Page 155 of The Secrets of the Tea Garden
Oh, Dad, I’m going to find it so hard to leave this place – not just Belgooree but Assam and Calcutta too. I’ve grown to appreciate India as a grown-up and not just relying on my childhood memories (which I must admit were a little rose-tinted!). I love so much about India and I’ve made some good friends – I will find it all very hard to leave behind. I can’t imagine how hard it must have been for you after a lifetime of living here.
But I’m going to be positive. I’m looking forward to being with you and Mother and the boys – all of us together after so long! We’ll be a family again. Have you managed to rent the house on the Willowburn Estate? Can we go out riding together in the early mornings? Just like old times!
Please write soon and tell me all the home news. I’ll probably stay on here another couple of weeks – until Sophie travels to the Punjab (or West Pakistan as I suppose we now call it). Flowers says I can stay with them while I arrange my flight home.
Could I ask a favour? Would you send out a tin of toffee for me to give to a good friend?
Heaps and heaps of love,
Your adoring daughter,
Libby xxx
