Page 47 of Trouble

It was probably one of the finest moments of his life, and could have been very romantic, if Meera had not immediately burst into tears.

‘Oh,’ he said, looking very panicked. ‘Miss .?.?. Miss Bhandari, I am so sorry, I just—’

‘Not your fault,’ said Joe. ‘Inevitable. The nose has hit the grindstone. Meera, here.’ He passed her a handful of clean rags, and Meera pulled away from Mr Khan and sat down in the nearest chair, mopping at herself ineffectually. ‘I’ll have Akia fetch some dry clothes.’

He left to find her – although Emily suspected that he was also leaving so that he would not have to bear witness to any more weeping – and Mr Khan sat down next to Meera, looking deeply concerned.

‘I apologise, Mr Khan, this is not at all becoming .?.?.’ Meera said through her tears. ‘If you will just give me a moment, I will regain control of myself.’

‘Not at all! You are always working too hard, Miss Bhandari – an affliction I suffer from myself. I can never judge when I have gone too far, because the more I work, the better business becomes – but we are only human, after all.’

Emily decided that the best possible course of action was to make some tea. She busied herself with the hot water and the collection of crockery, trying not to listen to Meera and Mr Khan speaking to each other quietly behind her. After a minute or so, Meera’s hiccuping sobs subsided. She even laughed wetly at something the grocer was saying.

Fine work,Mr Khan,Emily thought, as she set the tea to steep.

‘Oh, Meera, what have you done to yourself?’ Akia said, when she came in holding a fresh set of clothes, Joe behind her. ‘Ah. Well. I see Mr Khan has been doing a very good job of looking after you. Look, Amy has been unfathomably pleasant and made you some tea – you drink that and I will arrange a bath, all right?’

Mr Khan went a little red.

‘Akia,’ Meera said, noticing. ‘Please. We have company.’

‘Oh, sorry. Mr Khan, please rest assured that Meera has never taken a bath in her life, she finds the whole thing vulgar and beneath her—’

‘Akia,’ Meera said, but she did not seem truly vexed. She was smiling, in fact, as she wiped the tears from her cheeks. ‘Oh, dear. This day.’

She was sipping her cup of tea when Captain Edwards entered, wearing the sort of scruffy, worn-out clothes that had caused Emily to mistake him for a groom on her very first day. He stopped short when he saw the scene in front of him: Meera red-eyed and stocked, Mr Khan’s chair so close, Joe mopping at the floor.

‘Hmmm,’ he said. ‘I .?.?. Never mind.’

‘Did you need something?’ said Meera.

‘I .?.?. Is there something amiss?’

‘No. I mean, yes. I am afraid I ordered the wrong paintbrushes,’ said Meera. She was attempting to put on a brave face, but a little wobble had returned to her voice.

Captain Edwards’s brow furrowed. His black eye really was quite spectacular: a half-moon from cheekbone to eyebrow, in pretty shades of bloodied lavender and gorse yellow. He exchanged a glance with Joe, who only gave him a very small shrug.

‘Meera,’ he said gently. ‘They are only paintbrushes.’

Meera smiled in a watery sort of way. ‘Didyou need something?’

‘I just wanted somebody to .?.?. I was in the garden, but I .?.?.’

‘Amy,’ Meera said, looking at her imploringly, ‘if you would .?.?. ?’

So much for staying as far away from the captain as possible; Emily could hardly refuse to help him, and so she simply nodded, and if Captain Edwards stood awkwardly for a second in the doorway before nodding, too, she could only hope that nobody else in the room noticed.

They walked silently out into the back garden, Captain Edwards keeping such an exaggerated distance that Emily felt a bit like a pariah. They came to a stop by the first flower bed, in which an enormous peach-coloured rose seemed to be trying to eat itself.

‘You know it wasn’t just about the paintbrushes,’ Emily said.

Captain Edwards nodded seriously, keeping his eyes on the flowers.

‘This is foolish, really,’ he said suddenly. ‘Usually I talk things through with Meera, because she has a way of .?.?.’ He waved his hand slightly.

‘Untangling?’ said Emily.

‘Yes. Yes, exactly,’ said Captain Edwards. ‘I wanted to do something with the garden. Not to get rid of what’s here,’ he added quickly, ‘but to .?.?. cut back the overgrowth. Remove only what cannot be salvaged. Give the rest some space to grow. We can only do a little this year before the cold sets in, but we could plan for the future. Miranda would have .?.?. Well, the garden was her domain, really. But it might be time to assume the mantle.’