The Moneylenders of Shahpur (23 page)

Authors: Helen Forrester

BOOK: The Moneylenders of Shahpur

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‘This is a pleasure,’ he said.

‘Ranjit said in the bazaar this morning that you wanted to show me the map, so I came as soon as I could and brought that stuff from the City Engineer.’ She pointed to the pile of papers, and then realized that he was still holding her bare arm. She faltered, and looked up at him a little beseechingly.

‘Ranjit is apt to be a trifle premature,’ he said rather grimly, and continued to hold her arm and look at her, until her pulses quickened and she dropped her own gaze, lest he realize how disconcerted she was.

‘Come and sit down,’ he said, and led her to the couch. He moved the blueprints and sat down beside her. He had never done this before, and she looked at him out of the corner of her eye. He caught the look and she smiled at him. The tight, withdrawn expression on his face faded, but he continued to look at her as if he had never really seen her before. He knew suddenly that he wanted her like he had never wanted anything for years. Not only did he desperately want her in his bed, but he wanted her to be opposite him at breakfast, to listen to his hopes and fears – and even to his very bad jokes. He slowly let go of her arm. Dare he ask her?

His eyes moved over the short, red-gold hair to the little, freckled triangle of skin under her throat, burned red by the sun, and he realized that she had on a different dress, the neckline of which plunged and curved delicately over full, white breasts. It was a dress meant for dinner dates and moonlit evenings, not for hard work on maps. He chuckled, and grinned at her engagingly.

‘Could you stay to dinner once more?’ he asked hopefully. ‘I don’t have enough company these days.’

To his further amusement, she blushed furiously, scarlet running up to her hairline. She fingered her glass bangles nervously, before she answered.

‘Ranjit said you would expect me to stay to dinner
whenever I came. He said you always asked people because you didn’t like eating by yourself.’ She said it teasingly, as if to belie the telltale blush.

It will be a marvel if he hasn’t asked her to stay to breakfast as well, he thought, but he answered without hesitation, ‘Ranjit is quite right.’

‘Then I shall be delighted to stay.’

John stood up and went to the window.

A well burnished moon was rising. The University gardens would be a pretty haven tonight, he thought, and he turned back into the room, his mind made up.

‘Ranjit,’ he roared. ‘Make dinner for two. Armstrong Memsahib has come.’

Ranjit came through the door from the back veranda. He had shaved and had on a clean shirt. He grinned toothlessly, as he announced, ‘Dinner is ready now, Sahib, and there is plenty for two.’

‘Ranjit, you are a genius.’

And Ranjit viewed the rather self-conscious couple and replied contentedly, ‘Yes, Sahib.’

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
THE MONEYLENDERS OF SHAHPUR

Helen Forrester was born in Hoylake, Cheshire, the eldest of seven children. For many years, until she married, her home was Liverpool – a city that features prominently in her work. For the past forty years she has lived in Alberta, Canada.

Helen Forrester is the author of four best-selling volumes of autobiography and a number of equally successful novels, the latest of which is
Madame Barbara.
In 1988 she was awarded an honorary D.Litt by the University of Liverpool in recognition of her achievements as an author. The University of Alberta conferred on her the same honour in 1993.

ALSO BY THE AUTHOR

Fiction

T
HURSDAY
’
S
C
HILD

T
HE
L
ATCHKEY
K
ID

L
IVERPOOL
D
AISY

T
HREE
W
OMEN OF
L
IVERPOOL

T
HE
M
ONEYLENDERS OF
S
HAHPUR

Y
ES
, M
AMA

T
HE
L
EMON
T
REE

T
HE
L
IVERPOOL
B
ASQUE

M
OURNING
D
OVES

M
ADAME
B
ARBARA

Non-fiction

T
WOPENCE TO
C
ROSS THE
M
ERSEY

L
IVERPOOL
M
ISS

B
Y THE
W
ATERS OF
L
IVERPOOL

L
IME
S
TREET AT
T
WO

COPYRIGHT

This novel is entirely a work of fiction.

The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

HarperCollins
Publishers

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Hammersmith, London W6 8JB

www.harpercollins.co.uk

Previously published in paperback by HarperCollins 1994

Fontana 1987

www.harpercollins.co.uk.

A hardcover edition also published by Collins 1987

The Author asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

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Epub Edition © NOVEMBER 2012 ISBN 9780007392179

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This is a novel. Its situations and characters are imaginary. No reference is made or intended to any person living or dead.

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