The Sapphire Child (The Raj Hotel #2) - Janet MacLeod Trotter Page 0,7

to pet Frisky. ‘Aren’t we lucky, old boy? We’ll be in Kashmir earlier than expected and your friend Andy will be there too.’

Tom ground out his cigarette. ‘I’d appreciate it if you kept the news about Andy leaving Nicholson’s to yourselves for the moment. We don’t want him being the subject of gossip around Pindi.’

Stella gave him a look of surprise. ‘Of course, we won’t say a word, Mr Lomax.’

By the time Stella had Winifred Shankley ready for breakfast, Andrew had been sent off with Jimmy on some errand. Apart from a quick hello the previous evening, she’d had no chance to speak to him and she suspected the Lomaxes were trying to keep their son out of the way of the inquisitive residents.

While Tom took the van to the garage to have the tyres pumped and the oil changed, Esmie asked Stella to accompany her to Saddar Bazaar to choose curtain material for The Raj-in-the-Hills. Esmie seemed a little subdued, so Stella did most of the talking as they walked in the shade of Esmie’s parasol and hunted the stalls of the busy bazaar. Stella picked out a bolt of bright yellow with a pattern of blue birds and Esmie arranged to have it delivered to the hotel.

Esmie seemed in no hurry to get back to the hotel and steered Stella out of the bazaar and towards the Mall and its shady trees. Stella marvelled at how girlish Esmie still looked even though she must be approaching forty. She moved with a quick gracefulness and looked so elegant even in the plain practical dresses she preferred to wear. But Stella could see she was preoccupied, her delicate face strained.

‘You’re worrying about Andy, aren’t you?’ Stella finally asked.

Esmie looked at Stella with a sad but knowing expression on her face.

‘Mr Lomax told me how you’ve taken him away from Nicholson’s. Was he very unhappy there?’

‘Is that what Tom said?’

‘No, he didn’t give a reason, but I just assumed . . .’

Esmie stopped and looked around to make sure they were alone. ‘I want to be honest with you, Stella. You’re like one of the family and you’re close to Andy. It wasn’t really our decision to take Andy away from Nicholson’s; we did it before he was expelled.’

‘Expelled?’ Stella gasped. ‘Whatever for?’

‘He attacked another boy – the boy had been saying cruel things about Tom – but that was no excuse for what Andy did. George Gotley has a broken cheekbone and his father was threatening to go to the police.’

Stella was indignant. ‘Andy would never start a fight. That boy must have said or done something really bad.’

‘It was silly gossip about Tom’s time in the army, which George must have got from his pompous father, Major Gotley.’

‘If George provoked Andy then they should both be punished equally. Is the Gotley boy being sent home too?’

Esmie shook her head.

‘Tom’s made up his mind that Andy shouldn’t go back there. If the headmaster won’t deal with bullies – or bullying fathers – then he’d rather he went elsewhere.’

‘Has he another school in mind?’

‘Not really. Andy would like to go to Biscoe’s in Srinagar.’

‘That would be nice,’ Stella said in approval, ‘and he’d be closer to home.’

‘Yes, I’d like that too. It’s just . . .’ Esmie’s brow furrowed.

‘Tell me,’ said Stella.

Esmie sighed. ‘I worry about his mother’s reaction when she gets to hear of Andy’s removal. Lydia will have to be told before the gossip reaches her.’

‘But she’ll want the best for Andy, won’t she?’

‘Oh, Stella, I don’t know,’ Esmie fretted. ‘It might be just the excuse she’s looking for to insist that Andy goes back to Scotland to be educated.’

‘To Scotland?’ Stella was dismayed. ‘But Andy wouldn’t want that, would he?’

‘I don’t think so,’ said Esmie, ‘but I suppose we’ve never given him the choice. Tom’s always resisted it, even when Lydia promised—’ She stopped abruptly. ‘Anyway, Tom would hate it if Andy went so far away. And Lydia’s never really shown much interest in her son, so I’d worry for him.’

Stella still remembered the forceful Lydia, though she hadn’t seen her since childhood when Lydia had returned to Scotland when her marriage to Tom broke down. To Stella she had seemed as beautiful as a princess with her pale gold hair and her large blue eyes. But she also remembered her changeable moods: one moment spoiling her with presents and the next shouting rudely at Stella’s parents. While she had enjoyed being fussed over, Stella had never quite