‘I’m not active these days. I tried to get Anish to give permission for a protest march but he wasn’t keen. Anyway, didn’t Jay tell you? I’m all talk.’
‘That’s not what I heard.’
‘And your meaning?’
‘Just rumour. You know.’
‘I wouldn’t be surprised if the British have pulled out of this –’ he grimaced as he waved in the direction of the lake – ‘by design.’
‘Why would they?’
‘Has Jay already incurred debts?’
She bit her lip but didn’t reply.
‘That could discredit Jay and cause trouble at the palace. It’s no secret they want to get rid of Anish, and if Jay is discredited there’d be good reason for him not to take the throne either.’
Eliza thought about what Clifford had said. The British did want to depose Anish, so it was conceivable that financial trouble for Jay and ensuing trouble at the castle could work in their favour.
‘So what now?’ she said, lifting her upturned palms.
‘You tell me.’
Jay had not been at his palace after all, and once they had returned to the main castle of Juraipore Eliza decided to slip down to the listening tube on the lowest corridor. She knew Jay had taken to listening in from time to time, but it was awkward for him to be seen down in the bowels of the palace. She’d gone on her own a few times but the room had always remained in silence. Until today, and today something was going on. She heard a deep sigh and then heavy breathing. Then she heard a man’s voice. Perhaps Jay had come home, wherever he had been?
‘You don’t seem happy today. Have you grown bored with me?’
There was the murmur of a woman’s voice and then it sounded as if something crashed to the ground. The man was cursing and the woman was laughing. Eliza recognized that laugh.
‘The door is locked and I have left the key in the lock. Nobody will know.’
‘Not in here. I told you, not in here.’
‘Don’t you want to imagine I’m your adored Prince Jay? I thought it would excite you to be in here.’
Eliza realized the man was Chatur, and she was certain he was in there with Indira.
She replaced the picture on the wall and ran to Jay’s quarters, hoping that he had actually come home. But the castle was huge, and even using the secret passage it was easy to take a wrong turn. It took nearly ten minutes, and when she did arrive there was no one there. She dashed to his study without stopping to consider if her haste was strictly necessary. It hadn’t sounded as if Indi was actually in danger, but Eliza couldn’t imagine any woman choosing to be alone with a ruthless man like Chatur. The study door was locked, so she thumped hard, hurting her hand in the process.
‘Who is in there?’ she called out.
No reply. She waited for five minutes, and when she spotted Jay coming along the corridor she blinked rapidly and a lump developed in her throat.
‘I thought you were leaving,’ he said.
She shook her head. ‘I’m not going.’ Then she put a finger to her lips and moved a few paces from the door.
‘I overheard Indira with Chatur,’ she whispered. ‘He was in there trying to have sex with her, I think. Certainly trying to do something.’
‘Against her will?’
‘It didn’t sound like she was trying to stop him. I think she just wanted to go somewhere else.’
‘She wouldn’t want to be overheard in there.’
Jay walked up to the door and turned his key in the lock. He opened the door but they could both see that the room was empty. He went in, followed by Eliza, who was now beginning to wonder if she’d imagined the entire episode. Jay glanced around.
When he spoke he kept his voice low. ‘Everything seems to be in place.’
