Page 58 of A Shimla Affair
I bolted across the gardens as fast as I could, and sure enough, there she stood, waiting for her carriage.
‘Lady Sinclair!’
She turned around, caught in surprise, wiping her tear-splotched face. She had been trembling slightly, but stood stiff when she saw it was me, her expression turning cold. Lady Sinclair looked away again as I walked closer, her chin up.
‘Is everything all right?’
‘Of course. Why wouldn’t it be?’ she answered without looking at me, and even someone who didn’t know about her feelings for the Viceroy would have been able to detect the hurt in her voice. In a few seconds, her carriage would be here, and gone would be the opportunity for us to get the Viceroy on his own. The two guards stood in the garden, looking at us. I took a chance.
‘It’s the Viceroy, isn’t it?’
She was shocked, and the fact that she couldn’t hide it gave it all away. There was anger, offence and betrayal all at once in her eyes, but she turned away again. ‘How dare you talk to me like that!’
‘Don’t walk away now, my Lady,’ I said, ‘you will just show them that they won. His wife and him … you can’t let them win. You have given everything to this, my Lady.’
‘What then?’ she asked me in a sudden moment of despair. ‘I can’t see—can’t stand to be ignored like this when—’
A sob escaped her involuntarily, and a sudden idea seized me.
‘You shouldn’t have to leave! You should be in there, with all eyes on you, and let him just see you in your glory, enjoying the ball. Let’s get the attention back toyou,’ I offered.
‘How—what do you mean?’
‘Lady Sinclair, have you ever worn a sari?’
After a few minutes of coaxing, encouraging her that the sari would suit her figure, that it would be an outrageous thing to do and that’s exactly what she needed, that she would stand out in the crowd and all eyes would be on her, she agreed.
The guards outside were still in position and, on re-entering the hotel, I locked the doors from the inside. This started the clock: if the guards noticed that the doors were locked, the alarm would immediately be raised. I had to get Lady Sinclair to the bunkers fast.
We went through the foyer and to my room, where I threw open all my saris to her and asked her to pick one, praying to God that it would work. When she chose a pink, floral one, I told her it was wonderful, and asked one of the maids I could find to dress her.
I waited outside the room, my heart palpitating as the ticking of the clock weighed on my head. I wondered where the others were, how it was going, if the Viceroy was in position, if everybody was … I clutched the side of the wall, dizziness overcoming me. I had to steady myself; it wouldn’t do for me to faint right now. I remembered what I had recently found out, what I hadn’t told my sisters about and shook my head to forget the thought.
When I looked up again, in a stroke of what could only be irony, Charles stood a few steps away from me. I knew something was wrong immediately, as he didn’t move. He stood rooted to his spot, his eyes looked hollow and his body stiff. I took a step towards him but in a swift movement, he had taken out a gun and now held it in my direction, if not directly at me. My breath caught in my throat.
‘Something is going on,’ he said, moving forward, the gun raised skilfully, ‘I can smell it. Tell me, Nalini, what is going on. Where did you take Lady Sinclair?’
I knew he would not leave us now. Even if Lady Sinclair came out and he saw nothing fishy going on, he would scare her. He would not let us be alone again and definitely would not let us go near the Viceroy. I had to try to get him to put the gun down before Lady Sinclair came out.
‘Charles, calm down, you will alarm our guests—’
‘I know that man you had as waiter. I have seen him about in the city, Eliza was right. Where did he go? Is your hotel being infiltrated?’
My heart beat faster, panicking.
‘Answer me right now, the security of the Viceroy is under threat—’
He suddenly stopped mid-sentence, the pronunciation of this fact giving him ideas. His eyes went wide, and I don’t know what Charles would have done, if Afreen had not arrived from the back, using all the strength she could muster to hit him on the head. His last look was one of shock and betrayal.
I rushed towards him, catching his head before it could hit the ground, tears streaming down my face.
Afreen whispered furiously, telling me I could not fall to pieces over him. I looked at her in anger, but when I saw her impassioned face, I knew that even though he meant more to me than my own life, he didn’t mean more to me than the lives of my sisters.
‘Nalini, is everything alright?’ Lady Sinclair’s voice called out from the room.
In alarm, I got up and bolted the room from the outside. I yelled out that everything was fine.
‘Take care of Charles,’ I told Afreen. ‘We can’t bring Lady Sinclair out right now, so let her remain in there. But I’ll—I’ll try to get the Viceroy here, away from the bunkers. And lie to Lady Sinclair that the door is stuck.’
