The Sapphire Child (The Raj Hotel #2) - Janet MacLeod Trotter Page 0,133

protector.’

Andrew shook his head, sad and confused. ‘This all sounds too fantastical – and nothing like Mother described.’

‘Ask Malik,’ Bannerman challenged. ‘He went with Esmie and was there at your mother’s rescue. Esmie put her life in danger for Lydia – went knowing that there was a strong possibility that she would never return – and for a time she was held captive too. I’m sorry to hear your mother no longer acknowledges the great debt she owed Esmie for saving her life. If Esmie hadn’t gone, she would have been able to nurse Harold when he fell ill. He died while she was away.’

Andrew said in agitation, ‘Where was my father in all this?’

‘We summoned him from Pindi as soon as my car was found abandoned on the Razmak road. He insisted on going on the rescue mission too.’

‘So, what happened when they all returned safely?’

‘Your mother offered to look after Esmie but she wanted to be left to grieve on her own,’ he replied. ‘Your parents took you back to Pindi and then to Scotland. Lydia was keen for Esmie to go with them but she chose to stay on in Taha at the mission for a while. I think she felt closer to Harold here.’

Andrew was at a loss as to what to think. ‘Are you saying that my mother and Esmie were still friends at that point?’

Bannerman nodded. ‘If there’s one thing I know about Esmie, it’s that she would never have deliberately come between your parents. She was too fond of both of them. And she loved Harold. If he hadn’t died, I have no doubt that she would still have been here with him working at the mission hospital. It’s what she came to India to do.’

Andrew felt a sudden surge of conflicting emotions: confusion at his mother’s behaviour, guilt at believing the worst of Esmie and anger at being kept in the dark about the full story. But could he really trust this old man’s memory? Perhaps, over the years, the padre had embellished Esmie’s part in the rescue attempt and grown more critical of his mother’s actions.

Andrew swallowed. ‘Do you know what happened between my parents after that – when they went to Scotland?’

Bannerman sighed. ‘No. Only that your mother never returned to India. That’s something you’ll have to ask them about.’

Then Andrew recalled the wounding words that Stella had once hurled at him just before she was sent away from Ebbsmouth, about his mother packing him off back to India as a baby with his ayah. He hadn’t believed it for a moment and had deliberately tried to forget her words, but now they seemed to have a sudden power.

Bannerman got stiffly to his feet and put a gnarled hand on Andrew’s head.

‘Dear boy, I can see this has all been a bit of a shock. I’m sorry. I’m supposed to be helping you get better, not burdening you with past tales of woe. But I didn’t want you thinking badly of your stepmother. Esmie is one of the most compassionate people I’ve met – and she’s loved you deeply, right from when you were a baby staying in her house at Taha.’ He gave a sad smile. ‘In those first days after Harold died, your parents lodged with me here, but you stayed on with Esmie. Your mother said it was because a crusty old bachelor like me wouldn’t want a crying infant in the house, but we all knew that it was really because you brought such comfort to Esmie’s broken heart.’

Andrew’s insides twisted. For an instant he remembered what it was like to love his Meemee deeply.

‘I’ll see you at breakfast,’ said Bannerman, moving past him.

Suddenly Andrew asked, ‘Which house was the Guthries’?’

‘Number Ten, The Lines. Just five houses down the street and around the corner from here.’

Andrew nodded. ‘Goodnight, Padre.’

‘Goodnight, Andrew. Sleep well.’

Andrew spent most of the following day in bed. He felt listless and his headache had returned. He lay in the dark of the shuttered room trying to rid his mind of conflicting thoughts about his parents and their short-lived marriage. Had his mother really had an affair with Dickie? Was Mamma, in fact, rushing off to be with Dickie when she was kidnapped? Why had Esmie not done more to keep an eye on her friend?

Then Andrew reminded himself that Esmie would most probably have been nursing at the mission and that was why his mother had spent so much time round at the