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Authors: John Masters
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far-fetched. The Dewan is essentially an honest man, unusually direct and—h’m—crude for an Indian. And I do not see that any harm has been done even if your suspicions are justified—a point, I may remind you, on which we have no evidence. Had he asked me outright, I would have been glad to dispatch you on a flag march, in order that the infant Rajah’s subjects should be under no misapprehension. The Company’s policywill certainly endorse him as the true heir, and the Rani as regent during his minority.”
“But they hate her; we heard them tonight! They called her a murderess—that means they think she killed her husband the old Rajah. And they hate the Dewan. They’re going to hate us too, and despise us, for supporting her. Some of them were shouting for us to take over the state.”
The Commissioner, who had been pacing the floor and slowly shaking his head, stopped in mid-stride and said sharply, “Nonsense! A small section of rumour-mongers and sycophants in the mob, at most.”
For a moment Rodney thought the man underneath, cornered, was going to lose his temper. Dellamain was struggling too draw around himself the Commissioner’s detached firmness. At last he succeeded, and it was the great Commissioner of the Bhowani Leased Territory who laid an affable hand on Rodney’s shoulder and gripped it, a gesture Rodney detested.
“There, my dear fellow, you have a sensitive nature, and I admire it in you. But in these matters of high policy we must subordinate the heart to the brain.” Rodney stirred, and the Commissioner let his hand drop. “You have carried out your task tonight with efficiency and dispatch—and Christian mercy. Be assured I shall commend your conduct to Colonel Caversham, and I—ah—flatter myself I have some small influence with him. You have great responsibilities of your own; pray do not burden yourself with mine too. Now let me see, I think a word or two in the right quarter might effect your speedy return to Bhowani, eh? And to the charming and gracious Mrs. Savage. How would that suit you? Caversham could send another officer to relieve you. The sepoys may have to stay for some considerable period.”
“Don’t do that, sir. It’s my company.”
“No? Very well. Now go to bed like a good fellow. You must be exhausted. By the way, I would wish you to move your men out into camp somewhere nearby as soon as the immediate danger is over—say in a week? We must not givethe impression that we have—ah—seized the reins of government.”
“Very good, sir.”
“Wait. Her Highness is very anxious that the officer who stays here should try to improve the efficiency of her army.”
“What for, sir?”
Mr. Dellamain raised his eyebrows. “To assure her own protection and the young Rajah’s, I presume. Perhaps a certain pride too—put on a better show for the Governor General than Lalkot does, you know—something like that. And of course the better her army becomes, the less chance there is that we’ll have to come in and help.”
“Very good, sir. Good night.”
“Good night, my dear fellow.”
Rodney saluted and walked quickly along the passage and down the spirals of booming stairs to his own room. The pompous Commissioner’s parting clap tingled on his back; poor frightened Dellamain’s contrived smile hovered before his eyes: two people in one, a composite man, committed by profession to the filth of politics, writing crooked démarches, saying something and meaning something else. He unbuckled his sword and for a moment let the cold steel of the scabbard touch his cheek. That was direct, honest; cruel—but clean.
5
H E WATCHED the dancing girls through half-closed eyes, for he was full of food and lazily content. He had been here seven weeks, each week settling more comfortably into the new way of living. Tomorrow, Saturday, February the twenty-first, it would all vanish under a resurrected formality. Tomorrow the British guests arrived for
“But they hate her; we heard them tonight! They called her a murderess—that means they think she killed her husband the old Rajah. And they hate the Dewan. They’re going to hate us too, and despise us, for supporting her. Some of them were shouting for us to take over the state.”
The Commissioner, who had been pacing the floor and slowly shaking his head, stopped in mid-stride and said sharply, “Nonsense! A small section of rumour-mongers and sycophants in the mob, at most.”
For a moment Rodney thought the man underneath, cornered, was going to lose his temper. Dellamain was struggling too draw around himself the Commissioner’s detached firmness. At last he succeeded, and it was the great Commissioner of the Bhowani Leased Territory who laid an affable hand on Rodney’s shoulder and gripped it, a gesture Rodney detested.
“There, my dear fellow, you have a sensitive nature, and I admire it in you. But in these matters of high policy we must subordinate the heart to the brain.” Rodney stirred, and the Commissioner let his hand drop. “You have carried out your task tonight with efficiency and dispatch—and Christian mercy. Be assured I shall commend your conduct to Colonel Caversham, and I—ah—flatter myself I have some small influence with him. You have great responsibilities of your own; pray do not burden yourself with mine too. Now let me see, I think a word or two in the right quarter might effect your speedy return to Bhowani, eh? And to the charming and gracious Mrs. Savage. How would that suit you? Caversham could send another officer to relieve you. The sepoys may have to stay for some considerable period.”
“Don’t do that, sir. It’s my company.”
“No? Very well. Now go to bed like a good fellow. You must be exhausted. By the way, I would wish you to move your men out into camp somewhere nearby as soon as the immediate danger is over—say in a week? We must not givethe impression that we have—ah—seized the reins of government.”
“Very good, sir.”
“Wait. Her Highness is very anxious that the officer who stays here should try to improve the efficiency of her army.”
“What for, sir?”
Mr. Dellamain raised his eyebrows. “To assure her own protection and the young Rajah’s, I presume. Perhaps a certain pride too—put on a better show for the Governor General than Lalkot does, you know—something like that. And of course the better her army becomes, the less chance there is that we’ll have to come in and help.”
“Very good, sir. Good night.”
“Good night, my dear fellow.”
Rodney saluted and walked quickly along the passage and down the spirals of booming stairs to his own room. The pompous Commissioner’s parting clap tingled on his back; poor frightened Dellamain’s contrived smile hovered before his eyes: two people in one, a composite man, committed by profession to the filth of politics, writing crooked démarches, saying something and meaning something else. He unbuckled his sword and for a moment let the cold steel of the scabbard touch his cheek. That was direct, honest; cruel—but clean.
5
H E WATCHED the dancing girls through half-closed eyes, for he was full of food and lazily content. He had been here seven weeks, each week settling more comfortably into the new way of living. Tomorrow, Saturday, February the twenty-first, it would all vanish under a resurrected formality. Tomorrow the British guests arrived for
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