Page 32 of The Girl from the Tea Garden
‘I’ll drink to that.’ Sundar grinned and raised his glass of soda water.
Boz stood up, relief on his face. Adela thought the bashful Scotsman was probably keen to veer the conversation away from religion and personal matters.
‘Let’s raise our glasses to bonny Adela on her seventeenth birthday.’
With enthusiasm, the dinner guests and Fluffy got to their feet.
‘To Adela!’ they cried in unison.
‘Thank you,’ she said, beaming. ‘And thank you for coming tonight and making my birthday special.’
‘And we’ve still got the dancing to come,’ Deborah squealed.
‘Better go and freshen up, girls,’ said Fluffy. ‘The rickshaws are booked for nine o’clock.’
Adela turned to Sam. ‘You will come with us to the dance, won’t you?’
He hesitated a moment, then smiled. ‘If you don’t mind a man with two left feet, then I’d be honoured.’
‘Good.’ She smiled back.
As they applied some of Prue’s lipstick in Adela’s room, the girls demanded to know how Adela knew Sam. She told them about her escape from StNinian’s in the boot of Sam’s car.
‘You dark horse!’ Prue cried. ‘Why did you never tell us this before?’
‘Didn’t like to be reminded of StNinian’s and that bully, Nina Davidge.’
‘Why was she so horrid to you?’ Deborah asked.
Adela shrugged. She was never going to tell them the shameful things Nina had said about her parents. ‘She was jealous of my friendship with Margie Munro I suppose. Anyway, that’s all ancient history, and I don’t want to think about it.’
‘Well, if she ever shows her face in Simla,’ Deborah declared, ‘we’ll cut her dead.’
Adela felt a guilty wave of relief that that was never likely to happen now. Over a year ago her mother had heard that Colonel Davidge had died, and Nina and her mother had gone back to England.
‘Sam’s always been a bit of a rebel then,’ mused Prue. ‘Hiding stowaways and gambling away his boat!’
‘Not now,’ said Deborah, adjusting the Alice band on her flyaway hair. ‘He’s living like a monk in the hills, with no interest in girls.’
‘Except for DrFatima.’ Prue smirked.
Adela reddened. ‘Whatever do you mean by that?’
‘Couldn’t keep his eyes off her all supper. You must have noticed.’
‘Well, maybe ...’
‘They all love the fabulous Fatima,’ said Deborah with a roll of her eyes. ‘Sam will have to form an orderly queue behind Sundar and Boz.’
‘It’s just not fair,’ Prue said and sighed. ‘She’s not the slightest bit interested in men as far as I can see.’
‘It’s not that she isn’t interested,’ said Adela, ‘it’s more that men aren’t a priority. She’s already made excuses not to come on to the dance with us tonight.’
‘Girls, that’s the secret,’ Deborah said, laughing, ‘stay aloof and unobtainable– drives the men wild.’
‘If you stay aloof,’ said Prue, ‘you don’t get asked to dance. At least that’s what happens in Jubbulpore.’
‘Jubbulpore!’ Adela and Deborah crowed at once.
