East of the Sun Read Online Free

daughter of Indian immigrants to Canada, Ratna had been raised in Toronto according to the new country’s principles of independence. Her parents had automatically believed their daughter would still practise her culture, and could never have imagined that she would become so fiercely self-sufficient that she would forget all about the old notions of obedience and servility and kick out her lazy husband after three short years of marriage. Undeterred by the protestations of all involved, she’d continued to raise her son by herself. Frighteningly efficient, she’d been a crutch for Robert and a friend to Amelia in Moscow. Since the events of the previous year, they’d exchanged a number of e-mails, but, for reasons not entirely clear to herself, Amelia wanted to keep from Ratna some of the more complex reasons behind her visit.
    ‘What’s he like?’ Amelia asked, nodding towards the door of the inner office.
    ‘He’s fine. It’s been eight, nine months and he’s doing just fine. Not nearly as handsome and dynamic as Robert, of course,’ Ratna said, flashing a smile.
    Amelia felt the urge to hug her again – for mentioning Robert’s name and for conjuring up his image without the tentative caution everyone seemed to use when talking about him.
    ‘That would be impossible,’ she agreed, and paused, wondering if her next request would be suspicious. ‘I’d really like to see him,’ she said gently.
    Ratna frowned lightly. ‘He’s quite busy today.’
    ‘Oh, no, no, that’s fine. I didn’t expect to just waltz in and demand an audience,’ she said, trying to sound light-hearted.
    Ratna scrolled through his diary on her computer screen. ‘Can you wait a few days? Let me see – how’s Monday morning for you? I can put you in for eleven o’clock.’
    ‘Sounds good. Thank you.’
    Ratna entered the details of the appointment with the speed of lightning and then looked up at Amelia.
    ‘Are you up for a glass of wine sometime while you’re here?’
    ‘Of course. Fortunately some bad habits never die.’ Amelia smiled again, realising as she did so that she’d smiled more in one day than the previous twelve months put together. ‘I’ll call you.’

    The silent hotel room was a welcome retreat after seeing so many familiar faces and places reminding her of Robert. She switched on the television and clicked through the mainly Russian channels before settling on a Discovery programme about orphaned elephants in Kenya. Vaguely she could hear the normal hotel noises – the muffled sounds of footsteps and the occasional opening and closing of a door.
    The visit to the embassy had left her feeling drained. It had always been Robert’s domain and it hadn’t felt right to see others move about that space so freely, without missing him, or paying some kind of daily tribute to him. On her way out his photo on the corridor wall had briefly stopped her in her tracks, his familiar, beloved face smiling into space. The shock of seeing him had been physical and she’d been unable to stop herself from saying his name. Robert, what happened to you? But she’d moved away as soon as she’d heard footsteps coming towards her, realising that she had a far better chance of being helped if she didn’t appear to be the unbalanced wife of the previous ambassador.
    When she’d stepped outside the embassy, the cold air had helped to clear her head. Snow had started to fall lightly and without thinking, she’d started to walk. In reality it had been too cold to walk so far, but by the time she’d crossed New Arbat and turned onto Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street, she’d been numb and had decided to press on until she reached the hotel at the bottom of Tverskaya Street.
    She was awoken by a soft knock on the door, but didn’t immediately identify where the sound had come from and was still half asleep when the chambermaid entered.
    ‘ Prastitye . . . I am sorry,’ the young woman said as soon as she saw Amelia’s sleepy