Meanwhile, Eliza wanted to be somewhere else. It didn’t matter where, as long as she could find some comfort and the chance to still her chaotic thoughts.
‘It can be hard for a woman. You know, in the past, if a Rani or concubine was discovered to be having a liaison with another man, a death sentence was imposed. We used to rule with fear and awe. No woman of the palace would dare show her face to a man who wasn’t her husband.’
‘And you approve of all that?’
‘I wouldn’t say that. I do, however, believe in a wife’s duty to hold the marriage and her family together.’
‘Even if the husband strays?’
‘The husband?’ She laughed. ‘The husbands had so many wives and concubines. My father had three hundred.Straying, as you put it, was built into the system.’
‘And you don’t think the inequality was wrong?’
‘I only think that if a woman isn’t holding the marriage and the family together, who will? We are not men. It is different for us.’
‘I learnt recently that my father had a mistress. It destroyed my mother.’ It was the first time Eliza had spoken of it. In fact it was the first time she had allowed herself to even consider that her mother’s accusation might be true, but something about Laxmi seemed to elicit confession.
‘Men will be men, my dear, so far better to build a way to accommodate them into the system, don’t you think? Then there can be no nasty shocks.’
‘You don’t have a very high opinion of men.’
‘On the contrary.’
‘And what of jealousy? Surely it’s human nature.’
‘Many of the Rani and concubines were, and are, good friends, but of course there is and was jealousy.’
‘And what happened then?’
‘Poisonings, more often than not.’
19
Eliza’s mood had altered drastically since her talk with Laxmi. What a fool she had been to indulge in such hopeless romanticism. From now on her relationship with Jay must remain on strictly formal grounds and, when she passed him leaving the entrance to her part of the building, she merely gave him a curt nod and then hurried past and up her staircase. She hadn’t paused to see what his reaction might have been and, once in her own room, she locked the door, her heart pounding against her ribs. She felt out of breath, even though she hadn’t been running, but, thinking about what had happened, realized that beneath the dignity Laxmi embodied there lay a will of steel.
Perhaps Laxmi was right? Maybe the best thing she could do was to wind up this entire project as quickly as possible. Call it six months in Juraipore and then get out of this godforsaken castle once and for all. Dottie would agree with that, she felt sure. She would just take a few more shots of the royal family and some more in the old city, though of course she’d have to use her Sanderson.
In fact Clifford had organized a picnic beside the lake just outside the town, and there she would tell him that she wanted to speed things up. As for Jay’s irrigation plans? He’d have to continue without her help.
Nothing truly good lasts, she whispered, thinking of when she and her mother had left India to live at James Langton’s place in Gloucestershire. She’d thought he had wanted her there, that he’d welcomed having a child about the place, but then she’d been sent away to a third-class boarding school and she’d always believed it had been because he’d wanted her out of the way.
Thinking of Clifford’s picnic brought back another memory. She recalled that it had happened just before she’d been sent away.
The only time James Langton had accompanied Eliza and Anna on a little outing, they’d walked through sun-drenched fields with him carrying a picnic basket. It was early spring, and Eliza had felt so happy that he was so unusually joining them. But he hadn’t liked the chicken pies her mother had made, and when he accidentally sat on a cowpat, Eliza had laughed. He’d taken hold of her by the elbow, pulled her from the rug she was sitting on, and smacked her hard. She must have been almost thirteen and had found the episode utterly humiliating. She had run back home, crying all the way, and Anna had eventually returned home over an hour later, hair dishevelled and with the buttons on her dress awry. Just when she’d needed her mother’s love and consolation, Anna had taken Langton’s side; it had been a bitter betrayal.
Eliza wasn’t in the mood for a picnic, but had dressed in a full-skirted fine lawn dress in palest green with a wide-brimmed straw hat. Several of Clifford’s acquaintances were to join them, and Eliza mentally prepared herself for an afternoon of small talk. Whatever might be wrong with the palace, you could never accuse its inhabitants of small talk.
She was surprised when it didn’t turn out quite like that.
The location of the picnic couldn’t have been more stunning. Servants carried armchairs, a table, fans and several enormous sunshades from the wagons and horse-carts. Everything was laid out overlooking a lake shimmering in the afternoon sunshine. Cranes, pelicans and storks gathered at the banks; there were even ducks on the water, and the trees lining its edges were bursting with the sound of birdsong. With the surrounding hills rising to blue in the distance, it seemed that Clifford had spared no expense and had thought of everything. Julian Hopkins, the doctor, and Dottie were always friendly, though Eliza felt a little guilty as she gave the woman a hug. She had promised herself that she’d visit Dottie but hadn’t done so recently.
‘Not too hot for you?’ Clifford asked as he pointed out a seat beneath one of the shades. ‘We could have gone down to the lakeside but the air is fresher up here. I hope you like it, Eliza.’
‘It’s lovely,’ she said, and watched the birds gathering at the water’s edge. ‘I want to take a few shots after lunch, later in the afternoon when the sun is a bit lower. I love to catch low-level light.’
The others were talking amiably as the table was laid with a crisp linen cloth and the silver cutlery was set. There were even two tented enclosures that appeared to be made of silk with muslin roofs, and with no curtain on the side facing the lake.
‘They arekanats,’ Clifford said, seeing her looking. ‘Perfect for a rest after a long lunch.’
