The Far Pavilions - Mary Margaret Kaye [295]
The Diwan seemed loth to let them go, but they were not prepared to wait any longer, and after further and protracted expressions of regret he had personally accompanied them as far as the gate into the outer courtyard, where he stayed talking to them while a servant was sent to fetch their horses and their escort, who were being entertained by men of the palace guard. It was therefore almost an hour after quitting the Rana's presence that they finally left the Rung Mahal, and as they rode out past the sentries, Mulraj said meditatively: ‘Now what was the purpose of all that? The old villain had nothing to say, and this is the first time that my men have ever been offered hospitality by the guard at the palace. What do you suppose they hoped to gain?’
‘Time,’ said Ash succinctly.
‘That much is clear. The old fox held us in talk for the best part of an hour, and then that servant took so long to fetch our men and our horses that it would not have surprised me to learn he had fallen asleep by the way. They wished to delay our departure – and they succeeded. But why? For what purpose?’
They had learned it within ten minutes of leaving the city.
The Rana had acted with considerable speed, for the twin forts that earlier that day had been garrisoned by no more than a handful of sentries were now manned by scores of artillerymen who swarmed on the battlements and stood ready by their guns, a sight that the delegation from Karidkote, riding back to their camp, could not fail to take note of, and that must bring home to them the vulnerability and helplessness of their own position when faced with this threat of force.
The camp had already taken note, and anxious groups of men, who would normally have been taking an afternoon siesta in the shade, were standing about in the blinding sunlight to stare at the forts and speculate uneasily as to the reason for this ominous show of force. A dozen explanations, each one more alarming than the next, were in circulation among the tents, and presently a rumour arose that the Rana was about to open fire on the camp with the intention of killing everyone in it, so that he might seize the money and valuables that had been brought from Karidkote.
By the time Ash and Mulraj returned, panic had spread with the speed of a whirlwind, and only drastic action on the part of Mulraj, who set the pick of his troops to keep order with lances, musket butts and lathis, had averted a riot. But there was no denying that the situation looked exceedingly ugly, and within an hour of his return Ash had dispatched yet another message to the palace, requesting an audience on the following day – this time in public durbar.
‘Why send so swiftly?’ raged Mulraj, who, had he been consulted, would have preferred to save face by ignoring the threat for as long as possible. ‘Could we not have waited at least until the morrow before begging that – that dagabazik (cheat, trickster) for an audience? Now everyone will think that his guns have thrown us into such terror that we dared not waste a moment for fear that he should loose them upon us.’
‘Then they are due for a disappointment,’ snapped Ash, whose hold on his temper was hourly becoming more precarious. ‘They can think what they choose. But we have already wasted too many moments, and I do not intend to waste any more.’
‘That would be good hearing,’ sighed Kaka-ji, ‘if only there was anything we could say to the Rana. But what is there left to say?’
‘A good deal that should have been said long ago, had I had my way,’ returned Ash shortly. ‘And I trust that you will feel strong enough to accompany us tomorrow, Rao-Sahib, so that you too may hear it.’
They had all acompanied him: not only Kaka-ji, but all those who had attended the first durbar. And this time they had been required to present themselves at the city palace in the late afternoon. They had gone there dressed in their glittering best and escorted by thirty splendidly uniformed lancers. And despite the fact that the thermometer in his tent still registered 109 degrees, Ash himself had donned the