‘I do admit I told my mother about you.’
She turned to look at him. ‘You knew how much it mattered. I trusted you.’
‘I’m sorry.’
‘I went to Clifford for you.’
‘And that was terrific. The engineer is coming tomorrow with the first plans. You’ll be impressed. Though the permission for the damming of the river might have to wait.’
‘Don’t you see what you’ve done?’
He frowned. ‘Look, it just slipped out. My mother is a great admirer of yours and she understands, Eliza, truly. She has not judged you and would never tell anybody else, and I certainly have not.’
A surge of anger swept through her: that he could have thought it was acceptable to tell Laxmi! She’d so wanted to be honest with Laxmi herself and now that could never happen. His mother would consider her deceitful at best and a liar at worst. She bent her head and covered her face with her hands.
‘Take your hands from your face. We are being watched.’ He was behaving as if everything was normal, but Eliza had seen the worry in his eyes.
She rose to her feet, ignoring the fixed smile on his face. ‘No, you may be able to dissemble but I cannot.’
‘Please stay.’
She turned her back on him. He’d known Chatur would object if the truth about her came out. It was Jay who’d said things had a way of getting out. Now he’d spoiled everything for her, so why should she help him by telling him about the listening shaft? He deserved to be overheard.
She marched back to her room, where she lay on her bed feeling fragmented. Although she was fuming, worse was the crushing pain of having been foolish enough to trust Jay. She scolded herself for caring about another man who had managed to let her down, but she couldn’t prevent herself hearing his voice and couldn’t stop seeing the worry in his eyes.
Alone with her anxiety, Eliza watched the gold of the morning sun painting the town a pale rosy pink. Then, a little later, she heard the sound of a car’s horn and hurried to the large hall overlooking the main entrance, from where she saw Clifford climbing out of a large black vehicle. A smaller car pulled up behind him. A youngish man carefully slid out feet first, then, as he straightened up, she saw he was carrying a large roll of papers under his arm. He was dressed in western clothing but looked as if he might have some Indian blood. An Anglo-Indian perhaps? Eliza reckoned he must be the engineer Jay had hired. Really she longed to see the plans, but although a messenger had been sent to request her presence in Jay’s study, she couldn’t allow herself to go. Still smarting over his thoughtless betrayal, she sent a message saying she was indisposed, then marched back and forth in her room, righteous indignation stiffening her jaw and leaving her hot and feeling ruffled. It was only when she remembered that his plans might be overheard that she knew she could not let that happen. Despite his indiscretion, the irrigation project would improve so many people’s lives and she could not be the one to ruin that possibility if the plans were to get into the wrong person’s hands. Once she had decided to go, she plucked up courage and ran along the secret passage Indi had shown her, past the astonished guards, and, arriving out of breath, tapped on Jay’s door.
Her insides were somersaulting as he opened it and she saw several pairs of staring eyes.
‘I thought you were ill,’ he said, giving her just the ghost of a smile.
‘I have to speak to you. But first tell them to take the plans to Laxmi’s rooms. It’s really important.’
‘Very well.’ He went back into the room.
She heard the murmur of voices but then he came out to her again. ‘They’ve agreed, though my brother looks furious.’
‘It’s your project. You need to safeguard it. Your study isn’t safe.’
‘Eliza –’
She interrupted as they walked out of earshot of the room and kept her voice low. ‘Where did you tell your mother I was a widow? In which room?’
‘Where? What difference does that make?’
‘Tell me.’
‘She came to my study one afternoon.’
Eliza shook her head. ‘Jay, I promise you that room isn’t safe.’
She explained about the secret listening tube and told him that when she’d put her ear to the hole in the wall she had heard voices coming from his study.
‘Good grief. So that’s why you didn’t want me to reveal the plans in there?’
‘I didn’t know if the plans needed to be kept private at this early stage …’ She paused. ‘So who do you think Devdan could have been talking to?’
‘It was definitely a man?’
