look after her, I promise,’ said Andrew with a smile of reassurance.
At the door he turned and saluted. The last sight he had of his grandmother was of her raising a frail hand in farewell and blowing him a kiss.
Tibby arrived to take him and Lydia to the station, as his mother didn’t like to drive in the dark. He was reassured to know that Tibby would be there to keep his mother company after he went. He’d told Felicity not to come and see him off, and she’d agreed.
‘I hate goodbyes,’ she’d said. ‘Everyone just gets upset. It doesn’t mean I won’t be thinking of you every minute. I’ll let your mother hog the last moments with you or she might resent me forever.’
‘Well, you’re in Mamma’s good books for agreeing to marry me,’ Andrew had said. ‘You know you’ll be welcome at Templeton Hall anytime.’
‘I’ll keep an eye on your mother, don’t worry,’ Felicity had said, guessing as usual what he’d meant.
At the station, a raw wind was picking up dead leaves and hurling them onto the railway tracks. The train was late. Shadowed groups lined the platform, waiting; they stamped their feet to keep warm.
Tibby fished something from her pocket. ‘I nearly forgot. This is from Dawan. It’s a talisman to keep you safe – Ganesh the elephant god.’ She pressed it into his hand.
Andrew stared at the small intricately carved ivory head strung on a thin strip of leather. ‘The one he wears around his neck?’
‘Yes,’ said Tibby.
‘But it belonged to his father, didn’t it? He shouldn’t be giving it to me,’ Andrew protested.
‘He said you’re the nearest to a son he’ll ever have,’ Tibby said with a loving smile. ‘So he wanted you to have it.’
Andrew’s throat constricted. ‘Please thank him,’ he said huskily, greatly touched by the gesture.
Lydia peered at the necklace. ‘How gruesome – and not at all Christian. I don’t think your grandmother would approve.’
Andrew exchanged wry looks with Tibby and stowed it in his coat pocket. ‘Don’t wait in the cold,’ he said. ‘The train might be ages.’
‘Don’t be silly. I want to see you safely on board.’ Lydia was adamant.
Just then, he heard the distant sound of a steam engine approaching. This was it.
Tibby stepped forward quickly and hugged him tightly, just as she had when he’d first arrived in Scotland over eight years ago. She still smelt of mothballs and cigarette smoke; she never changed. He gripped her, his eyes smarting.
‘Take care of yourself, dear boy,’ she said tenderly. ‘And when you see Tommy, give him my love – and Esmie and Stella too.’
Andrew knew that as soon as he was gone, his mother would take Tibby to task for mentioning Esmie. But it was typical of his aunt not to care; she was incapable of being mean-spirited about anyone, and he loved her for it.
‘I will,’ he murmured and then let her go. ‘Mamma.’ He turned to his mother and held out his arms. She wasn’t one for hugs but he wasn’t going to allow her to dismiss him with a kiss on the cheek and a pat on the shoulder. Throughout his childhood he had wanted to feel a mother’s arms around him and it had fallen to Esmie to try and assuage his deep need. But even as a grown man, he still sought Lydia’s love and approval.
For a moment, Lydia allowed herself to be held. ‘I pray for your safe return, my darling,’ she whispered.
‘Thank you,’ he said.
They gazed at each other with tear-filled eyes. There was so much he wanted to say. He had left a letter for her to find that would save them both the embarrassment of tender words being said aloud, and she would have something to remind her of his love for her while he was gone.
From the train, as it shunted out of the station, he could just make out the figures of the two women standing close together, waving. The dawn was being heralded by a streak of gold light lying over a dark sea. Ebbsmouth passed – a dark mass of houses huddled on the cliffs – and then was gone from sight.
Chapter 36
The Raj-in-the-Hills, late November 1941
The first of the snow had arrived in Gulmarg. The other hotels and chalets had already closed for the winter. Most of the staff at the Raj-in-the-Hills had been paid off until the spring. Only Tom’s bearer Bijal, Esmie’s sewing woman Karo and a couple of part-time house servants –