‘No. If I hadn’t been so bound up in my own self-pity I might have shown more interest, but I can only walk a few steps with the aid of crutches. I’m a useless cripple. I’ll be a burden to you Annie.’

‘Don’t say that, Joe.’ Annie’s eyes filled with tears. ‘You’re still my Joe, the brother I love. We’ll manage on our own if needs be.’

‘It won’t come to that,’ Kate said sternly. ‘You’re forgetting that you have a family now, Annie, and that goes for Joe, too. We’ll return to Warren House where Joe will be more than welcome. In the meantime I’m going to make some enquiries.’

Annie clutched Kate’s hand. ‘I’ll go with you.’

Kate shook her head. ‘No, you must stay here with Joe. I’ll speak to Sir Robert at dinner this evening – he’ll know how I should go about finding Harry. We’ll be on our way back to England before you know it, and Harry will be with us.’

‘You can’t go gallivanting around the city on your own, Kate,’ Sir Robert said that evening at dinner when Kate told him she wanted to search for Harry. ‘It would be unwise in England, and virtually impossible in this country in these unsettled times.’

‘But the uprising was crushed, Sir Robert.’ Kate put her knife and fork neatly back on her plate, having finished the delicious goat curry that had been served. She could see that Annie was struggling with the spicy food, but that was not uppermost in her mind. All she could think about was finding Harry.

‘It will take the country many years to recover, and unnecessary travel is ill-advised.’

‘That’s why I thought it might be possible to find out where Harry went. He would have had to hire a vehicle and horses. Maybe he needed a guide.’

Sir Robert eyed her over the rim of his wineglass. ‘This young man means a great deal to you, quite obviously. But I seem to remember your father telling me about a certain Subedar-Major Patel who had taken your fancy.’

Kate felt the blood rush to her cheeks, but she met his curious gaze with a firm look. ‘That seems like a very long time ago, sir. Everything has changed since then and I realise that it was not meant to be. I don’t know if Ashok survived the uprising, but if he did I hope he has found happiness.’

‘Well said, Kate.’ Annie clapped her hands. ‘I will accompany Kate, sir.’

‘I thought we’d decided that you should remain here so that you can visit Joe every day,’ Kate said in a low voice.