The Sapphire Child (The Raj Hotel #2) - Janet MacLeod Trotter Page 0,59

seems very determined,’ Stella had said. She couldn’t help being impressed by Andrew’s passionate conviction that he was doing the right thing.

Esmie had confided, ‘It’s not so much Andy’s determination to join the army as the mention of Dickie Mason.’

‘Why, who is he?’

Esmie had given her a harrowed look. ‘He’s the young officer that Lydia had an affair with – he’s the main reason Tom’s marriage to her fell apart. He’s furious that she’s introduced him to Andrew as an old friend of his.’

‘Oh my goodness!’ Stella had been shocked. ‘No wonder Mr Lomax is upset.’

‘He can’t think of anything else,’ Esmie had said in distress. ‘He wants to know how long Lydia has been seeing Dickie – whether he’s married or unmarried. Tom thinks he might be the reason why Lydia finally agreed to a divorce. And it may be true. For myself, I don’t care – we got what we finally wanted – but for Tom it’s different. He’s torturing himself that his son is taking advice from that cheating man rather than him.’

Neither Esmie nor Stella had been able to prevent Tom from succumbing to another bout of depression. In October, when the hotel was closing up, Stella had offered to stay on with Esmie and keep her company. Tom was fighting his ‘black monsoons’ by trying to paint, but more often than not was to be found restlessly walking the high margs and bivouacking in the woods. He seemed to lose all track of time and sometimes called Esmie ‘Mary’ when she came to coax him back home.

Esmie, knowing how Jimmy’s wedding was imminent, had insisted that she go home. ‘That’s very kind of you, lassie, but your family will be needing you and looking forward to having you back. We’ll see you at Jimmy’s wedding.’

Stella had left Gulmarg deeply worried about the Lomaxes and Tom’s fragile mental state. How long would they be able to run The Raj-in-the-Hills if his health continued to deteriorate? She was desperately sorry for Esmie, who had finally been able to marry Tom after all these years only to find she was increasingly becoming his nurse.

As she watched the guests enjoying her parents’ hospitality, Stella couldn’t help wondering what made the best kind of marriage. Was she foolish to continue to put Monty off because of some unattainable ideal of a love match that she still hoped for?

The truth was that Stella still hankered after someone who she knew now almost certainly didn’t even give her a passing thought. Hugh Keating was her measure of the ideal man; handsome, fun, interesting and with the most charming accent she’d ever heard. Whenever Monty tried to kiss her, all she could think of was how much better Hugh’s passionate embraces had been. Five years later she was still filled with longing for him. But the letter she’d sent to Baluchistan at the end of 1933 had eventually been returned nearly a year later with ‘gone away’ written across it.

Had he been moved to another posting in India or left the service and returned to Ireland? Stella had tried to find out by contacting the local agricultural office in Rawalpindi, the ‘Grass Department’ as it was nicknamed by the other governmental services. But the officer in charge had been a little suspicious and not very helpful.

The Indian clerk had seen her disappointment and offered to send a note of enquiry on her behalf. It was three months before she heard back.

. . . Mr Keating is no longer with the Agricultural Department. He resigned his post in November 1933. I am sorry to say they will not give out a forwarding address to non-family members . . .

Assuming Hugh had never returned to India from Ireland, she wrote again to the sister in Dublin in the vain hope that a letter might reach him, even though she didn’t have the correct address.

That had been back in 1935. Over three years later, Stella had not heard back. She knew it was hopeless to hanker after him. If he’d really wanted her to be his girl, he would have tried harder to stay in touch.

Stella tried to quell thoughts of Hugh. She should be looking forward to the future and not back at what might have been.

The servants were clearing tables and pushing back chairs to make more room for dancing. Her father announced the Grand March and they all fell into a procession around the room while Jimmy’s friends made a human arch for