Page 133 of The Sapphire Child
Andrew nodded. ‘I think my mother finds it very trying. Her life is taken up with looking after her.’
‘That must be exhausting for both of them. Old MrsTempleton was so sweet to me.’
‘I feel guilty not being at home to help,’ Andrew confided. ‘But goodness knows when this war will end. My greatest fear is that by the time I do get back to Scotland, she might not be...’
Stella quickly squeezed his arm. ‘You mustn’t think like that. MrsTempleton is physically fit, isn’t she?’
‘Yes, I suppose so.’
‘You must miss Scotland,’ said Stella.
‘I do.’ He drew hard on his cigarette.
‘And your fiancée, of course. Tell me about her?’
Andrew looked away, his colour deepening. ‘Felicity is a great girl. She speaks her mind and does what she wants. She’s pretty and makes me laugh.’
‘It must be so hard being separated from her,’ said Stella, feeling a pang of sympathy.
‘Yes.’ He nodded. ‘I haven’t seen her for a year now.’
He carried on smoking. They both sat in silence as the light inched through the trees beyond the boundary and stole across the grass.
‘I’m very sorry that Hugh treated you so badly,’ Andrew said quietly. ‘Dad told me what happened. I feel awful for ever having put you in touch with him again. If only I hadn’t bumped into him in Edinburgh...’
Stella brushed his hand with hers.
‘It’s not your fault. I was foolish about Hugh. I wanted to believe in this big romantic idea that he was the only one for me – I was so wrapped up in the thought of being in love that I never really stopped to question what sort of man he was.’ She sighed. ‘There were signs if I’d been looking for them. He only turned up when it suited him and hardly ever wrote – he’d just appear and expect me to drop everything. And then on his final leave beforegoing to Singapore – I thought he was being romantic and wanted to spend every last minute with me, but all he really wanted was—’ She broke off, blushing, and turned away from his pitying look.
Andrew extinguished his cigarette and took her hand. His touch was warm and comforting around her cold fingers.
‘He was a fool,’ Andrew said firmly. ‘Don’t blame yourself for falling for his lies. If my father’s hunch is right, you’re not the only one Hugh Keating has tricked into believing he’s someone he’s not.’
Stella gave him a teary smile. ‘Oh, Andrew, you’ve always managed to make me feel better about myself. I can see you’re still just as kind. Your Felicity is a lucky woman.’
Andrew sat back, looking slightly embarrassed by her praise of him. After a moment he said, ‘That card you sent me – what did you mean about wanting to explain about Dad and Esmie and my half-sister?’
Stella tensed at his sudden mention of Belle. She now regretted sending the message. She suddenly realised it would be wrong of her to tell him the secret she shared with the Lomaxes without their agreement. If the arrangement was to work then the fewer people who knew the truth about the baby’s origins, the better. But should she tell Andrew now? Didn’t he have a right to know?
She decided to be cautious. ‘We all felt bad about not telling you sooner about the baby. But it was late into the pregnancy before we were sure – before Esmie was sure. Your dad wanted to tell you in person. I’m so sorry you had to hear about Belle from my mother. She’d only just been told and was overexcited. It’s no excuse, but no one planned it that way or wanted to upset you.’
She regarded Andrew warily and saw the struggle in his tight expression. Eventually he let out a long sigh and met her look.
‘It doesn’t matter now. I admit it was a shock to hear about the baby and I suppose I felt a bit pushed out, but I’ve had timeto get used to the idea of a sister.’ He gave a rueful smile. ‘Tell me what she’s like.’
Stella felt her eyes prickle with tears. ‘She’s beautiful – with big blue eyes and brown hair – and she’s sunny-natured – always laughing. She loves being sung to and she has the strongest grip. I had to tie my hair up to stop her pulling out handfuls! She wasn’t crawling when I left but she is now. And Esmie thinks there’s a tooth coming through.’
Andrew’s smile broadened. ‘Sounds like you were a wee bit smitten with my new sister.’
Stella swallowed a sob and nodded, turning away to look at the sunrise. She didn’t trust herself to speak.
After a pause, Andrew said reflectively, ‘I met a friend of my parents in Taha – a Reverend Bannerman – a wonderful old man. I recuperated at his house after I’d been ill in July. He told me things that made me rethink how I feel about Dad and Esmie. I heard quite a different side to the story about my mother’s kidnap from Taha. Apparently, I was there too.’
‘Go on,’ Stella encouraged.
‘Mamma was having an affair with Dickie Mason – or so the gossip went. I’m not really concerned about that – she must have had her reasons and I know my father wasn’t the easiest man to live with – but I never knew about Esmie’s part in rescuing Mamma. Did you ever hear anything about it?’
Stella nodded. ‘Yes, I remember the fuss at the time. Even though my mother thought the incident too upsetting and hid the local newspaper from me and Jimmy, the baroness let us read her copy. It said how your mother had been snatched by Pathans and held for ransom and how she’d been rescued by Esmie. “Plucky Scotch nurse saves beautiful young Englishwoman,” it said, or something along those lines. Baroness Cussack will probably still have the cutting.’
