Jane's Corner: The Jewel of the Maharajah's Eye (Chapter 14)
So this is it as they say the last
chapter. If you have enjoyed do let me know. Love to read your comments!
Chapter 14
The palace was a lonely soulless place he
thought as he wandered from room to room without Persephone. Amar Singh and
Choti Raani had packed up and left to live in the Delhi apartments. Samir noticed that they had
taken whatever valuables they could with them including a lot of the furniture
but he couldn’t work up enough anger to bother about getting it back.
Even Bahadhur Singh was not there to break
the silence, telling him on the phone that he had gone off to see a relative in
the UK
who needed him. Bahadhur Singh had tried to persuade him to contact Persephone
again, pleading with him to at least call her, but he had assured him that
Persephone would be better off without him.
“She will find someone Bahadhur Singh and
be happier with him then me in the long term.” he had told him firmly. Bahadhur
Singh had rung off with a sigh and Samir had resigned himself to trying to live
without her.
Samir threw himself back into his work with
gusto, flying to New York, but his
restlessness led him back to India
and his mother's apartments. It seemed that Persephone had somehow managed to
leave her presence behind everywhere. He could see her smiling at him and
looking at him with those blue-violet eyes that undid him at every turn. Every
time he looked at his mothers portrait he could see Persephone in her. He would
get Bahadhur Singh to give her his mothers sapphire jewels on his behalf, he could
get them couriered to him in the UK. That way Bahadhur Singh could
tell him first hand how she was. It had been just over two months now and a
moment had not passed when she had not crowded his thoughts. No woman had
affected him this way ever, but then he had never fallen in love before either,
keeping himself at a distance in each and every relationship, always keeping a
part of himself back and moving on just as soon as it looked likely that the
situation was getting serious.
Persephone had come in and turned that all
on its head. Somehow managed to see past all of that and get to the real him.
How had she managed to do that? He examined it from every angle, there was no
falseness in her at all, what she gave of herself was everything. She had given
him her love, her happiness and her body. She embraced life with a smile, her
excitement in every small thing brought pleasure to all that met her. Everyone
succumbed to the spell that was Persephone, as her name said she was the
bringer of spring in his life.
In return he had given her nothing but
pain. His half-brother had tried to rape her, his uncle and aunt had tried to
kill them both and worst of all he had selfishly taken such a precious gift
from her for which he would never forgive himself. She was better off without
him, perhaps she would have found someone else by now or will in the future
that would bring her the happiness she deserved, but why did that thought hurt
so much? He couldn’t even bear to think about someone else with his Persephone.
Her in another man's arms, someone else claiming those sweet lips in a kiss,
another man making love to her. Damn! Why did it hurt so much when he knew that
it would be for the best.
He stared at the slide show on his laptop
for the thousandth time losing himself in her memories.
Professor Gupta looked out of his window at
the Oxford
college spires. His eyes were moist with tears. Bahadhur Singh had just left,
it was almost morning. He stared at the new dawn, his thoughts all jumbled.
Persephone had fallen in love with a Maharajah, not only that but a billionaire
and renowned businessman worldwide. According to Bahadhur Singh he was deeply
in love with her too but because of his complicated past he had not admitted it
to her.
Bahadhur Singh had told him, that Samir
would make his daughter happy, and he had a plan that would make him realise
that just as there could be no one else but Persephone in his life now for
Persephone too there could be no other. He had agreed to go along with Bahadhur
Singh's plan but if Persephone she found out, he knew she would react badly.
Acting wasn’t his forte and he was sure
Perse would catch him out straight away. He didn’t want to hurt her any more
then she was hurting already but on the other hand Bahadhur Singh had managed
to convince him that his plan would work like a dream.
“Johnson I need to hire an actor, a very
good looking handsome young man, can you arrange for some candidates by
tomorrow? We will need him for approximately half a day to a day.” Bahadhur Singh
said to Johnson, his dark eyes twinkling. Thank god Prof. Gupta had agreed to
go along with his plan. Samir in his eyes was being as stubborn as a bull. He
was pining away in India
and Persephone was the same here. Why couldn’t Samir see that Persephone would
only be happy with him. Bahadhur Singh smiled to himself, let's test Samir's
theory that he would be fine seeing Persephone settle with another man.
Johnson was good as his word. By the next
afternoon he had managed to source three candidates according to Bahadhur
Singh's specifications. Prof. Gupta, Bahadhur Singh and Johnson interviewed them and chose a very good
polished young man to play the lead role in Bahadhur Singh's plan. After
spending a whole afternoon making sure that the young man knew his lines and
what his role was supposed to be, it was time for Prof Gupta to action his part
of the plan.
“Call her now.” Bahadhur Singh urged.
Prof. Gupta paled, this was worse then any
international conference he had addressed, Perse was sharp as a knife she was
sure to catch him lying to her.
“It will be fine Vikram.” Bahadhur Singh
said, excited to get his plan off the ground.
He picked up the phone and dialled her
number she answered in a couple of rings, rushing straight in he said, “Perse
darling I have had a friend of mine contact me from my old days in London. It seems his
nephew is doing some research into Greek classics and he asked me if he could
stay with me for a few days, he is coming tomorrow evening, could you pick him
up for me and take him out to dinner? Err I have meetings with the board for
the whole day and they usually run so late as you know.”
Perse frowned into the phone. “Which friend
is that dad? From London?
Not Uncle James's nephew? He is the only one I remember being interested in
classics, and that's because he had a crush on me!”
“Err no it's not someone you know, his name
is David. I will let you know the actual time and place when its fixed.”
She didn’t feel like going out at all but
her dad had already committed so she said. “OK no problem dad I will look after
him.”
Prof. Gupta put the phone down with a sigh
of relief at having done his bit. Now it was Bahadhur Singh's turn to call
Samir and play his part.
Bahadhur Singh dialled and waited. “Thank
Goodness you called!” came Samir's concerned voice down the line. “I was
getting worried, why didn’t you answer your phone?”
“Samir beta!” Bahadhur Singh said feebly
into the phone, then coughed horribly.
“You’re ill! Where are you?” Samir's heart
pounded. Bahadhur Singh never addressed him as Samir unless he was not himself.
“I am in the UK,
I was visiting Oxford,
I came to see an old friend of mine but I had a minor heart attack yesterday.”
Bahadhur Singh crossed his fingers behind his back and carried on, “I just phoned
to say that the doctors are not going to let me fly for a few days in case it
happens again..Samir...” and he again coughed horribly down the line.
“Give me your address I will be there by
tomorrow. You are not to travel anywhere alone, you hear me. I am coming!”
Bahadhur Singh put the phone down with a
huge grin on his face. He knew Samir would be packing his bag right now and be
on his way in a couple of hours.
“Johnson now we have to book somewhere to
eat near my hotel for that evening, Vikram you make sure Persephone is there
with David.”
“David you know what to do. Act very
enamoured with madam, if I know his highness it will not take much to bring him
to his senses.”
Bahadhur Singh sat back in his seat with a
determined look in his eyes. His plan would work, it had to, he couldn’t bear
to let down his Raani Saheeba again. He would bring Persephone back to Samir.
He would bring them together so they realised that they could only be happy
with each other.
Samir arrived by late next afternoon at the
hotel Bahadhur Singh was staying at, Bahadhur Singh lay in bed pretending to be
ill.
“I am feeling much better today Sir, I am
so sorry to make you come all the way here.” he said trying not to show how
excited he was at seeing him.
Samir glared at him. “You should have
called me first, the moment you were feeling ill. Have the doctors visited you
today? What's the doctor's name? Let me call a specialist from London!”
Bahadhur Singh groaned, fidgeting in bed
with embarrassment at having to play ill when he felt as fit as a fiddle.
“Err yes I was checked out thoroughly this
morning and in-fact I was told that I should get up and about this evening,
errr go and get some fresh air.” Bahadhur Singh said trying to sound
convincing.
“Really? I thought after a heart attack you
should get plenty of rest.” Samir questioned, raising a dark brow.
“Oh yes, but it was a very small one. And …
I ..I feel fine. Sir why don’t you settle into your rooms while I have a shower
and get ready. Err then we can get some fresh air like the doctor advised.”
Samir looked at Bahadhur Singh suspiciously
what was he up to?
Persephone looked at her watch again. The London train was late.
She got up and walked up and down the platform unable to shake off the feeling
that something was about to happen. Several men glanced her way, she made an
arresting picture in a pretty floral flowing day dress.
Her phone rang, she looked at the display
it was her father.
“Dad, Hi! I am at the platform the train is
running late.”
“Persephone, I have booked a table for you
at the new Italian place on the High street. Its called Zaza. Its booked under
your name, why don’t you take David there and I am hoping to join you after my
meetings finish.”
Her dad had booked a table? Persephone frowned.
He never booked anything, always just turning up and hoping that they would
have a table, invariably with his luck they always did. Something was going on
here and she wasn’t sure what. She just hoped her dad had not decided to set
her up with someone, recently he had been talking about moving on. Protectively
she placed a hand on her abdomen, she had yet to tell him about the baby.
She was about to ask him, when she heard
the train approaching, so she said, “OK fine, see you later dad.” the train chugged
into the platform and a few people got out, she approached a man who matched
the description her father had given him.
“David?”
“Yes that's me and you must be Persephone.”
Smiling he extended a hand. Perse shook hands with him. He seemed a nice enough
young man. They chatted as she drove him into Oxford.
Johnson rang Bahadhur Singh to tell him
that they were on their way. “Thank you Johnson.” Bahadhur Singh said
terminating the call, he had to get Samir to the restaurant before she got
there, so it didn’t look too suspicious.
“Sir I am ready to go, I will meet you
downstairs in the lobby.” he said using the hotel line.
Freshly showered, Samir combed his hair and
buttoned up his shirt. Bahadhur Singh was definitely up to something. He had
given him the run around on many questions when he had asked with regards to
why he was in Oxford
of all places. So near to where Persephone lived and worked, but Bahadhur
Singh had assured him that he was here
to meet a friend of his from his school days, nothing at all to do with madam.
Tomorrow he was going to get a doctor to look at him and if he pronounced
Bahadhur Singh fit enough, he would fly him out of here and back home before
they ran into Persephone.
They walked down the High street, Bahadhur
Singh smiled and said he felt much better, upon seeing an Italian restaurant he
persuaded Samir to go and have dinner there.
“The receptionist was telling me that this
is a very nice place to eat, I am famished, let's go and try this.” They walked
in and Bahadhur Singh requested a table in a corner, once agreed he practically
ran forward to secure the chair which faced the wall, making sure Samir sat
looking out onto the other tables.
Samir looked at him quizzically, but
Bahadhur Singh hid behind a menu pretending to study it with great interest.
They ordered and waited for the food to arrive. Bahadhur Singh asking about
what had happened to Raghav, Choti Raani and Amar Singh whilst he had been
away.
Samir told him that Raghav was in custody
and his trial would be coming up in a few weeks time. Choti Raani and Amar
Singh had moved to Delhi
and were living there now. He was just about to launch into what his plans for
the palace were, when his heart nearly stopped. Persephone walked in with a
man. From their corner table he could see her clearly without being spotted
himself.
It all slotted into place, he looked at
Bahadhur Singh, his eyes dark and accusing. He wanted to rage at him but on the
other hand seeing Persephone was like seeing an oasis for a man stranded so
long in a desert. She looked very pale making her red hair look brighter. Her
normally sparkling blue eyes had a wan quiet look about them now. He watched as the man put a hand on her waist
to escort her into the seat that the waitress had showed them. His fingers
curled into fists to stop himself from calling out.
Perse smiled at David for the umpteenth
time, hoping that her dad would turn up quickly. David was a nice enough young
man but he did have a tendency to be too touchy feely. He kept touching her
hair and putting his hands on her arm. Now, she was sure her dad was trying to
set her up with him.
“Err what did my father tell you about me?”
She asked straight to the point.
David seemed startled by that question, a
frown marked his handsome face. “Err nothing much, just that you are also a
specialist in classics, and you write books. Did I say something wrong?” he
reached out and closed his hands over hers. It was Persephone's turn to look
startled. She hastily withdrew her hands out from under his and sipped her
water thirstily. Perhaps she was wrong about her father trying to set her up.
Perhaps David was just being friendly. She smiled wanly at him again, looking
at her watch. A curious prickly feeling that she was being watched came over
her, but then she felt like that a lot lately, so she dismissed it. She peered
around the restaurant but couldn’t spot anyone she knew. Samir was not going to
suddenly appear. Why couldn’t she get
that into her head, she told herself firmly.
Samir sat stiffly watching them his eyes
blazing with fury. Why did he keep touching her when she was clearly shrinking
away from him. Was Persephone in a bad relationship? Was he bullying her? All
sorts of angry thoughts crowded his mind.
Bahadhur Singh watched the emotions run
across Samir's face. It was just as he had thought, when Samir actually saw the
reality of what he had been saying he would not be able to stand seeing madam
with anyone else. At that precise moment Samir looked into his eyes and
Bahadhur Singh knew he had realised the truth for himself. Samir's emotion
filled eyes told him. Bahadhur Singh nodded acknowledging the fact, a smile
broke out his lips, he had been right to go to these lengths to make him
understand.
The starters arrived, the waiter placed the
garlic bread in front of Persephone. Immediately the strong smell hit her
senses and a wave of queasiness hit her hard. She reached for the cold water
again downing it in one gulp.
“Are you OK?” David asked his eyes full of
concern. He reached out and gently touched her cheek. Her eyes filled. She
couldn’t stand anyone else touching her like that. Pain filled her heart.
“Err I am fine.” she rose, excusing herself
before she burst into tears in front of this stranger, walking forwards looking for the ladies room.
She felt his presence before she saw him,
turning she looked into the corner and there he was. Looking so utterly
handsome in a casual light blue shirt and dark jeans. She blinked her eyes to
try and clear her head. She was hallucinating again, but when she reopened them
he was still there. She watched him slowly rise and come towards her. His eyes
were filled with raw emotion, an emotion she saw that made him hold his body so
stiffly. He looked thinner, his face had a grey strained look about it. She
reached out with her hand to see if he really was there and not a figment of
her imagination.
“Samir!” His name came to her lips like a
prayer. Her fingers reached up as if to wipe away the deep lines of strain on
his face.
“Persephone.” his voice was deep and so
sweet to her ears. Then there was blackness as she fainted away into his arms.
“Persephone! Persephone!” Shocked to the
core he caught her up in his arms. David came towards her reaching out to help.
“Don’t even think about it!” His tone like
a whip, he stopped the younger man in his tracks. Bahadhur Singh winked at
David to tell him his job was done whilst Samir lifted Persephone tenderly into
his arms and strode out of the restaurant towards his hotel.
Bahadhur Singh paid quickly and walked out
into the evening air after Samir. Looking up he prayed to the gods that these
two would sort themselves out and he could go about arranging a wedding,
fishing out his mobile he called Vikram to tell him the good news.
People in the lobby stared at him but Samir
was not concerned with anything but the woman in his arms. She slowly opened
her eyes and stared up at him.
“Samir! What are you doing here?”
“Shh!” He said entering his suite and
walking to the bedroom. He laid her gently on the bed, picking up the phone
from the bedside.
Persephone, leaned forward and cut the
call. “Samir I don’t need a doctor.” she said reading his thoughts.
“You are so incredibly stubborn!” He said
giving her a dark glare.
For the first time in months Persephone
smiled and said, “Look who's talking. What are you doing here?” Hope filled her
heart, maybe he had changed his mind and come for her.
“I came because Bahadhur Singh orchestrated
a plan to make sure that I came to Oxford
and met up with you.” He declared truthfully.
Bahadhur Singh? Perse wondered how he had
managed to set up her going to that restaurant and then realised that her dad
had to be involved as well.
“Dad!” She gasped. He has been behaving
strangely for the last two days. The hope died in her heart, so he hadn’t come
to find her at all of his own accord. She swung her legs over the bed ready to
slip off. She had to leave quickly, seeing him would just add to the constant
pain in her heart.
“Where do you think you are going?” He questioned
pulling up a chair next to the bed and settling himself in it right in front of
her. “You are to stay in bed until I am satisfied that you are not going to
faint on me again.”
“Look Samir, it's clear that you were
brought here under false pretences. I am sorry but by the sound of things my
father must have been involved as well, I apologise on his behalf. I should go
now.” She said staring directly into his eyes. A big mistake. His eyes were
incredibly dark with emotion. His face taut with strain.
Then she remembered the baby. Should she
tell him about the baby, but he would only feel obliged to make arrangements
for the welfare of the baby. She could provide for it herself she didn’t need
his money. It was clear that he hadn’t intended to see her again from what he
just said.
“Bahadhur Singh was only........” Samir
started choosing his words carefully.
“And my father, I think he had to be
involved too. Perse interrupted softly. “But don’t blame them, they were only
doing what they thought was right.”
“Persephone I am not blaming anyone.” he
said with a sigh, wishing she would not look as if she was about to take flight
any moment.
“We caught Raghav, he will be on trial for
his crimes in a few weeks.” Samir told her watching her face closely. She was
so close he could hear her every breath, her was breathing so shallow as if she
were trying to keep control of herself and slowly losing the battle.
“That's good. I am glad.” she replied
looking into his eyes again and then looking away quickly. She was glad that
Samir had caught him, at least he could be at peace with himself now. She
should tell him about the baby. He really had a right to know, her conscience
told her.
“Choti Raani and Amar Singh have gone off
to live in Delhi.”
He said.
A puzzled look came over her pale face.
“Why? I thought they loved the palace?”
“It's a long story Persephone, suffice to
say that they wont be missing the lifestyle of the palace, enjoying the same in
Delhi, but I no longer wanted them there in my home.”
Now her eyes became pools of deep violet,
“but....but I thought you hated living there?”
“After you came and stayed there with me,
that all changed. You made that place a home for me Persephone.” He gripped the
handles of the chair he was sitting on so hard, stopping himself from reaching
out for her, until she really understood what he was trying to get to.
“Oh!” she didn’t know what to say, her
hands fidgeted in her lap. 'That's nice' seemed awkward.
“After you left I chased Raghav all over
the far east until we caught him finally a couple of weeks ago. I thought I
would feel fantastic that I caught him and justice would be done for you and so
many others but all I felt was emptiness. I tried to throw myself back into
work, but each time I kept being pulled back to the palace and my mother's
apartments. When I was there I felt your presence everywhere, I felt you were
there with me Persephone.”
Huge tears spilled over from her eyes and
ran down her face, his face was filled with so much pain.
“I grew up seeing my mother suffer so much.
She loved my father but he never loved her, she tried to change him for the
better and he killed her for it. My uncle and aunt never did a thing to stop
him when they could have. I vowed that I would never allow myself to fall in
love, I would never allow myself to get into a position where someone would
have such a hold over me. My father, my uncle, Raghav my half-brother they are
all terrible men, I feared that when it came to love I would be the same. I
would end up hurting any woman who fell in love with me. I kept telling myself
that you are better off without me, I would be happy to see you settled with
someone else but the truth is that I can't. I wanted to kill that man sitting
next to you, when he was touching you, I wanted to tear him limb from limb! I
would have realised that eventually but I think Bahadhur Singh became impatient
with my stupidity and arranged all this.”
Now she understood why he had pushed her
away. She put a hand out and touched his face. “Samir I don’t have any regrets
about loving you, I always will.” She tried to stand up and leave but he
stopped her.
“What I am trying to say is I love you
Persephone and I want to be with you until the day I die, if you will have me?
You told me when you left that when I laid the ghosts of past you will be
waiting is that still true?” his eyes implored her, his voice was tight with
strain.
Persephone nodded a yes, unable to speak as
the tears of happiness choked her.
Finally he let go of all that tension, a huge
sigh escaped him. Reaching out he picked her up and settled her on his lap no
longer holding back.
“Persephone!” His lips covered her in a
soul searing kiss that seemed to go on and on. Her arms wound themselves around
his shoulders and her fingers threaded themselves into his thick dark hair.
“Samir!” she gasped when he finally let her
up, his lips raining kisses over her face.
He crushed her to him, “Persephone, god!
How could I have been so stupid. I could never be happy without you.”
“Or I you!” She replied softly, a smile
played on her lips. “I would have had to find you soon anyway Samir.”
His lips closed over hers again as if
couldn’t hold himself in check.
“Hmmm.. You missed me that much?” He
teased. His dark brown eyes smiled down at her, his hands were already causing
havoc where ever they touched.
“I would have had to let you know that
someone else would miss you too if you didn’t reappear in our lives.” she said
softly.
“Someone else? Who?” He asked a very
puzzled frown on his face.
She took his hand and placed it gently over
her tummy. Her eyes full of tears and happiness.
For a moment he didn’t understand and then
suddenly it dawned on him what she was trying to say. “But!” Then at her blush.”But... I used..!”
“Accidents do happen even to Maharajah's !”
Persephone replied teasing him.
“A baby! Persephone, what if I am a
terrible father, like mine?” Horrors from his childhood suddenly crowded his
mind feeding the doubts in his mind.
“Samir you are nothing like any of them.
You will be a fantastic father. I know it.”
“How can you be so sure?” He asked at her
absolute blind faith in him, his dark eyes filled with love for her.
“I would have never fallen in love with you
otherwise.” Perse told him confidently as she reached up to tug his head down
to hers kissing him reverently.
“Persephone, I will spend the rest of our
lives loving you and making sure I live up to your faith in me. Marry me and
make me the happiest man alive?”
Perse nodded as tears flowed once again,
robbing her of speech.
He reached across from the chair and
fumbled in his briefcase bringing out a velvet jewellery case. Flicking it
open, he dazzled her with his mother's sapphires. “This set didn’t have a ring
so I had one made for you, it didn’t seem fitting to give you this without a
ring, perhaps my heart was already telling me that you would be wearing it.”
With that he slipped it onto her finger.
“The jewel of the Maharajah's eye.”
Persephone whispered gasping at the beautiful ring on her finger.
“You are the jewel of this Maharajah's eye
no other.” he said as his lips closed over's her again.
It was much later when they phoned Bahadhur
Singh and Dr Gupta to let them know that their plan was a definite success and
to start preparing for a wedding.
.
THE END.
© Jane Meme Copyright 27.02.2012
Awww Jane it is pure and un-adulterated Mush :-)
ReplyDelete*Grins* did u expect anything less my Annie??
ReplyDeleteBeautiful end to an amazingly romantic story! Good work Jane! All the best for your future stories preferrably with Maaneet in them ;) loveeee :D
ReplyDeleteaww thanks Sarah keep following the blog ;)
ReplyDeleteA fitting end to a lovely tale, Janey!
ReplyDeletethis was a great read..thanks a lot!
Thanks Indep for appreciating woohoooooooooooooo!
ReplyDeleteUnbelievably well written story...I enjoyed it thoroughly..
ReplyDelete