It was her turn to shake her head. ‘Why didn’t you tell me about Dev’s father?’
‘I believed it would upset you too much.’
‘Turn me against Dev, more like.’
‘And maybe a bit of that too. Look, what if I make over the entire place to you? Think, Eliza, you could own all this.’ He made a sweeping gesture with his arm.
‘You really believe you can buy me?’
‘For heaven’s sake, Eliza. You must know I didn’t mean it like that. I just don’t want to lose you.’
She sniffed at the air. ‘Jay, you have already lost me. We have lost each other.’ She stopped, and they were silent now. While she really wanted to be angry and flounce off, driven by her own righteousness, she simply could not.
‘I’ll never forget you, Jay, and I’ll always love you, but this was never meant to be. I think if we are honest, we have always known that.’ And now she held out a hand to him. He took it and pulled her close, and then he held her in his arms for the very last time. When they drew apart, tears blurred her vision and she saw that his eyes were moist too, and though she was tempted to soften, she forced herself to stay firm. Nothing good could come of staying. It might work at first, but over time it never could. She must start as she meant to go on; and the more she was able to control her emotions, the stronger she would be.
‘You are a wonderful person, Eliza. Please don’t ever forget that.’
She kept her eyes on his troubled face. ‘I’ll send word to Laxmi to let you know where to send my equipment.’
‘Where do you think you’ll go?’
‘I need to see Clifford first, but after that Jaipore and then, well, I’ll mount the exhibition if I can get hold of enough prints. It’ll be earlier than I originally intended, and after that I’ll probably have to go to England. I don’t know yet.’
‘You have the wallet I left you in Udaipore?’
She nodded. ‘I didn’t want to take it, but I see now I may need it to pay for the mounting and framing.’
‘If there is ever anything. Anything at all, you will only have to say.’
He stopped speaking and she smiled at him through her tears, then turned on her heels and left. It made her feel sadder than she had ever felt, but there was no point postponing the moment.
36
When Eliza arrived at Dottie’s house she was surprised to see cases and trunks piled up in the front garden and all the curtains closed. Dottie, bent over and counting the cases, looked frazzled, her hair falling loose from its pins and her cheeks red, but when she spotted Eliza, she straightened up and managed to smile.
‘What’s going on?’ Eliza asked.
Dottie sighed deeply and brushed a few strands of hair from her eyes. ‘We are being transferred.’
Eliza was puzzled. ‘But why so soon? You haven’t been here that long. I thought you’d be here for the duration.’
‘There are rumours that Anish died because of the treatment my husband advised.’
Eliza snorted. ‘That’s ridiculous. He died because he was grossly overweight and downright lazy.’
Dottie shrugged. ‘Either way, we are heading south. There was a time not so long ago that a doctor’s word was law. Now it seems we can be removed at the drop of a hat. Anyway, enough of me. What about you?’
Eliza drew breath before speaking. She had practised the words, but that didn’t make them any easier to say now.
‘It’s over with Jay.’
She watched Dottie’s reaction, which appeared to be a mixture of pity and relief.
‘And Clifford?’ Dottie asked with a sad look. ‘He’s been lost without you.’
Eliza shook her head. ‘I won’t be going back to Clifford, but I do need to speak with him. Is he in, do you know?’ She glanced across at Clifford’s villa.
‘I saw a car pull up earlier but I was a bit distracted.’ She indicated the cases strewn around the place. ‘We lost some valuables when we first moved up here and I really don’t want it to happen again.’
