The Sapphire Child (The Raj Hotel #2) - Janet MacLeod Trotter Page 0,50
his cycle. He’d left it too late. All night he’d tossed and turned, wondering whether he should go and see Stella off at the station. It would be a chance to say sorry for arguing with her and for petulantly rejecting her gift. He felt terrible about that now. Was he right to have chosen to stay? How would he cope here without her? Stella was his last link to India and home. Andrew felt overwhelmingly alone.
Was that Stella leaning out of the carriage window? He was sure it had been. Had she seen him waving at her? He hoped so. Sadness pressed on his chest. When would he see her again? If only he’d been able to say goodbye properly – tell her how much she meant to him . . . She was the one person in the world he could tell anything to and not feel foolish.
Andrew climbed back on his bicycle and turned towards Templeton Hall. Then, on a whim, he changed direction and began cycling towards The Anchorage. He would go and see his Auntie Tibby – she would be sad at Stella’s going too – and he’d retrieve the book ends that Stella had made for him. The thought gave him a small amount of comfort.
Chapter 18
Bombay, India, early September 1933
Stella fought her way through the chaos of the customs hall, already drenched in sweat from the sticky heat. But she was fortified by the note that had been delivered on board when they’d docked the night before. Esmie would be coming to meet her!
She searched the crowds of topee-wearing British as she queued to have her luggage processed and sent on to the mail train that they would be catching that evening. They found each other at the entrance. The sight of Esmie looking slim and composed in a yellow summer frock made Stella dissolve into tears of relief.
They hugged tightly. Stella tried to speak. ‘I’m s-so s-sorry . . . for not b-bringing Andrew h-home . . .’
Esmie rubbed her back. ‘None of this is your fault, Stella. Come on, let’s go and have coffee somewhere quieter.’
Esmie steered her into a taxi and instructed the driver to take them to a mission house in the city.
‘I stayed there last night. It’s a bit staid but they do passable coffee and cake – and they’ll let us freshen up before we get the train.’
Stella sat back and took in the sight of the magnificent stone archway, the Gateway of India, as they left the teeming dockside and threaded their way through the busy tree-lined streets of the city. Joy surged inside her at the familiar sights of India: women in colourful saris, cows holding up traffic, coolies pushing cartloads piled high with goods and dazzling white buildings offering glimpses of cool interiors. How she had missed it all!
Soon they were turning into a narrower street and drawing up outside a modest three-storey building next to a church. Esmie led her into a tiny deserted courtyard and ordered refreshments. They sat in the shade of a jacaranda that made Stella think tearfully of home and her parents.
Esmie kept the conversation light. ‘Your family are well and looking forward to seeing you,’ she said. ‘The baroness will be returning soon from Srinagar – I saw her on my way down from Gulmarg – and she’s in good health too. Ada has been a great help over the summer and I think Felix is rather taken with her. Your cousin Lucy has managed fairly well with Mrs Shankley, though she’s not as patient with her as you are.’ Esmie smiled. ‘But Lucy is now devoted to Frisky so you might have a hard job winning your dog back.’
When the coffee and Madeira cake had been served and the waiters had withdrawn, Esmie said quietly, ‘Tell me what happened in Ebbsmouth, Stella. We don’t blame you for anything – we just want reassuring that it’s really Andrew’s choice to live there.’
Stella poured out her story about the rift with Lydia and the drunken revelations that Lydia had made in front of Andrew that had caused him to take refuge in Durham with his friend Noel and opt to go to school there. She told her about Lydia banishing her to The Anchorage and her failure to get Andrew to see things from his father’s point of view.
Esmie sat very still, listening to her unburdening herself about the final argument with Andrew.