Page 76 of The Sapphire Child
Stella was touched by his encouragement.
‘You’ll let me know if you hear anything more from Andrew, won’t you?’ Stella asked. ‘Or from Tibby about how things are in Scotland.’
‘I promise we will,’ Tom replied.
‘And,’ Esmie added, ‘we’ll be down to see you all at Christmas time.’
Stella met up with the baroness in Srinagar and they travelled back to Rawalpindi together. She told Hester the latest news about Andrew and also confided about her hope that Hugh Keating would get in touch.
‘It seems ridiculous that I should still have such strong feelings for a man I haven’t seen for over seven years, but I do.’
Hester said, ‘True love takes no account of time or distance. You just have to listen to your heart. If I were you, I’d write to him.’
‘Really?’ Stella was doubtful.
‘Darling, life is so uncertain. None of us knows what will happen in this war with Germany and Italy. If I was young like you, I’d seize whatever happiness I could get. If he doesn’t reply, then he’s not worth it and you won’t be any worse off.’
As soon as Stella was back at the Raj, spurred on by Hester’s words, she wrote a brief but friendly letter to Hugh and sent it off to McSween and Watson’s in Calcutta.
Chapter 27
Ebbsmouth, October 1940
The country had been braced for invasion since the summer. Andrew’s machine-gun company was on constant alert along the Berwickshire coastline. The beaches were bristling with rows of barbed wire defences and hastily positioned concrete tank traps. Crouched in dank pillboxes, their guns pointing through narrow loopholes, they watched out for enemy ships. Now that Norway had fallen to the Nazis, it seemed a matter of time before an invasion across the North Sea began.
There had been damaging air raids on Edinburgh and its port of Leith in late September. One clear night, Andrew had seen the sky glowing to the north and knew that the docks were aflame from incendiary bombs. The sky had filled with the scream and flash of anti-aircraft fire as the Scottish units retaliated. The toll of merchantmen sunk was rising weekly. Yet the invasion did not come.
Andrew snatched a welcome two days’ leave and went back home. Lydia was ecstatic to see him.
After he’d helped her get his grandmother to bed, Lydia settled him by the fire with a glass of port. His mother was obviously managing to find something in her father’s cellar to drink.
‘At least I have one of my boys home,’ she said with a contended sigh.
‘Where is Uncle Dickie?’ Andrew asked.
‘London. Something in intelligence, I think. Not that he’s allowed to say what he’s doing. I’ve been terribly worried about him with all this awful blitz on London.’
Andrew grew drowsy by the fire and found it comforting just to listen to his mother gossiping without interruption.
Having rung Felicity and made plans to see her at teatime, Andrew cycled over to his aunt’s while his mother had her hair done. Tibby shrieked in delight and kissed him on both cheeks.
‘I’m just on my way out to deliver these vegetables to the old folks,’ she told him.
‘Let me help you,’ said Andrew.
‘No, you go and see Dawan. He’s missing male company. Walter’s been called up and Mac’s gone home to Greentoun to look after his mother as both his brothers are now in the forces. I’ll be back as soon as I can.’
Andrew found Dawan in the library sewing by hand. He quickly abandoned the work to greet Andrew.
‘Your aunt is teaching me to mend clothes,’ he said bashfully.
‘Gandhi would be proud of you,’ Andrew said in amusement. ‘We army boys know how to sew on buttons too, you know.’
They sat by the fire and had a few minutes catching up about Walter and Mac leaving and the general war situation. But without Tibby there to complain about them talking politics, it wasn’t long before they were having a robust conversation about the political situation in India.
‘I think Congress is missing a trick in not supporting the war effort,’ said Andrew. ‘It won’t do them any favours in the future when it comes to wanting more self-rule.’
Dawan waved his hands. ‘They offered to do just that but the Britisher government turned them down. Wouldn’t even consider independence.’
