The Sapphire Child (The Raj Hotel #2) - Janet MacLeod Trotter Page 0,73
‘Then we can kiss more easily.’
Andrew knew where this was leading. He pulled away and caught her hands in his.
‘This isn’t the way,’ he said gently. ‘One day, we’ll make love but it won’t be in the back of my mother’s freezing car. We’ll do it properly. I’m not going to risk leaving you in the family way while I’m on the battlefront – or wherever they’re sending me.’
She gave him one of her direct looks. ‘I’m disappointed but I think also flattered. Are you saying we have to get engaged first?’
Andrew felt a flicker of alarm. He wasn’t thinking that far ahead.
‘Possibly,’ he said, unsure. ‘Let’s see what happens.’
She gave a smile of satisfaction and kissed him one more time. Then she was swinging her long legs out of the car.
‘Call round before you leave, won’t you? I’m going to miss you like stink.’
He promised he would. He drove quickly home, his emotions see-sawing between exultation and relief. Felicity loved him like no girlfriend had before – and he desired her too – but part of him was thankful he was about to leave Ebbsmouth and go into action. Soon he would be fighting for his country; it was as simple as that.
Chapter 24
The Raj-in-the-Hills Hotel, Gulmarg, late May 1940
The night pulsed with the sound of insects and the intermittent screech and howl from the forests above the hotel. Stella and the Lomaxes were gathered in the small back sitting room of the annex, listening in disbelief at the latest grim war news on the wireless.
‘Belgium has surrendered too?’ Stella said in shock. ‘What does that mean for our British troops?’
‘They will carry on fighting beside the French,’ said Esmie stoutly. ‘Like we did in the last war.’
‘We’re already in retreat,’ Tom pointed out, looking utterly haggard. ‘Our army will be wiped out or taken prisoner. It’s happening all over again. Except this time the Nazis are much more organised and ruthless than the Kaiser. They’ve gone through Holland and Belgium like a knife through butter! As well as Denmark and Norway – countries that have declared themselves neutral. Hitler has shown time and time again that he can’t be trusted.’
‘How can I not be upset?’ Tom cried. ‘Andy is in the middle of this hell!’
‘We must pray for Andy’s safety,’ said Esmie. ‘For everyone’s safety. It’s all we can do.’
Stella couldn’t speak. She felt overwhelmed with anxiety for Andrew. Earlier that month they had raised their glasses at supper to his health on his twentieth birthday, knowing only that he was somewhere on the Western Front. He was the age she had been when they’d embarked together on their adventure to Scotland. Andrew had had to grow up quickly, and judging by the photograph Tibby had sent of her nephew in uniform, he was physically a man now too.
In the picture, taken outside The Anchorage, he towered over Dawan and Willie the piper. Stella had been struck by how alike he was to Tom with his dark hair and lean features. Yet his eyes resembled his mother’s and his shoulders were broader than his father’s.
Tibby had told Stella that Andrew was courting a very pretty and spirited girl, Felicity Douglas – or Flis-Tish as Andrew called her – and that they seemed very smitten with each other. She was happy for him. It distressed her now to think of Andrew being in danger.
Lying in bed sleepless that night, Stella chided herself for thinking so much about Andrew and not about Monty. She had seen him once, briefly, in March when he’d had a few days’ leave. They had gone dancing and to a party at Clive and Ada’s, but she had avoided being alone with him and couldn’t wait to get back to the hotel.
Stella was completely besotted with her new nephew, Charles Franklin (named after his two grandfathers) who had been born in January. At her suggestion, Jimmy and his young family had moved back into the bungalow, while her mother and she had taken over the smaller hotel flat.
Baby Charles was plump and contented, and although he had an ayah who lived in the servants’ compound, Stella often took charge of him. She’d found it a wrench to leave him in early May to come up to the hills.
Stella even had pity for Lydia. How she must be waiting anxiously for news of her son too! Stella had long ago come to the conclusion that Lydia