Jim lit a cigarette, remembering how overwhelmed she’d become with it all, to the point where she’d been fighting back tears by the time he’d brought her back to Raffles. Sybil had clearly led a pampered, sheltered life, never having to lift a finger to anything or face anything more trying than what to wear for a party. Now she found herself adrift here, with few skills to be of any use to anyone, and carrying the very real fear that her husband might not have survived. She was most definitely a woman on edge, and he suspected she was only just beginning to realise what a mistake it had been to come.

He wished he could have given her some hope, but that was a dangerous thing to do in these circumstances, and he was dreading the moment she would be forced to face the inevitable outcome of Jock and Philip’s imprisonment. In a way, he thought sadly, it would be better if they’d both died in captivity. At least then Sybil and her girls wouldn’t have to witness the harsh reality of what three years of starvation and brutality could do to a once fit, healthy man.

He finished the cigarette, noted it had at last stopped raining and determinedly turned his thoughts to other things as he stepped down from the veranda. Hailing a rickshaw to take him back to his billet, he sank back into the cushions and closed his eyes. He felt he could sleep for a week, but he very much doubted he’d be allowed to, for he was sharing a room with Jumbo.

Jumbo had discovered that his little Welsh nurse, Myfanwy, was now working at the main hospital, and if she was on duty, he would spend the evening extolling her beauty and rabbiting on about what a brilliant and caring nurse she was, and how she could sing like a lark and kiss like an angel.

Jim gave a wry smile as the man pulled him along through streets that were crowded even at this time of evening. Jumbo had got it bad, and now he’d found love, it seemed he was hell-bent on marrying the girl. What she would think of marrying a man who lived in a bothy on an isolated island was something that didn’t bear thinking about – and Jim was bracing himself against the fallout should she turn him down.

18

Calcutta

Sarah and Jane had become restless and very anxious over the past four days. With only brief contact from their mother and no news of Jock or Philip, each day had seemed to drag interminably. Even the luxury of the hotel had begun to pall, and they’d grown weary of making polite conversation with the other passengers, and feeling like prisoners in this gaudy palace.

‘I simply can’t take another day of this,’ said Jane, flinging a magazine to one side. ‘To heck with our guide’s advice. Let’s go and see something of the city. These walls are closing in on me.’