‘Gosh. I’d no idea so much was involved. I didn’t think there’d be a lot to do since they’re just trees. I thought it would have been quite easy. Well easier than crops that you grow every year.’
‘Easy?’ He sniffed.
‘I thought you just left them to grow and then cut them down to get the rubber out.’
He gave a snort of derision. ‘Didn’t you learn anything at school? Rubber’s not like timber. We don’t cut the trees down; we tap them.’ Evie shifted slightly to edge closer to him. Above them she could make out the dark shape of the motionless ceiling fan.
‘When I first came out east, I intended to sell the plantations to one of the big rubber companies, return to England and live on the proceeds. That was what I told my wife. That was why she never forgave me when I didn’t.’
‘Why did you change your mind?’
She could see the whites of his eyes, pale ghosts in the dark of the room.
‘The Depression knocked the bottom out of the rubber market. Prices collapsed. Costs rose. It was like being sucked into quicksand. I thought I was going to lose everything. I couldn’t have given the land away. But secondly, and more importantly, I’d fallen in love with rubber.’
‘Seriously?’ Evie suppressed the desire to laugh. ‘That sounds a bit odd.’
‘It gets under your skin. Everything about the business.’
Taking advantage of the way they were actually talking at last, Evie suppressed her nervousness and said, ‘I’d love to see the plantation. Will you take me? Show me around.’
She felt him stiffen in the bed beside her. ‘The estate’s not a place for you.’
‘Why ever not?’
‘It’s called work, Evie. I can’t just swan about showing you around as if it were a day out. I’ve far too much to do. Besides, most of the time I’m not even here on the island.’ He thought for a moment. ‘The manager at Bellavista, Reggie Hyde-Underwood, could show you around I suppose. Benny can drive you up there.’
‘I’d prefer it were you.’
‘Reggie’s more than capable. I’m needed over at Butterworth.’
‘Butterworth?’
‘My estate on the mainland is near there.’
‘I didn’t know you had two estates. I thought it was just up in the hills here on the island.’
‘I inherited Bellavista, here on Penang, but when a chance came up to buy land on the mainland I took it.’
‘I could come over to Butterworth one day. It’s only twenty minutes on the ferry to the mainland. Or I could come with you and stay in your bungalow for a while. Just for a few days.’ She tried to keep the pleading out of her voice. If he agreed and she liked it there, maybe they could eventually live there together.
‘Out of the question.’
‘I just want to see the place. Isn’t that where you and Felicity lived when you were first married? I might like it. I’m not the same person as her.’
‘No, you’re not.’ He flung back the sheet and got out of the bed, gathered up his discarded dressing gown from the bedroom floor and putting it on, moved to the door.
Evie was open-mouthed at the sudden violence of his reaction.
‘Goodnight,’ he said and left the room, closing the door behind him.
Left alone in the bed, Evie began to shake, suddenly cold, despite the warmth of the night. She pulled the sheet back over herself and curled into a ball. How had that happened? More to the point, why had it happened? All she had done was express an interest in his life and his work. Just as she’d believed she was beginning to make some progress in getting to know Douglas, in penetrating his indifference. Why had she rushed it, pushed him into a corner? Why hadn’t she shown more patience, bided her time until he was ready? Or raised the subject over dinner? But there had been something about the intimacy of being here in bed that had made her bolder. And it had been going well.
She rolled onto her other side and punched the pillow with her fist. It was unfathomable. He was so touchy. One minute he’d seemed amused, interested, relaxed, then he had snapped shut like a clam. It must have been the mention of Felicity. Four years on, he was still clearly grieving for his late wife. Evie cursed her own stupidity. They were back to square one. She’d handled it clumsily. How was she going to regain his trust? She could never replace the beautiful Felicity, but she had to find a way to make him comfortable in her presence, to get him to see her for herself and not as a poor substitute.
9
When Evie came down for breakfast the following morning she was surprised to find Douglas still at the table, reading the Straits Times. After their argument last night, she’d expected him to have risen early and already left, avoiding an embarrassing encounter.
He looked up as she came in. ‘I’ve given Benny the day off once he’s dropped Jasmine at school. We can drive up to the estate at Bellavista and collect her on our way back.’
Evie was astonished. Fearing he might change his mind again if she hesitated, she hurried through her breakfast, put on some sensible flat shoes and they set off.
The road to the rubber estate was rough and winding, slowly climbing up through the hills at the centre of the island. Instead of the sleek vehicle that she had been driven in by Benny, they travelled in a battered old truck, its interior full of clutter and smelling of diesel. They drove past traditional stilted houses, the scent of fruits and spices heavy in the air
