A Sahib's Daughter (15 page)

“It’s very far away, and things will seem strange and foreign,” Justin explained. He wanted to be honest with her. “Yet in many ways, it will be an easy life for you and certainly very different from anything in Northern Ireland.”

She was overcome. This was certainly unexpected. But she had missed him while he was gone. She knew she loved him, even though he didn’t make it sound too romantic. Had he even said he loved her? Yet it was romantic, in a strange sort of way, going to a strange, exotic country and starting an exciting new life. It would be an adventure, and yes, she was happy, very happy, she said, to accept his proposal. He threw his arms around her. He had been so afraid she was going to say no. Somehow, he needed to have her beside him as he embarked on the biggest adventure of his life.

They had a lot to accomplish in a very short time. Both had to submit notice to their places of work, he to Sirocco and she to Harland & Wolff. They had a wedding to organize, a journey to plan and their new life in India to prepare for. Once Irene got over the disappointment of Justin’s leaving, she entered wholeheartedly into preparations for the wedding and for India. The list of items they needed was interminable. Lorraine wanted to take all her clothes and shoes. There were linens to pack, crockery and cutlery, medication, pictures, ornaments and kitchenware. They had a mountain of possessions that needed to be shipped.

The wedding was at the city hall in Belfast. It was a simple, civil ceremony followed by breakfast at the Malone House Hotel. Lorraine arrived in an ivory dress that came to just below her knees and fitted her tiny form like a glove. She teetered in high-heeled satin shoes with little bows on the toes. She was like a china doll that would shatter if dropped, a child permitted to dress in woman’s clothing. Her veil was a concoction of satin and lace that perched on her head like a butterfly. Her pale skin was accentuated by a very red lipstick and her dark, nervous eyes. She clung to Justin’s arm as if her legs could not support her.

Justin and Adrian, faces scrubbed and pale, wore dark gray suits. Adrian was recently divorced but had already met someone else. To Irene’s relief, she was not at the wedding. It was difficult enough having to cope with Lorraine’s large family. At least they were Protestant, she said to herself. It made everything so much simpler, especially when the young ones came along.

Irene was resplendent in her mink stole that she’d found on sale at Robinson and Cleaver, unfortunately too late for Adrian’s wedding. Unable to resist a bargain, she’d bought it knowing it was only a matter of time before another mink-wearing opportunity would come along. This was not the large wedding she would have liked for Justin, but she knew the photographs would be displayed on her mantelpiece for years to come next to the photograph of Adrian’s wedding. Should that be taken down now they were divorced, she wondered.

She had an irrepressible desire to impress Lorraine’s family. It simply would not have done for her to have been outshone by the mother of the bride. Bernadette was an older version of her daughter, skeletal with ashy-gray skin from years of smoking and frizzy bronze hair.

“Brassy,” thought Irene, “probably colored at a cheap salon or even at home.” She would never have allowed a customer to walk out with those metallic tones.

Edward stood tall beside Irene in his three-piece navy suit. Now that Justin was going so far away, he wondered if he should have gone easier on his younger son, given him more respect. Obviously, he had done well at Howden Sirocco and had easily secured the tea planter’s position. Other fathers encouraged their sons to enter the family business, but Edward had always made it clear that he wanted to cash in on the business as part of his retirement. Newcastle had blossomed into a thriving tourist destination, far from the troubles in Belfast and Armagh. Maybe it was time to think about putting it up for sale. And he had been feeling those pains down his arm. He knew people who went “on the sick” and were paid benefits by the British government for the rest of their lives.

Justin felt a new protectiveness towards his wife when they were married. While not consciously aware of it, he needed the presence of a woman in his life, someone to replace Irene. He was getting the best of both worlds, setting off on his bold adventures with his beautiful, young wife on his arm.

As for Lorraine, she was besotted by her new husband. When he left for India without her, she blamed herself for not doing more to keep him. What was a girl supposed to do? Give in sexually and risk being branded a slut, or save herself and lose her man to someone else who would? She had already decided to give in to him sexually when he proposed to her out of the blue.

From what he said, life in the tea plantations was lonely, and she would miss her family and friends. But how could she be lonely with him at her side? She didn’t need anyone but him. And she wouldn’t have to work in the secretarial pool at the shipyard any longer. She was going to be a married woman who didn’t have to support herself and would live in a house with servants who did everything for her!

Justin and Lorraine would not have time for a honeymoon. They had too much to do. They had to finish packing and sort out which items to ship and which to take with them. All things considered, Lorraine could not be unhappy about not having a proper honeymoon.

“Sure, the trip itself will be a honeymoon, darling. This is all so exciting.”

“It is, surely. Are you going to the doctor for your vaccinations this morning?” Justin felt warm towards his undemanding wife.

“Yes. My ma’s coming with me. We have some shopping to do afterwards.”

“Now, make sure you get yourself some comfortable things to wear. It’s very different out there, you know that.”

“You’ve told me a hundred times. You’re my wee dote, and I love you.” She put her arms around his neck and kissed him on both cheeks. She was the happiest girl in the world.

She had researched books on India in the library in Belfast, scrutinizing pictures of hunting scenes, fearsome warriors, tigers, elephants and ladies in elegant dresses being fanned by native boys, all suggesting to her idyllic romance. Who needed a honeymoon when such luxury awaited them?

Chapter 12

Assam, India, 1972

No amount of research could have prepared Lorraine for the shock of arriving in India and experiencing its bizarre sights, massive population and unrelenting heat! Everywhere, there were mosquitoes and insects that made her skin crawl. She screamed when huge, brown lizards appeared out of nowhere and ran up the walls.

“Darling, they’re only tick-ticks! They’re completely harmless,” said Justin, finding himself in the tenuous position of having to justify his decision to move to the country and to explain away its abundant faults. The servants, who seemed alien and foreboding, made her nervous.

“Are you going to leave me alone with all these outlandish men?” she said, panicked as Justin prepared to go to work on his first day.

“Lolly, I can’t stay here with you, and you know you can’t come with me. You’ll be perfectly safe. They’re not going to attack you.”

She locked herself in her room after he left. She curled up on the bed under the mosquito net, jumping at every sound. When someone knocked on the door, she cowered under the sheet and shouted at them to go away. She was still there when Justin returned home at lunch time.

“You silly goose! You can’t stay in here forever,” he said, hugging her. She clung to him, delighted to have him returned to her, safe and sound.

“Tom and Martha have invited us to dinner tonight,” he said. “They’re the couple from Hillsborough I told you about. Won’t that be nice?”

“It’ll be nice to meet a woman from back home,” said Lorraine. “Although I’m sure they’ll be very grand and sophisticated.”

But the prospect of the outing gave her something to look forward to and prepare for in the recesses of her bedroom. She unpacked her dresses and hung them up in one of the wardrobes. She arranged her bottles of perfume and makeup jars on the dressing table and laid out her shoes. It was reassuring to be surrounded by pretty, familiar things. She had lots of new dresses and hoped one of them would be good enough for dinner tonight.

She took a long soak in the tub and began to relax. She washed her hair and wrapping herself in her dressing gown, ventured onto the verandah to dry it in the sunshine. The bearer prepared a tea tray and brought it out to her. He was gracious and polite, and Lorraine began to feel slightly ashamed.

“Er…thank you, bearer,” she said, in her fluting voice. He had brought a plate of ginger biscuits with the tea. It was very nice sitting in the sunshine and having food and drink served to her. When her hair dried, she put it in rollers, painted her toenails and looked in her wardrobe.

When Justin came home hot and sweaty from the factory, he found her in the drawing room, wearing a frothy pink dress, white, high-heeled shoes and a pearl necklace.

“Now, isn’t that a picture?” he said, relieved to see her smiling again. “I have the prettiest wee wife in the world!”

“Do I look okay?” she asked twirling her skirt.

“You look wonderful. Now, I’d better go and get cleaned up, and we’ll have a drink before we leave.”

Fifteen minutes later, he emerged in gray trousers and a pale blue shirt.

“We have the use of the garden jeep for a couple of weeks. After that, they expect us to use our own transportation. We’ll need to look around for a car of some sort. Maybe Tom will be able to help us find one.”

Driving through the silence of the black jungle to the neighboring tea garden was a new and frightening experience for Lorraine, after the extensive research she’d done on the wildlife and warfare in the country. Although it was only seven, it was already dark. The glare of the head lamps cut through the darkness on the road before them. The garden roads were two narrow strips of dirt with grass growing in the middle. They passed no one on the way. It was reassuring to see the lights of the Davidsons’ bungalow. Tom and Martha were already at the top of the steps to meet them.

“Lorraine, how nice to meet you. Aren’t you the pretty one? Congratulations, Justin. We’re delighted you got the job. It’s good to see you again.” Martha embraced them warmly.

“I can’t thank you enough for your recommendation,” said Justin.

Tom kissed Lorraine’s cheek and said, “Welcome to Assam. I hope you’ll be very happy here.”

Lorraine was still jet-lagged and exhausted from the journey. The humidity sapped her energy. Moths hovered around the lights on the verandah, and mosquitoes were attacking her unbitten skin. Tom and Martha weren’t in the least bit grand, in fact, quite the opposite. There was not a trace of makeup on Martha’s face, and she flopped around in a pair of comfortable open-toed sandals and wore a simple dress.

“Let’s go inside, or you’ll be eaten alive,” she said. “How gorgeous you look! My, what a beautiful dress! Is this what they’re wearing in Belfast these days? We are so out of it here. All my clothes are made by the garden tailor. Look at her wee shoes, Tom, and her adorable purse!” Lorraine couldn’t help but feel warmed by Martha’s genuine friendliness.

Justin was delighted by the effect his new wife was having and hoped that she and Martha would become friends. They passed a very pleasant evening. Tom said he would put Justin in touch with someone who was selling a car. He also succeeded in persuading him to take up golf and thought he knew of someone who wanted to get rid of his clubs.

“Of course, Lorraine should also take up golf,” Martha said. “And tennis, too.” They surveyed Lorraine dubiously. She looked like a china doll that should be on display in a glass cabinet. She was surely too frail and delicate to brandish tennis racquets and golf clubs. But Lorraine was full of surprises. She had apparently spent her teenage summers at a caravan site in Portrush playing golf.

“And also darts and pool,” she confessed, somewhat shamefacedly. “But I’m very rusty. I haven’t played in years, not since I started working.”

“Well, you’re one up on me there,” said Justin. “Though I did play tennis in Newcastle, the few times it wasn’t raining. We had a group that played on Wednesday nights and Sunday mornings. I might even have packed my racquet. Our luggage hasn’t arrived yet.”