‘This is the start?’ Eliza asked, and held out her hands to catch the first drops.
‘It may be.’
The billowing clouds had now turned the most extraordinary shade of purple, and then, all at once, lightning filled the entire sky. It made her jolt and she held out a hand to him.
‘Wonderful, isn’t it?’ he said.
‘I can hardly believe a place like this could really exist.’
He laughed and squeezed her hand. She leant back against him and could feel his heart against her back.
‘The entire place is surrounded by forests, lakes and, as you can see, the hills. When the rain ceases I’ll show you the lanes and alleyways of the old city.’
‘The lake palace looks as if it has stepped out of the pages of a fairy tale.’
‘It’s the Royal Summer Palace.’
‘Can we swim? After the rains?’
‘If you don’t mind the odd crocodile.’
One moment there were only a few drops of rain, but then they heard an almighty crash of thunder so loud it seemed as if the world shook with fright. And only then did the heavens open. Sheets of rain hammered down upon the town below them, smashing on to the lake, and everywhere the dry earth began to release an incredible aroma of long-held sweetness. She heard Jay speak but could not make out his words above the tumult.
They stood and watched for another hour, the rain still falling as if the storm might consume all the water in the world, and the sky still flashing continually. Soon the air had turned white with a curtain of rain so thick it obliterated the view of the town, the lake, and the palace. Only when the thunder ceased did he turn her round. Now that dusk was falling and with the depth of the rain she could barely see his face, but for his glittering eyes.
‘Are you ready?’ he asked. ‘This is just a lull.’
‘Yes. Let’s go.’
As he led her back into the palace Eliza asked where the owner was and did he mind them being there.
‘He’s an old friend, and don’t worry, it’s all arranged.’
‘You knew I’d come?’
‘I hoped.’
Once they reached their room she took in an enormous four-poster bed, its curtains still open.
‘Do you want to close them?’ he asked.
She shook her head and walked over to the wide windows. ‘Let’s keep these curtains open too,’ she said.
‘And the windows open so that we can still hear –’
She laughed. ‘You are such a romantic, Jayant Singh Rathore.’
‘Is that a bad thing?’
She ran to him and flung her arms around his neck. He pulled her off him and led her away from the window towards the bed. When she lay back against the pillows he pulled up her skirt and then rolled down her stockings, his fingers touching her legs as he went. ‘Silk?’ he said.
‘My only pair. Dottie gave them to me.’ But she could not contain her laughter; as if the joy in her whole being had been long suppressed and now it had no option but to burst from her, taking her over, and making her shake and shudder. He laughed too, and before long she was laughing and crying at the same time and he was drying her tears. When she finally stopped he finished undressing her, then stared at her.
‘So, so pale,’ he said, ‘like porcelain.’
Filled with the intoxication of the night, she was conscious of feeling released, from what she wasn’t sure, but it was wonderful and like nothing she had ever experienced before.
‘My turn, to undress you,’ she said.
