Page 61 of The Girl from the Tea Garden
‘Well, yes—’
‘You know him?’
Adela flushed. ‘I know of him.’
Fluffy said, ‘I’m afraid that was my fault. I went to hear him speak at the Pledge Day rally and Adela came along to keep an eye on me. Unfortunately it ended in scuffles.’
‘Of course it would,’ snorted the Raja. ‘They are hooligans who shouldn’t be allowed on our streets.’
‘You should take more care, ladies.’ Jay frowned in concern. ‘Don’t involve yourselves in communist propaganda. These are bad men intent on removing the British by force as well as overthrowing the princely states.’
Adela thought of Ghulam. He wasn’t a bad man, but he was an impatient one. She recalled the way he had challenged her to look beyond her cosy world in Simla, how he was working eagerly for a free India without barriers of class or religious interference. Could he be a danger to them all if he was thwarted in his goal? If so, should she warn the Raja and Jay about him? But to do so would be a betrayal of Fatima and be bound to get her friend into trouble. She just hoped that the latest unrest in the hills died down and that Ghulam took his campaigning elsewhere.
She wished she could talk it over with Sam; he would have a sensible view on it all. Thinking of him made her wonder if he would travel down from Narkanda to the fair. She felt a gnawing longing for Sam. How awful it would be if she never saw him before she sailed for Britain in July.
Fluffy retired to bed. The moon was full, and Jay suggested an evening stroll in the garden. The Raja declined. Together, Jay and Adela walked down the path as a night mist stole up from the valley, looking like a silver sea in the moonlight. Ghostly light filtered through the trees, making bright patterns on the path. The air was heavy with the scent of golden champa. Reaching a garden seat set under an arch of overhanging flowering creepers, Jay indicated they should sit.
‘You were quiet at dinner. What is on your mind?’ he asked.
‘Nothing really.’
‘You mustn’t worry about all this local politics.’
‘Is the Raja’s family really in danger?’
‘He can take care of them. And I can take care of you and your guardian. You are safe from any harm here; I’ll make sure of that.’
‘I don’t worry for myself.’
‘What a remarkable girl you are.’
He lifted her hand to his lips and brushed her fingers with a kiss. Adela felt a delicious frisson all over. She looked into his handsome face, chiselled in the moonlight, and saw the desire in his dark eyes. Her heart began a slow thudding. He leant closer and ran a finger from her brow down her cheek, pushing stray hair behind her ear. He hardly touched her, but it set off tiny shocks like electricity in her chest and the pit of her stomach. He traced the pad of his finger across her throat and collarbone, brushing the back of his hand against her breast.
She couldn’t help a sigh escape her parted lips. Jay tilted her chin and kissed her, a soft exploratory kiss that tickled her lips. She knew she shouldn’t encourage it, but there was something hypnotic about their secret scented bower, the ethereal light and the pulsing sound of night insects that seemed to suspend them in the moment. It was like a romantic scene from a film. So when he pulled her closer and kissed her with more force, she responded, their mouths opening, tasting, exploring each other.
‘You are quite beautiful, my English rose,’ he murmured, kissing his way across her face, nibbling her ear. ‘Can I come to your room tonight?’
Adela pulled back. This was going too fast.
‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘I didn’t mean offence. I just thought ...’
Adela gulped. ‘I’m not offended, but I’m not ready ...’
‘I understand.’ He smiled. ‘You are too irresistible on such a night. But for you, Adela, I will be patient.’
She felt overwhelmed with mixed emotions: desire, trepidation, disloyalty to Sam, whom she loved, yet excitement at being wanted by this powerful, handsome prince, who ought to be far beyond her reach.
‘What do I mean to you, Jay?’ she asked. ‘I need to know.’
‘You are as desirable as the stars in the sky,’ he said. ‘I fell in love with you the moment I saw you in the dressing room in your underclothes. It’s an image I can’t get out of my head.’ He gave a sensual smile.
Adela gave a laugh of embarrassment. He was teasing her, and it helped break the spell.
‘I’m a virgin,’ she said, ‘which must be obvious to a man of the world like you. But the man I give myself to will be the man I marry. It can’t be any other way.’
His eyes widened at her boldness. For a moment he was at a loss for words.
‘Marry me then, Adela Robson,’ he said impulsively. ‘Come and live with me at Gulgat, or we can go to the South of France or London or wherever you want.’
