‘Yes, Mama.’ Kate withdrew her hand, hoping that her mother had not noticed how the mere mention of Ash made her tremble. Any vague hopes that Kate had cherished regarding support from her mother had been dashed long ago.

Visibly relieved, Arabella smiled. ‘I’m glad we had this talk, Kate. I was worried about you having your head turned by an ambitious young man, but fate stepped in and resolved the matter before it became a real problem.’

‘I don’t think fate had anything to do with the uprising, and we wouldn’t be here now if Subedar-Major Patel had not risked his own life to help us escape.’ Kate rose from the table. ‘I just hope that Uncle Edgar and our friends in Delhi are all safe and well.’

‘As do I, Katherine. There’s no need to take that tone with me. I’m very glad we’re back in London, and you’ll thank us one day for saving you from a terrible error of judgement. Going native might be all right for men who are far from home, but totally out of the question for a young woman like yourself.’

‘For your information, Mama, Ashok Patel is an Anglo-Indian. His mother was English, the daughter of a respected writer working for the East India Company.’

Kate left the room, biting back tears of anger and despair. Even allowing for the long sea voyage, she would have expected to receive word from Ash by now. Every day she waited eagerly for the arrival of the post, but with no word from Delhi she was beginning to fear the worst. She could hear her mother’s plaintive voice calling her name, and for a moment she was ashamed of her outburst, but she had only spoken the truth and for that she was not going to apologise.

Kate needed to escape, even if only for an hour or two, and she was about to go upstairs to collect her bonnet and shawl when Jenny came hurrying from the direction of the back stairs.

‘Is everything all right?’

‘We’re going out. Will you fetch my bonnet and shawl, please?’

‘Wait there. I’ll be two shakes of a lamb’s tail.’

Kate had to smile. There was something about Jenny’s seemingly inexhaustible good humour, and her total disregard for the strict rules of behaviour that servants were supposed to obey, that was both refreshing and amusing.

Minutes later, dressed for a walk on a sunny afternoon, Kate set off, accompanied by her maid. It was all very proper, but Kate’s reason for stepping out was something of a rebellion.

‘Where are we going, miss?’ Jenny asked eagerly. ‘Are you going to visit that family you told me about?’

Kate shook her head. ‘No, but I’ve just had a brilliant idea.’ She came to a halt and hailed a hansom cab. ‘Get in, Jenny.’