Part 34 (1/2)
The uniformed sentries stood at attention by the gate, ignoring the lively activity in front of them. Jagoo pushed past his companions and edged up to the red wall, near the two hors.e.m.e.n, who had stopped a little distance from the sentries. Once there, he bent and feigned a fit of coughing. The two riders had begun speaking to each other. Jagoo stopped coughing and listened.
”He said to turn left as you enter,” Yusuf Bhatti was saying. ”Her tent stands alone in the corner, there.” He pointed to his left, where the red wall turned away from the road, thirty yards away.
Nodding, Ha.s.san dismounted.
”May the Most Gracious guide you,” Yusuf offered, reaching for Ha.s.san's hand. ”I'll stay here in case, Allah forbid, something goes wrong.”
Ha.s.san waved, then started toward the entrance, his lips moving as he walked.
As Ha.s.san moved away, Yusuf leaned from his saddle. ”You are allowed through the gate, are you not, Yar Mohammad?” he asked the groom.
”Ji, Sahib.”
”Then go inside and guard Memsahib's tent.”
Jagoo had crept near to hear the two men's words. When he turned back to look at the road, he stopped short, eyes wide. Beside Yusuf Bhatti's horse, Yar Mohammad, too, froze where he stood. Yusuf jerked upright in his saddle, blinked, then blinked again.
In the time it had taken for the onlookers to glance away, Ha.s.san should have covered ten or twelve feet of the distance from his horse to the red wall. But he was not there. Yusuf, Yar Mohammad, the tracker, Jagoo, and the ruddy-faced boy all searched the avenue with their eyes. Ha.s.san was nowhere to be seen.
Yusuf smiled to himself. Now, he was sure of it. Shafi Sahib had told Ha.s.san one of the secrets of the Karakoyia Brotherhood. He also knew for certain that he would never learn what that secret was.
”LIGHT the lamp, Dittoo, it is too dark to read.”
Inside her tent, Mariana sat up, propped on several pillows, an open letter in one hand, Saboor's arm in the other.
”Saboor darling, sit down,” she pleaded as he tugged away from her. ”See, you can play with my ribbons. They are there, on the bed.”
”An-nah.” He p.r.o.nounced the last part of her name carefully, his eyes fixed on hers, then dropped down and, digging his hands and knees into her lap, crawled toward the little bedside table. She pulled him back, holding her letter safely out of the way, as he reached for the tinderbox.
His little body felt so soft under his clothes. She retrieved him, kissing a little hand that smelled of babyhood and dust. He pulled it away and wrapped his fingers around her gold necklace.
”And take Saboor away,” she told Dittoo, unclasping the small fingers. ”He is everywhere at once.”
Dittoo shambled out from the corridor, wheedling as he came. ”A-jao, Baba, come, I will find you something very nice for you, yes, very nice.”
”An-nah, I want An-nah!” Saboor complained as Dittoo carried him, kicking, to a corner of the tent.
His health had certainly improved. Mariana made a kissing sound. ”Shhhhh, Baba. There, there, my love, it is only for a little while.”
She held her letter to the light while Dittoo's singsong nonsense fioated across the fioor. Three months old, yet new to Mariana, Mama's firmly written words carried with them the very air of home.
We all missed you dreadfully at Freddie's birthday party. Several neighbors came and Freddie rushed about with their children until he became overexcited and had to be put to bed.He spends more and more time with Papa. I pray that he will, in time, take Ambrose's place in your father's heart.As for you, my darling, remember that you are not bound to marry in India. If no young man there makes you happy, you are to come home. Do not rush into a misalliance in order to please us.If you should return unmarried, our shoulders are broad enough to bear whatever society has to say.
Those rea.s.suring words did little to take away the jolting pain Mariana had felt when she read a second letter that had come together with her mother's. It saddens me immeasurably It saddens me immeasurably, Fitzgerald had written from the army camp, to know what scandal, what utter disgrace you have brought upon yourself to know what scandal, what utter disgrace you have brought upon yourself. I excuse myself immediately after dinner each night to escape hearing the shameful things our officers are saying about you. How could you have a.s.sociated so recklessly, so indecently I excuse myself immediately after dinner each night to escape hearing the shameful things our officers are saying about you. How could you have a.s.sociated so recklessly, so indecently, with a native man? Who will dare to be your friend now with a native man? Who will dare to be your friend now?
It was no use hoping. Fitzgerald was gone forever. Who would would be her friend? Mariana's call on Miss Emily had been even more unpleasant than she had expected. be her friend? Mariana's call on Miss Emily had been even more unpleasant than she had expected.
”You have not only ruined yourself, Mariana,” Miss Emily had declared flatly from her pillows, ”you have also grievously wronged Lieutenant Marks. We shall not easily forgive you. We shall not mention it again,” she had continued, as she adjusted the ribbons on her bed jacket, ”but I will say this. You must accept your just deserts. Wear gloves to meals and do not attempt to join the conversation. Only pray that, one day, you will be forgiven.”
Her duty done, Mariana would not call on hateful Miss Emily again. Miss f.a.n.n.y was no use either. ”It would have been better if you had not come to India, Mariana,” she had said mournfully. ”You are much too adventurous for this country.”
No, she would never seek their approval again.
Although the Eden sisters and Lord Auckland, even all the other officers combined, could not frighten Mariana, one thought did bring her an ambus.h.i.+ng panic. Once the scandal reached England, it would break her family's heart. She could bear being an outcast here in India, but the thought of her family at home suffering for her mistakes was too miserable to endure.
Of course, Lord Auckland had given orders that her story not be repeated; but there had been a hundred witnesses to her declaration before the court, to her wedding- Such a tale was too dark, too exciting not to be told. Within days of the camp's arrival at Calcutta, it would certainly escape Lord Auckland's censors.h.i.+p and swiftly reach every drawing room in the city, to be embellished with false, d.a.m.ning details of her bold enticement of native men. From there, it would spread, carried by every fresh s.h.i.+p bound for England.
Her letter lay on the bed beside her. Mama and Papa loved her. They would go on loving her, no matter what she did, no matter what society thought. She longed to sit down to Sunday lunch with them all, even the always critical Aunt Rachel....
Why not leave now? Why not arrange to travel by palanquin ahead of the camp? Lord Auckland and his sisters expected to stop at Simla for several months on the way back to Calcutta. Even after they resumed traveling, they would stop many times along the way, to allow local Rajahs to entertain Lord Auckland. It might be a year before the camp arrived in Calcutta. If Mariana left within a few days and traveled without stopping, she would reach there many months ahead of her story. If she were fortunate, a pa.s.senger s.h.i.+p would be waiting on the Hooghly River. She might well be on the high seas long before the scandal broke in Calcutta.
Uncle Adrian would arrange everything, of course he would! She would write to him as soon as the camp crossed the Sutlej River into British territory.
In England, she would have time to explain, to prepare her family and their friends. It was, perhaps, too late to worry about society, but she could protect her family from hearing malicious lies from other lips.
In the corner, a pacified Saboor squealed with pleasure. Mariana pushed away sadness. She had always known she must leave him. He would be happy without her. As long as he had someone to guard and to love him, he would be quite safe. Ha.s.san's fear must surely be exaggerated.
Someone scratched at the door blind. Dittoo stopped singing and stood before it, Saboor in his arms.
”An-nah.” Distracted, Saboor fixed his eyes on the doorway as Dittoo turned and rushed toward the bed, his feet thumping on the striped rug, and thrust the child at Mariana.
”I have come to see Saboor Baba,” said a male voice from outside.
Who was that? Who knew Saboor was here? Mariana held her breath and pushed Saboor down beside her on the bed, and covered him with her shawl. ”Quiet,” she cautioned softly, a finger to her lips. ”Chup. Do not speak.” She nodded to Dittoo.
”Who is it?” he asked, his voice cracking with nerves.
”It is Ha.s.san Ali Khan,” said the voice with some annoyance. ”Open the blind.”
Mariana sucked in her breath. Beside her, Saboor struggled to sit up.
Dittoo fiung aside the blind. Ha.s.san stepped in from the darkness outside.
”Abba! Abba!” As Dittoo stooped his way backward out of the doorway, Saboor scrambled off the bed and danced to his father. His face tilted upward, he braced himself against a Turkish-trousered knee.
Something about Ha.s.san reminded Mariana of Saboor. It was the candor in his expression, perhaps, or a softness in his eyes. He looked strained. His coat smelled of horses. Rings gleamed on his hands. Behind her back, Mama's open letter beckoned from the bedspread.
She hardened herself against him. ”Yes, Saboor is safe here. But there is something I must tell you.”
Ha.s.san did not look at her. Instead, he surveyed her tent. ”How can you live like this?” He poked a long finger at her spa.r.s.e furniture. ”Where do you sit?”
She pointed to her upright chair, wobbly now from hard travel. ”There, but that is not-”
”Where are your furnis.h.i.+ngs? Your carpets? I can't have my son living under these conditions. For all we know, he may be in this camp for months.”
”I-”
”You need better arrangements,” he interrupted, frowning as he lifted Saboor into his arms. ”I must make them tonight.”