The Pearl of Penang by Clare Flynn (best books to read for students txt) 📗

to argue, Evie was relieved that, as if sensing something bad had happened, the girl complied and followed her out of the bathroom. There was no sign of the Malayan woman when they emerged.

Back in the main room – there was no way that Evie would dignify the scruffy space with the word drawing room – Douglas was pacing up and down.

‘Go to the car, Jasmine,’ she said. ‘Tell Miss Helston I’ll be out in just a moment. I need to speak to your father first.’

Jasmine went outside to join the others without protest.

Evie looked at Douglas, still struggling to believe what she had witnessed. ‘How could you? Knowing that I’m carrying our baby. How could you?’ Her voice trembled but she willed herself not to cry.

Douglas looked down, but said nothing. Apart from the instructions to the woman, he hadn’t spoken a word since they’d arrived.

‘Who is she?’

‘My housekeeper.’

‘Your housekeeper?’ She could hear the contempt in her own voice. ‘I have to get those girls home. But you need to know that you have crushed me. Broken me.’ She felt her emotions start to spin out of control. ‘I can’t talk about it now.’ She moved towards the door as he called out her name.

Standing on the threshold, she looked back at him. ‘How long has this been going on?’

‘Look, Evie–’

‘No. On second thoughts, I don’t want to know. You disgust me.’

She rushed down the steps and into the waiting car. ‘Drive! For goodness sake, drive please, Mary,’ she said, her voice barely a whisper.

19

The last half-hour to the ferry port at Butterworth passed in silence, apart from the rhythmic squeak of the windscreen wipers as they drove through a sudden tropical deluge. In the back of the car, the girls had fallen asleep, Penny’s head on Jasmine’s shoulder. Mary Helston drove with her eyes fixed on the road ahead. When Evie had got into the car her friend had squeezed her hand, but said nothing. Evie was grateful for the silence. The thought of speaking about what had just taken place filled her with horror. She preferred to wallow alone in her misery and anger.

Her thoughts were in turmoil. Douglas’s betrayal was devastating, especially after the Christmas holidays they had spent as a family, the close approximation to affection that he had been beginning to show her, and his pleasure at the child they were going to have together. Yet all that time he had been tucked up in his sordid love nest with his native whore. No wonder he spent most of his time at Batu Lembah. No wonder he had refused to bring Evie there. She had been taken for a fool.

Over and over again, her mind replayed the scene in the bungalow. The woman’s hands gently kneading his naked back. The tumbled sheets on the unmade bed. Had they just finished love-making? Had they merely stopped to have some food? Is this what happened every time he was away from George Town? Every night? How long had it been going on? With a chill that froze her to the marrow in spite of the sultry heat of the evening, she wondered who else had known about this. The Leightons? She found it hard to imagine that Veronica wouldn’t have found a way to let her know, to take pleasure in the telling. But Arthur? As Doug’s best friend he must surely have known. And she remembered the knowing looks the Hyde-Underwoods had exchanged when Douglas had brought her to Bellavista; their surprise that he had married.

Evie felt nauseous but it had nothing to do with the baby. She had so far experienced none of the morning sickness that the doctor had warned might blight the early weeks of her pregnancy. She prayed for the drive to be over and longed to be alone.

During the twenty-minute ferry crossing, Mary spoke to her at last. ‘Evie, I want to remind you that you can always count on me. I know you won’t feel like talking at the moment, but when you do, I will be waiting. I can’t make it any better, but at least I understand how you must be feeling.’ She drew her lips into a tight, rueful line and pulled Evie into her arms and gave her a hug. ‘And if you want me to take Jasmine off your hands while you talk to your husband, just tell me. Since Penny lives next door to me they can play together and I can give them both their tea.’

‘Thank you. But I don’t want to talk to him ever again.’ Evie’s voice was a whisper. She gripped Mary’s arm. ‘Does everyone in George Town know? Have they all been laughing at me behind my back?’

’No. I’m certain they don’t know. George Town’s like a village. I’d have heard if there were rumours flying round. And, as you will have gathered this afternoon, Rowena Cameron, Penny’s mum, is one of the biggest gossips on the island. I’ve not heard a squeak.’

Two days later, Evie woke in the middle of the night, needing to go to the lavatory. To her horror she found she had lost some blood.

Panic gripped her. Was she losing the baby?

Staggering to the staircase she went downstairs, through the house, into the garden and hammered on the door of the single-storey building where Aunty Mimi and the other servants slept.

Benny appeared at one of the far windows, then Cookie opened the door. Aunty Mimi, her hair down, stood behind him.

‘Aunty Mimi, please come. The baby...’ She clutched her stomach.

Saying something rapidly in Chinese to Cookie, Aunty Mimi left the lodge and followed Evie back across the lawn and into the house. After questioning Evie, she led her back to bed and told her she would bring tea as soon as she’d summoned the doctor.

Evie sipped the tea, fear and anxiety weighing heavy upon her. She had already lost her husband and now it seemed fate was about to steal her unborn child.