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conviction that the complete failure of a mammoth ‘Demonstration of Welcome’, staged two weeks later and virtually unattended by the disgusted Afghan population, apparently did little or nothing to erase.
    In the last week of April Marcos had once more to leave for the south. Anne Marie’s father, on his retirement from the service of the East India Company’s army, had acquired land on the Malabar coast and settled down to the life of a planter. His estate had prospered and he had died a rich man. Anne Marie had been his sole heiress and the property had passed on her death to her children, Marcos and Juanita, but their grandfather’s old overseer, who had managed the estate for many years, had died the previous autumn, and it was this that had necessitated Marcos’s visit to the estate during the early part of the cold weather. He had installed a new overseer and had returned satisfied that the property would continue to be efficiently managed, but now news had been received of the new overseer’s death from snake-bite, and also of disaffection among the coolies employed on the estate.
    Marcos and Wali Dad, discussing the matter, decided that their best plan would be to sell the Malabar estates and re-invest the money in Oudh, since the property was too far away to be administered except at second-hand and at long range (an arrangement which the present news had proved to be unsatisfactory), and the two rode south in the last week of April, promising to return by the end of May.
    â€˜It will not be for long,
querida
,’ said Marcos, comforting Sabrina. ‘I shall be back before May is out, I promise you.’
    But Sabrina would not be comforted. ‘Why must you go? Why cannot Wali Dad go alone? Marcos, you cannot leave me now! I could not bear it. I am afraid!’
    â€˜
Qué pasa
? Afraid of what, my heart?’
    â€˜I do not know. I only know that I cannot bear to let you go. Let Wali Dad go.’
    â€˜We must both go,
cara mía
,’ said Marcos, his arms about her. ‘If only one were to go, it would have to be I. Wali Dad comes to help me. If he went alone the local officials and administrators might cause him trouble, for he is not of the south, but of Oudh. But once we have disposed of the estates we need never be worried by business in the south again. Does that not please you? I shall never again have the need to go more than a night’s journey away from you.’
    â€˜You think more of the money than of me,’ wept Sabrina.
    â€˜That is not true,
querida
. The property should indeed fetch a high price. But half of it is Juanita’s, and if we delay, troubles and bad management may destroy its value. Would you have me rob Juanita of a large portion of the inheritance our mother left her, because I would prefer to remain with my wife instead of taking an uncomfortable and tedious journey on a business matter? I cannot believe it!’
    Marcos had intended to send Sabrina to the care of her aunt before he rode south, since there was now no reason for her to delay her departure to the hills. But Sir Ebenezer had written from Simla to say that Lady Emily had suffered a severe attack of malarial fever, and though now convalescent, the state of her health was still causing anxiety. Reading that letter, Marcos realized that there would be little use in sending his wife to the care of a sick woman, since Lady Emily would be in no case to look after her, and Sabrina herself in no condition to administer to the needs of an ailing aunt.
    â€˜She must come to me,’ said Juanita. ‘I know she does not wish to leave Pavos Reales, and that it is cooler there. But it is not right that she should be alone just now. Loneliness is not good for her at such a time. Send her to me, Marcos. It will only be for a few weeks, and as soon as you return we will start for the hills. The child will not be born until late in June, and we shall be in the cool