to shake with emotion. ‘I don’t want to,’ she said unhappily, ‘but to keep it would be selfish. I can’t give the baby a home – not one where it’ll be treated normally. We’ll both be outcasts. I don’t want my child to be taken from me and given to strangers or end up in an orphanage where it might not be loved in the way it deserves.’ Her eyes flooded with tears. ‘But if you take my baby, I know that you will be the best parents he or she could have. I’ve seen the way you’ve loved Andrew and the way you’ve taken care of me these past months, not bothered about the shame I’ve brought you.’

Esmie was pressing her hand to her mouth to stop a sob.

‘I can’t make you do this,’ Stella said, ‘but the only way I can face giving him or her up is if I know you will be looking after it.’

Esmie rushed over to Stella. ‘Sit down, lassie. You’re shaking like a leaf. This is all such a shock. Are you sure you’ve thought it through?’

Stella nodded.

Esmie looked at her husband. ‘Tom? Say something.’

Tom cleared his throat, struggling to speak. A single tear ran down his lean cheek. ‘Yes,’ he said hoarsely. ‘I’d be a father to the baby – if you agree as well.’

Esmie smiled through her tears and nodded. ‘Yes, Stella, we will. But would it not be better to wait and decide after the birth?’

‘No,’ said Stella, not wanting to weaken her resolve. ‘I want my mother to be told that it’s you who’s expecting – and that I’ve stayed to help. I’ve thought about it so much and I think that this way is best for all of us. If Karo and Bijal don’t say anything, then who is to know that it’s not yours?’

Esmie encircled her with her arms and kissed her head tenderly. ‘My poor, sweet Stella. What a brave lassie you are.’

Stella felt her tears come. She looked over to see Tom openly weeping.

A few days later, Tom returned full of joy about Andrew.

‘I wired the Borderers’ HQ in New Delhi. Andrew’s there. He arrived last month.’

‘Oh, darling!’ cried Esmie. ‘That is