Page 107 of The Sapphire Child
They started talking at the same time.
‘How is he?’
‘What did he say?’
‘Is he coming here?’
‘When will we see him?’
Stella berated herself for not having asked more questions; she’d hardly learnt anything about how he was or what it was like being back in India.
‘It was difficult to hear,’ she admitted, ‘but he said something about Taha and hoping to pass through Pindi. I’m sorry, I can’t really tell you any more than that. We got cut off.’ Seeing the disappointment on their faces, she quickly added, ‘But he sent his love.’
‘I wish I’d been there to speak to him,’ Tom said in frustration.
‘Oh, Tom,’ Esmie said, kissing his cheek. ‘It sounds like he’s on his way north. I’m sure we’ll see him very soon.’ She looked at Stella and her expression clouded. ‘Did you tell him about Belle?’
Stella stammered. ‘No. Perhaps I should have?’
Tom shook his head. ‘It’s not something he should be told about over a crackling line to Delhi.’
They returned to the hotel, the Lomaxes talking excitedly about the thought of seeing Andrew soon. Stella’s spirits lifted too. The conversation had warmed her heart, and yet it had been too frustratingly brief. How good it would be to talk to Andrew properly and to see him again.
At the end of March, a telegram arrived from Calcutta. Stella felt faint with anxiety as she opened it.
Report good news – STOP – Keating safe in South Africa – STOP – will remain there while India uncertain – STOP – Arthur Lamont
Tom was scathing. ‘Typical of the man to have got out of Singapore when thousands didn’t – like a rat deserting the sinking ship.’
‘Tom, don’t,’ Esmie reproved. ‘At least he’s not a prisoner, as Stella feared.’
Stella gripped the telegram, her stomach churning. Her initial relief at hearing he was safe quickly turned to anger.
‘No, MrLomax is right,’ she cried. ‘Hugh is a rat! He’s not even tried to contact me and tell me he’s all right or ask how I am. I’ve heard nothing for months – not even a telegram.’
She tore the telegram in pieces and jammed them into a brass ashtray.
‘I’m sorry,’ she said, turning and rushing from the sitting room.
Stella escaped to her bedroom and shut the door firmly behind her. The noise woke Belle. She began to grizzle. Stella tensed, balling her fists. Belle was living proof of her naive stupidity; a constant reminder of her weakness in falling so heavily in love with a silver-tongued adulterer.
Belle’s protests grew. Stella knew it would be seconds before the baby was yelling lustily to be fed. She leaned over the cradle and picked her up. For a moment, Belle fell silent and fixed her with curious blue eyes, as if she sensed her misery. She looked so solemn and trusting. Then her rosebud mouth flickered in the ghost of a smile. Even though Stella knew that babies didn’t smile as young as three weeks old, it pierced her heart.
She kissed her daughter tenderly on the forehead and then sat down with her in the nursing chair that Karo had furnished with colourful cushions and a warm wool blanket. Cradling Belle to her breast, Stella felt the familiar tug and her milk beginning to flow. It released the tears that had been welling in her eyes. Stella sat cuddling her baby and quietly weeping. She already knew how hard it would be to leave her and return to Rawalpindi. But she refused to think of the life she must lead beyond this moment. All that mattered was this time with her daughter, giving her what she needed that no one else could.
Through the gauze muslin curtain that blew gently in the breeze at the open window, Stella could make out the fir trees beyond thehotel, stretching up to the marg. She breathed in the sweet scent of pine as her heartbeat slowed and the baby sucked rhythmically at her breast. Calmness settled on her like soft falling petals.
April came, and with it a message from Rawalpindi. When Tom came rushing round from the hotel, the women were on the small veranda of the annex enjoying the secluded view of the sloping forest behind. Stella was experimenting with painting flowers onto fabric while Esmie helped Karo sew cushion covers for the hotel. Belle lay gurgling in the cradle.
‘It’s from Jimmy,’ said Tom, excitement in his voice. ‘He says Andrew has booked into the Raj next week for a couple of nights on his way to Taha.’
‘Next week?’ Esmie exclaimed. ‘That doesn’t give us long to get organised and down to Pindi.’
Stella saw Tom’s look alter. He glanced at Belle, who was waving her hands in the air. ‘I think, given the circumstances, that I should go down to Pindi on my own.’
Esmie looked crestfallen. ‘But I so want to see him.’
‘I know you do, my darling – but you should be here with Belle – and Stella.’ Tom looked awkward. ‘I think I should meet him alone on the first occasion – there has been so much misunderstanding – I can set the record straight. And he doesn’t know about Belle yet...’
