Читать книгу Secrets and Lies - Jaishree Misra - Страница 13

LONDON, 2008

Bubbles sniffed her forearm appreciatively. Bergamot oil would help unwind her tense mind, the therapist at the Mandarin Oriental had assured her. The diminutive Chinese woman had been unfailingly sympathetic and gentle but, while being ministered to, Bubbles had not been able to help speculating that this woman was thinking, as all her therapists no doubt did: ‘What the hell do you, you beautiful, lazy, pampered wife of a millionaire, have to be stressed about?’ The staff at the Mandarin Oriental spa had emitted a collective sigh when Bubbles mentioned her recent cruise in the Bahamas, but little did they know how stressful it had been for her to play dutiful daughter-in-law throughout her two weeks trapped on the Minerva, not just to Binkie’s mother this time but to all her cousins and best friends too! There was no point trying to explain. These people would never understand anything,

The Bahamas cruise had been particularly difficult for Bubbles, because added to the usual stresses had been the effect of Lamboo’s recent letter. It wasn’t merely that the letter had been a shocking reminder of Lily and Haroon and all the terrible events of that winter. Bubbles had not been at all prepared for the manner in which Lamboo’s words would transport her back to her school years in Delhi and make her think of all the things she could have done to change her fortunes. She had spent much time on board the yacht thinking of the place she was in now, married on sufferance into a family to whom she was at best a convenience, rather than a loved and respected member. Of course, Bubbles could never say anything like that to anyone because she knew that no one in their right mind would ever look at her and think, ‘Oh, poor