The Sapphire Child (The Raj Hotel #2) - Janet MacLeod Trotter Page 0,141

he quipped back.

They mounted the steps to the veranda.

‘The bench is damp,’ said Stella.

‘Allow me,’ said Andrew, pulling out a blanket from a duffel bag he’d been carrying. He spread it on the bench.

Stella raised her eyebrows in surprise. ‘Very organised.’

‘Always be prepared – that’s what the army teaches us.’

They both sat down. Andrew pulled out his cigarettes and offered her one.

‘No thanks, I still don’t smoke. Though all the girls at the office seem to have taken it up.’

She watched him light up and saw his hands tremble. Was he as nervous as she was or was he just cold? He inhaled deeply and blew out smoke.

‘So, where do we start?’ he asked, eyeing her.

She wondered if he realised just how good-looking he was. His blue eyes were startling in his lean suntanned face. His dark hair was cut severely short around the sides and yet it still grew in unruly tufts on top that only hair oil would be able to control.

‘Tell me about Scotland,’ she said, feeling disconcerted suddenly by her attraction towards him. ‘What news of Tibby – and your mother and grandmother?’

‘The post is slow – as you probably know – but it sounds like they’re all bearing up.’

‘Your father said you were worried about your grandmamma losing her memory.’

Andrew nodded. ‘I think my mother finds it very trying. Her life is taken up with looking after her.’

‘That must be exhausting for both of them. Old Mrs Templeton was so sweet to me.’

‘I feel guilty not being at home to help,’ Andrew confided. ‘But goodness knows when this war will end. My greatest fear is that by the time I do get back to Scotland, she might not be . . .’

Stella quickly squeezed his arm. ‘You mustn’t think like that. Mrs Templeton is physically fit, isn’t she?’

‘Yes, I suppose so.’

‘You must miss Scotland,’ said Stella.

‘I do.’ He drew hard on his cigarette.

‘And your fiancée, of course. Tell me about her?’

Andrew looked away, his colour deepening. ‘Felicity is a great girl. She speaks her mind and does what she wants. She’s pretty and makes me laugh.’

‘It must be so hard being separated from her,’ said Stella, feeling a pang of sympathy.

‘Yes.’ He nodded. ‘I haven’t seen her for a year now.’

He carried on smoking. They both sat in silence as the light inched through the trees beyond the boundary and stole across the grass.

‘I’m very sorry that Hugh treated you so badly,’ Andrew said quietly. ‘Dad told me what happened. I feel awful for ever having put you in touch with him again. If only I hadn’t bumped into him in Edinburgh . . .’

Stella brushed his hand with hers.

‘It’s not your fault. I was foolish about Hugh. I wanted to believe in this big romantic idea that he was the only one for me – I was so wrapped up in the thought of being in love that I never really stopped to question what sort of man he was.’ She sighed. ‘There were signs if I’d been looking for them. He only turned up when it suited him and hardly ever wrote – he’d just appear and expect me to drop everything. And then on his final leave before going to Singapore – I thought he was being romantic and wanted to spend every last minute with me, but all he really wanted was—’ She broke off, blushing, and turned away from his pitying look.

Andrew extinguished his cigarette and took her hand. His touch was warm and comforting around her cold fingers.

‘He was a fool,’ Andrew said firmly. ‘Don’t blame yourself for falling for his lies. If my father’s hunch is right, you’re not the only one Hugh Keating has tricked into believing he’s someone he’s not.’

Stella gave him a teary smile. ‘Oh, Andrew, you’ve always managed to make me feel better about myself. I can see you’re still just as kind. Your Felicity is a lucky woman.’

Andrew sat back, looking slightly embarrassed by her praise of him. After a moment he said, ‘That card you sent me – what did you mean about wanting to explain about Dad and Esmie and my half-sister?’

Stella tensed at his sudden mention of Belle. She now regretted sending the message. She suddenly realised it would be wrong of her to tell him the secret she shared with the Lomaxes without their agreement. If the arrangement was to work then the fewer people who knew the truth about the baby’s origins, the better. But should she tell