Sensitive to her own embarrassment, Eliza nevertheless asked, ‘What do you think he feels for me?’
The woman laughed. ‘You don’t know?’
Eliza shook her head.
‘If anyone mentions your name he leaves the room. If his mother speaks of a marriage to a distant Princess he roars at her. You only have to look at his face, madam. You see it there.’
As Kiri tenderly soaped and then oiled her skin, Eliza closed her eyes. And then, after her hair was cleansed of desert dust, Kiri went to the bathroom and came back with a beautiful blue-green silk robe that matched Eliza’s eyes, and a pair of embroidered slippers.
She then indicated a spot on the opposite side of the bedroom.
‘I am to go through there, Kiri?’
‘Yes, madam, I cannot follow.’ She lowered her eyes.
Eliza took a step forward. She should have expected it, but it was only then that she realized Jay had not gone away and that he would be waiting for her on the other side of the curtain. She paused and glanced back at Kiri again, but the woman did not look up.
Eliza drew the curtain aside and, treading softly, went through. As she took in his side of the tent – the deep midnight blue embroidered with threads of copper – she didn’t see Jay. The floor had been carpeted in blue but paler than the silk of the tent and, as she looked down, she saw his feet. He’d been standing just the other side of a tall wardrobe of some kind, its dark velvet curtains restricting her view. But as her eyes adjusted to the gloom – only candles and oil lamps lit the room – she saw him step forward.
‘It’s dusk now,’ he said. ‘I can turn up the lamps if you like.’
She shook her head. ‘I can see.’
There was a prolonged silence as they stared at each other. Then he came across and she allowed him to lead her to a bed heaped with cushions.
‘We’ll just sit together. Is that all right?’ he asked in a deeply choked voice.
It was a low bed and as they both adjusted their cushions neither spoke. Despite his dignity she could sense a gentle sadness in him that only served to amplify her own.
Once they were in a semi-supine position he reached for her hand.
‘You didn’t go?’ she said.
Silence.
‘Jay?’
He sighed deeply and then turned to her. ‘Look at me, Eliza.’
She shifted her position so that she could turn her head and look at him full on. The grief in his eyes almost floored her, and feeling her tears welling she held on to herself.
Then as they gazed at each other, he smiled. ‘Tell me the truth, sweetheart. For pity’s sake, why?’
‘Clifford?’
He nodded wordlessly, but it was the intensity of his eyes that loosened her tongue. She realized she was incapable of lying to Jay and that, now she was with him, she was dropping back into a place where she could be more truly herself.
‘He promised to release you from prison with complete immunity from future charges.’
‘If you consented to marry him?’
She nodded. ‘In his defence, it really was your mother’s idea. Please don’t be angry with her,’ she added when she saw his jaw stiffen. ‘She suggested it to protect you, Jay.’
‘Very well. If that’s what you believe happened, let’s talk about something else. I have seen Devdan. He admitted Chatur approached him to ask for his help in framing me over the incendiary pamphlets.’
‘Why would Dev agree to that?’
‘There were reasons.’
