When she had agreed to marry Ian, she had anticipated that there would be problems that she couldn't imagine. Now one had surfaced.
Shaking, she hugged one of the pillows to her stomach. It was deeply disturbing to learn that having a limited marriage did not make her immune to jealousy.
* * *
When Ian returned from Leela's bungalow, he was braced for Laura's wrath, but she was sitting quietly at the desk in their bedroom, transcribing from Pyotr's Bible to her own journal. She had bathed and changed and looked serenely lovely in the lamplight. He wondered how long that would last; she had seemed ready to chop him into crocodile bait when he left.
She glanced up when he entered the room, her expression unreadable. "Is... everything under control?"
"Yes." He took off his coat and removed his cravat. "In case you're wondering, the boy isn't mine."
After a long silence, Laura said, "I assume that you're at least a little sorry that he isn't."
Ian's stomach muscles clenched at how accurately she had divined his ambivalence. He had been disconcerted to hear about Leela's visit, but he had also felt a sudden, furtive hope that he might have an unplanned child to compensate for the ones he would not have in the future. "A little," he admitted warily, "even though it would have been a great complication."
His wife took his answer in stride. "But Leela was your mistress, wasn't she? Or was that my fevered imagination?"
Ian sighed and turned a straight chair around so that he could straddle it, crossing his arms on the back. "She was, for about two years. I ended the arrangement amicably a couple of months before going to Bokhara. There was a remote chance that she had been with child by me but didn't know before I left. When I saw her tonight, though, she was quite definite that the child isn't mine. He's only fifteen months—not old enough."
"Then who is the boy's father?"
"A good friend of mine, an officer named Jock Coburn. After I ended things with Leela, he made an arrangement with her."
"Is she in difficult straits because he has abandoned her?"
"Jock would not have neglected his own child and its mother." Ian ran his fingers through his hair. "Unfortunately, he died. I didn't know till Leela told me tonight. He drowned when moving his company across a river during the monsoons. That was before the baby was born and he hadn't yet made arrangements for Leela's support. After his death, she lived on her savings. I'd given her a bit of a nest egg and Jock had been generous. But now she's destitute and she doesn't want to be a kept woman anymore."
Laura nodded. "I imagine it's a rather insecure existence. Leela came to you hoping for financial aid?"
"She didn't know who else to turn to. She's not from Cambay, so she has no family near, and what she has elsewhere is very poor. That's why she was sold in the first place."
"Sold?" Laura said sharply.
He grimaced. "I'm afraid so. At least she was fortunate in her master, an elderly merchant who treated her well. After he died, she went into business for herself. Now that she has a child, though, she wants a different kind of life."
Laura's eyes narrowed, and Ian wondered if her temper was building toward an explosion. But she said only, "What are you going to do for her?"
"What makes you think I didn't turn down her request?"
"You would never deny help to someone for whom you felt responsible," Laura said expressionlessly. "Nor would I think better of you if you did."
Once again his wife was perceptive. Ian said, "I'll arrange an annuity for Leela. It won't cost much to keep her in comfort. I'll also pay school fees. With a decent education, the boy should be able to find a good position in the government."
"That seems very fair."
There was an uneasy silence, broken when a bell rang in the distance. Laura said, "Does that mean dinner is ready?"
"In about ten minutes. I'd better change."
Laura stood and went to the door so he would have the bedroom to himself, but before leaving she said, "Why did Leela ask to see me? The matter could have been handled without my knowing. Was she trying to make trouble?"
"She's not a troublemaker. I think she was simply curious and wanted to see my wife." Ian gave a wry smile. "Leela complimented me on my taste. She said you were a fine lady. Since she knew that Jock was the boy's father, I think it didn't occur to her that you might draw a different conclusion."
Laura's glance was ironic, but she didn't dispute the point. Her hand was on the doorknob when Ian decided to take advantage of her improved mood. "Why were you so angry earlier? I never claimed to have lived a life of unimpeachable virtue."