She looked at him. ‘I have nothing to give you.’
He gave her a wicked grin. ‘Then I’ll just have to take what I please,’ he said, reaching for her, and revelled in the clean, pure laugh of his wife as she fell into his arms.
40
Iris stroked Ned’s hair as she placed his breakfast of two fresh eggs, fried with a small piece of bacon, in front of him.
‘You know we can afford an ayah,’ he said.
‘I know,’ she replied and kissed his head. ‘I just enjoy cooking for you at the moment,’ she added dreamily. ‘I’m not in any hurry to have other people in our house.’
‘I wish it was ours,’ he said, poking the yolks with his fork.
‘Hmm,’ she said, sitting down beside him. ‘I always save the yolks for last.’
He took a sip of his tea. ‘Listen, you said you want to work at the school and there may be a position coming up. I know it’s important to you, so why don’t you at least start looking for someone who can help out around here?’
‘I promise.’ She picked up her own cup and sipped. ‘I hate it when you leave.’
‘Exactly. If you had an ayah, you’d have company. Anyway,’ he said, suddenly looking earnest, ‘are you happy, Iris?’
She laughed softly. ‘Of course I am. Whatever makes you question that?’
‘I just want to be sure. I’m sorry we didn’t go on a proper honeymoon but I’m working on that. You did say you’d like to get back to Ooty, didn’t you?’
She nodded.
‘Well, I was thinking of taking you up there in a couple of weeks when I can have a few days off.’
She leaned forward and kissed him. ‘Perfect. More time alone.’
He gave her a lustful look, which made her laugh again. ‘I do have something to tell you,’ he said, carefully.
‘Oh? You sound hesitant.’
‘No, not really. I’m just not sure what you’ll make of it. Frankly, I’m delighted.’
He paused.
‘What?’ she urged.
‘It’s Jack Bryant.’
Ned watched her swallow the tea carefully and then silently put down her cup. She licked her lips. ‘Yes?’
‘He got married a couple of weeks ago.’
She stared at him as though he had suddenly started speaking in Arabic.
‘Married? An Anglo-Indian?’ she said in a small voice. ‘I don’t believe it.’
‘No,’ he replied, relieved that the news he’d sat on for a fortnight was finally shared. ‘She’s not from your mob.’ It was said with affection.
‘But there are no single English women in KGF.’
‘I seem to recall that her family’s from Tumkur originally.’
Now Iris looked at him as though he were joking. ‘That’s a dusty village from what I hear! You must be mistaken. Ned, tell me who it is.’
‘It’s Kanakammal,’ he said flatly.
She stared, then blinked a couple of times. ‘You’re telling me Jack Bryant has married his servant?’
‘Well, she’s officially Mrs Elizabeth Bryant now.’
‘That witch!’
‘Iris, please …’
‘Oh, Ned, come on. He’s married a villager. She’s probably cast some sort of spell on him. This is ridiculous. It’s just plain —’
‘Stop it,’ he cautioned. She bit back whatever she was about to say. ‘Kanakammal looked very happy.’
‘Of course she’s going to look happy!’
Ned put down his cutlery and stood. ‘What Jack Bryant does is his business. And just for the record, I think you’re being very ungracious towards his new wife. I believe she loves him. And she seems to understand him. Perhaps he loves her back, Iris. But the marriage is done and I don’t particularly wish to discuss it any longer.’
‘I’ve spoken to her, Ned, and she was rude to me. She’s obviously been hatching a plan to ensnare him because she has a very high opinion of herself and —’
‘Well, whatever the story is, it’s none of our business. I’ll see you tonight.’ He gave her a perfunctory kiss, disappointed and angered that the mention of Jack could have them bickering almost instantly.
Iris ran after him. ‘Ned, wait!’
‘No. I don’t want to discuss another word about Jack,’ he glowered.
‘It’s not about Jack. It’s about us.’
‘Us?’
‘Don’t be angry. I, too, have something to share.’
He blinked. ‘All right, I’m sorry. Tell me.’
She took a deep breath and then smiled. ‘We’re having a baby, Ned.’
He wasn’t sure he’d heard right. His expression must have explained that.
‘Yes. A baby Sinclair.’
Ned strode back to her, looking at her belly instinctively and then into her eyes. ‘So soon?’
‘I come from fertile stock.’
‘But you’re sure?’
She nodded smugly and he grinned.
‘A baby,’ he murmured. ‘My son!’
‘Our baby, and quite possibly a daughter.’
Ned kissed her, his sour mood gone, excitement sparking around him. ‘I’m going to scream it from the rooftops.’
She grabbed him. ‘Don’t you dare! We have to wait. Besides, Mum and Dad must know first.’
He kissed her again and hugged her. ‘I love you, Iris. I’m sorry I growled at you earlier. This is the best news you could give me.’
She laughed. ‘Now go to work. And concentrate.’
He blew her a kiss and walked next door, doing a skip and a hop, knowing she was watching.
Iris turned, still smiling, leaned against the door, her heart hammering. She placed a hand on her belly.
‘Forgive me, my darling,’ she whispered to her child, and then the familiar sensation of nausea hit and she lunged for the bathroom.
Fate threw both women together that day. Kanakammal was on her way to the civil hospital, having just got word that one of her younger sisters had broken a wrist after falling from a mango tree. She knew her mother would need help with the baby and tried to catch them up on their walk to Robertsonpet.
Iris had decided to visit one of their second cousins, in the Mines’ Hospital for a brief stay. It also meant a chance to see her father. More than anything, it was a welcome distraction for her mind.
Jack’s sudden marriage offended her at some deep level she couldn’t quite place. She knew she had no right to be fretting over it but she simply couldn’t imagine that after all Jack’s declarations to her he would simply turn around and marry an Indian girl … his own ayah!
Not glimpsing him these last seven weeks had made it easier to cope with her situation and her own confusion about the deception she was now living. There was even a moment when she’d been able to persuade herself that the afternoon in Bangalore hadn’t really happened, and that she and Ned had been the ones ‘as busy as rabbits’, to coin a favourite saying of her father’s.
She loved being married to Ned, and turning the electric department’s house into their home. Her parents had bought them a suite of furniture, and given her plenty of other bits and pieces too. Family and friends had all been generous with their marriage gifts and they were well set up for a young couple.
Ned’s affection was overwhelming and his love was infectious. She believed that her feelings for Jack would pale over time and she was furious with herself that this news of him had so derailed her. She shouldn’t be upset – but she was! Was it jealousy? Was it the speed of him moving on from his apparent undying love for her? Was it her pregnancy? Her body’s chemistry out of kilter? Or was it his choice of bride?
Oh, it made her mad enough to scream, but instead she grabbed a parasol, determined to keep her skin pale and unblemished, and stomped up the hill. She’d just passed the new shop when she saw a familiar figure. She was unmistakable. Tall, with a long, graceful stride, looking striking in a violet and silver sari against the predominantly dusty-brown and olive-green backdrop.
The closer Iris drew towards her, the more she felt her blood rising, firing her jealousies and her anger. She couldn’t ignore her, as the woman was now staring at her.
‘Good morning, Mrs Sinclair,’ Kanakammal said, infuriating Iris even further that she didn’t even have the high ground of making the decision whether to acknowledge her or not.
She made an effort, though. ‘I’m sorry. I don’t recall your name …’ she began.
‘I use the name Elizabeth now. It is easier for my husband.’
It felt like a slap in the face, hard and stinging, yet there was nothing in her tone or her expression to suggest she was punishing Iris.
Iris gave a short laugh. ‘So it’s true then – you have married Jack Bryant?’ she asked, taking in the beautiful jewellery Kanakammal was wearing: dozens of pure gold bracelets, three large diamonds set sumptuously into a thick gold band on her marriage finger, and an exquisite gold chain, heavy with sovereigns, that sat perfectly across her dark skin. Her height suited the bold jewellery. And then Iris saw the watch. Jack’s mother’s watch! The one that meant so much to him. The watch she adored. The one he had playfully tempted her with. Iris felt the bile rise in her throat and she forced herself to find composure; she must not let herself break down in front of this woman.
‘It is true,’ she replied calmly.
‘Is this your idea of a joke … of some sort of revenge against me?’ Iris hated herself for sounding so breathless and squeaky.
‘No, Mrs Sinclair. I would not joke about marrying someone. And I would not marry for any other reason than love.’
‘You’re his servant!’
‘I am his wife. We were married in a church, before God, just like you.’
‘He couldn’t have the woman he wanted, so he married the next woman he saw! That’s the pathetic truth of it.’
‘I’m sorry that our marriage hurts you.’
‘Hurts me? How dare you, you wretch. It doesn’t hurt me … it offends me. It makes a mockery of marriage. He can’t even pronounce your name! I see you’re wearing his mother’s watch but you should know that he offered it to me first.’ She sounded ugly but it was too late to take it back.
Kanakammal’s calm expression hadn’t faltered. ‘I shall go, Mrs Sinclair. I do not wish to see you so upset.’
‘Don’t you dare turn away from me! Remember your place!’ It was as though she were possessed by a demon, who was speaking for her, because Iris had never talked down to the locals. She was acting far worse than Bella ever could.
Kanakammal turned back and fixed her with a stare that made Iris quail. ‘My place is beside my husband, Mr Jack Bryant. Yours is not. You had your chance. You must let him go now and get on with your own marriage. You have a good man and he deserves all your love.’
The green-eyed demon that had Iris in its control lifted her arm in preparation to strike but Kanakammal was faster. She caught Iris’s arm easily enough. She was taller, stronger, with a simmering white rage now that Iris could feel through the young woman’s grip.
Iris wrenched free, embarrassed and humiliated, and furious with herself for showing such weakness. What if it got back to Ned?
‘That was wrong of me,’ she said, trying to regain some composure.
‘Yes, it was.’
‘I have nothing more to say to you. I think you are a conniving young woman and if it’s money you’re after, you should think again. Jack is not so stupid. What’s more, you’ve committed yourselves to being outcasts. Tell Jack not to come running back to me and Ned when it all goes horribly wrong. We want nothing to do with you or him.’
‘I will tell him and I will remember your warning,’ she said politely. ‘Good morning, Mrs Sinclair.’ And she left Iris standing alone, fuming and filled with self-loathing.
Jack’s life had become uncharacteristically calm. Days stretched into weeks. His marriage, so swift and surprising, acted like a cleansing blade, cutting away the cancer that had been eating at him. His wife made no demands of him. He came and went as he pleased – enjoying nights at the club, playing snooker, and taking off for a day or two to meet Henry when he was around and to spend some time in Bangalore.
Elizabeth continued working in the kitchen with her sisters, teaching them how to shop for food, how to prepare the spices, how to cook and serve meals. The youngsters were wholly responsible for presenting the main meal of the day, depending on Jack’s shifts, and while they took their responsibilities very seriously, it was a source of much laughter between the married couple.
‘You frighten them,’ he said, ‘standing there so stern.’
‘I will make these girls good housekeepers.’
‘Oh, I know you will. But I think we should let the boy work with Gangai. Merry —’
‘Marimuthu.’
‘He should be part of a man’s world.’
‘I shall ask him to give my little brother some jobs.’
Jack looked pleased. ‘Why won’t you sit down and eat with me?’
‘I like to watch you eat.’
‘From the doorway. It feels very odd.’
‘Still, my place is to take care of you.’
‘Elizabeth, you do that very well. I don’t see you as a servant any longer.’
‘But I think some others might see me in that way still.’
‘Who? Which others? Has someone said something?’
‘No. They don’t need to. But I don’t mind for myself. I am worried you might one day feel sorry you agreed to this marriage.’
He stopped eating, stood up and crossed the room. He took her hands. ‘What is this about?’
She shook her head slightly, wouldn’t answer him.
‘Firstly, I didn’t agree to marry you. I asked you to marry me and you accepted. More importantly, I don’t care what anyone else thinks. I feel content.’
‘I only care what you think. I know you warned me you could never love me, but —’
‘That’s not what I said, Elizabeth. I was honest that my heart belonged to another, but you don’t have to question my commitment to you.’ He held up her chin. ‘You’re not unhappy, are you?’
She shook her head again. ‘I am not unhappy at all.’
‘Well, then, no long face. Are the young ones asleep?’
‘Yes.’
‘Then come to bed and we’ll make some of our own.’
She smiled, then frowned at the sound of someone coming up their front drive. Jack heard it too, and began rebuttoning his shirt. Elizabeth opened the door.
‘Hello, Kanakammal.’
‘Mr Sinclair, sir. Please come in.’
‘I’m sorry to call so late. I won’t come in, thank you. Is your husband in?’
‘Yes. I’ll get him for you.’
Jack froze momentarily on hearing Ned’s voice and then tucked his shirt swiftly into his trousers, noticing that his wife looked fearful.
Jack walked out onto the verandah. ‘Ned,’ he said, sounding stiff and formal. ‘I didn’t expect to see you at my door again.’
‘Jack,’ Ned replied, equally awkward. ‘I’m sorry for disturbing you.’
An uncomfortable pause stretched between them and it was Jack who surprised himself by deciding to be gracious. The last few calm, sober weeks had taught him that it wasn’t Ned he hated so much as himself. He had created the mess by deliberately pursuing Iris, knowing the rift it would cause. And he missed Ned. Looking at Ned’s worried face now, he told himself that he could be the one who made it possible for them not to be enemies. He imagined his wife, silently urging him from behind.
‘What’s going on? Is Iris …?’
‘Iris is fine, thank you. Three months’ pregnant and just fine.’
Jack swallowed, glad of the shadows. ‘So, why are you here?’
‘I need to speak with you privately.’
Jack glanced back to where Elizabeth stood in the doorway. ‘Coffee?’ If Ned was reaching out, then he would permit a civil relationship at the very least.
She disappeared, not needing to be asked. ‘Sit down,’ Jack offered, pointing.
‘Thanks.’ Ned rubbed a hand through his hair. He looked uncharacteristically dishevelled.
‘I didn’t imagine you and I would ever talk again.’
Ned’s expression was one of injury. ‘It’s a great pity what has occurred between us.’
‘I realise now that my argument was never actually with you, Ned.’
Ned gave a sad smile. ‘But mine was with you.’
‘Then what the hell are you doing here? To gloat about a pregnancy?’
‘Don’t be ridiculous!’ Ned shifted nervously. ‘There is no one else I can talk to about this, Jack.’
‘About what?’
‘The letter from the chief of police in Bangalore. Surely you got one?’
Jack felt a chill crawl through him. ‘No, but Elizabeth probably hasn’t picked up the post. Did it arrive today?’
‘Yes. You won’t mistake it.’ He gave a small, helpless laugh. ‘Brent’s wife is demanding the case be reopened.’
‘What? Why? After all this time?’
‘Well, Harold informs me she’s been pressing for this for years with little success. But now she’s got herself an Indian lawyer from Delhi who’s hungry for fame and fortune and has quite a reputation for taking on the establishment. She’s in Bangalore right now, kicking up a stink. She says she has new evidence.’ He began to tremble.
‘You were exonerated and there will be no new evidence.’
Kanakammal arrived with pots and cups on a tray. ‘It needs to draw,’ she warned, glancing at Ned. ‘Perhaps a brandy?’
Jack nodded, grateful. Nothing was said between the men as Ned stood and stared out across the hills of KGF and Jack paced, thinking through this new shocking turn of events.
She reappeared with the drinks. ‘Goodnight, Mr Sinclair.’
He swung around. ‘Thank you, Kanakammal. I’m sorry, I haven’t congratulated either of you on your marriage.’
Jack hoped Ned couldn’t see him sneer in the shadows.
‘Thank you,’ she replied.
‘Don’t wait up,’ Jack said to her as she disappeared again.
‘You’re a fortunate man, Jack.’
Fields of Gold Page 43