Part 15 (1/2)
”The Doctor is in great form today,” Wilson said good temperedly, after the laugh which followed the Doctor's exit had subsided; ”and I am sure we did nothing to provoke him.”
”You got into his line of fire, Wilson,” the Major said; ”he is explosive this morning, and has been giving it to us all round. However, n.o.body minds what the Doctor says; his bark is very bad, but he has no bite. Wait till you are down with the fever, and you will find him devote himself to you as if he were your father.”
”He is one of the kindest men in the world,” Isobel agreed warmly, thereby effectually silencing Richards, who had just pulled up his s.h.i.+rt collar preparatory to a sarcastic utterance respecting him.
Isobel, indeed, was in full sympathy with the Doctor, for she, too, was disappointed at Bathurst's sudden departure. She had looked forward to learning a good deal from him about the native customs and ways, and had intended to have a long talk with him. She was perhaps, too, more interested generally in the man himself than she would have been willing to admit.
That evening the party went to an entertainment at Bithoor. Isobel and the girls were delighted with the illuminations of the gardens and with the palace itself, with its mixture of Eastern splendor and European luxury. But Isobel did not altogether enjoy the evening.
”I suppose I ought to congratulate you on your success last night, Isobel,” Dr. Wade said, when he dropped in after breakfast. ”Everyone has been telling me that the Rajah paid you the greatest attention, and that there is the fiercest gnas.h.i.+ng of teeth among what must now be called the ex-queens of the station.”
”I don't know who told you such nonsense, Doctor,” Isobel replied hotly.
”The Rajah quite spoilt the evening for me. I have been telling Mrs.
Hunter so. If we had not been in his own house, I should have told him that I should enjoy the evening very much more if he would leave me alone and let me go about and look quietly at the place and the gardens, which are really beautiful. No doubt he is pleasant enough, and I suppose I ought to have felt flattered at his walking about with me and so on, but I am sure I did not. What pleasure does he suppose an English girl can have in listening to elaborate compliments from a man as yellow as a guinea?”
”Think of his wealth, my dear.”
”What difference does his wealth make?” Isobel said. ”As far as I have seen, I do not think that rich Englishmen are more amusing than others, and if he had all the wealth of India, that would not improve Nana Sahib in my eyes. There are women, of course, who do think a great deal about money, and who will even marry men for it, but even women who would do that could not, I should think, care anything about the wealth of a Hindoo they cannot marry.”
”Not directly, my dear,” Mrs. Hunter said; ”but people may be flattered with the notice and admiration of a person of importance and great wealth, even if he is a Hindoo.”
”Besides,” the Doctor put in, ”the Rajah is considered to be a great connoisseur of English beauty, and has frequently expressed his deep regret that his religion prevented his marrying an English lady.”
”I should be very sorry for the English girl who would marry him, religion or not.”
”I think you are rather hard upon the Nana, Isobel,” the Major said.
”He is a general favorite; he is open handed and liberal; very fond of entertaining; a great admirer of us as a nation. He is a wonderfully well read man for a Hindoo, can talk upon almost every subject, and is really a pleasant fellow.”
”I don't like him; I don't like him at all,” Isobel said positively.
”Ah, that is only because you thought he made you a little more conspicuous than you liked by his attentions to you, Isobel.”
”No, indeed, uncle; that was very silly and ridiculous, but I did not like the man himself, putting that aside altogether. It was like talking to a man with a mask on: it gave me a creepy feeling. It did not seem to me that one single word he said was sincere, but that he was acting; and over and over again as he was talking I said to myself, 'What is this man really like? I know he is not the least bit in the world what he pretends to be. But what is the reality?' I felt just the same as I should if I had one of those great snakes they bring to our veranda coiling round me. The creature might look quiet enough, but I should know that if it were to tighten it would crush me in a moment.”
The Major and Mrs. Hunter both laughed at her earnestness, but the Doctor said gravely, ”Is that really how you felt about him when he was talking to you, Miss Hannay? I am sorry to hear you say that. I own that my opinion has been that of everyone here, that the Rajah is a good fellow and a firm friend of the Europeans, and my only doubt has arisen from the fact that it was unnatural he should like us when he has considerable grounds for grievance against us. We have always relied upon his influence, which is great among his countrymen, being thrown entirely into the scale on our side if any trouble should ever arise; but I own that what you say makes me doubt him. I would always take the opinion of a dog or a child about anyone in preference to my own.”
”You are not very complimentary, Doctor,” Isobel laughed.
”Well, my dear, a young girl who has not mixed much in the world and had her instincts blunted is in that respect very much like a child. She may be deceived, and constantly is deceived where her heart is concerned, and is liable to be taken in by any plausible scoundrel; but where her heart is not concerned her instincts are true. When I see children and dogs stick to a man I am convinced that he is all right, though I may not personally have taken to him. When I see a dog put his tail between his legs and decline to accept the advances of a man, and when I see children slip away from him as soon as they can, I distrust him at once, however pleasant a fellow he may be. As the Rajah, from all I heard, certainly laid himself out to be agreeable to you last night, and yet in spite of that you felt as you say you did about him, I am bound to say that without at once admitting that my impressions about him were wrong, I consider that there is good ground for thinking the matter over again.”
”What nonsense, Doctor,” the Major laughed. ”Everyone here has known the Rajah for years. He is a most popular man, everyone likes him, among the ladies especially he is a great favorite. It is ridiculous to suggest that everyone should have been wrong about him, merely because Isobel takes a prejudice against him, and that as far as I can see is simply because his admiration for her was somewhat marked.”
Isobel gave a little shudder. ”Don't talk about admiration, uncle; that is not the word for it; I don't know what it was like. They say snakes fascinate birds before they eat them by fixing their eyes upon them. I should say it was something of that sort of look.”
”Well, my dear, he is not going to eat you, that is certain,” the Major said; ”and I can a.s.sure you that his approbation goes for a great deal here, and that after this you will go up several pegs in Cawnpore society.”
Isobel tossed her head. ”Then I am sorry for Cawnpore society; it is a matter of entire indifference to me whether I go up or down in its opinion.”
A fortnight later the Nana gave another entertainment. A good deal to her uncle's vexation, Isobel refused to go when the time came.