The Far Pavilions - Mary Margaret Kaye [409]
Sarji nodded wordlessly, and having scanned the letters carefully, stowed them away under his shirt without making any further effort to argue or plead.
Ash said: ‘There is one other thing you can do for me – as a great favour. I would give much not to ask it of you, for it will mean delaying your departure, and delay could be dangerous. But can't see any other way, because unless I am to risk getting caught up in the crowds and finding myself in the thick of the press from where I may not even be able to see her, I must reach the burning-ground ahead of the rest, which means that I cannot go on foot. But if it's true that the city gates will be thrown open if the gongs sound tonight to signal the Rana's death, when we hear them I have only to saddle Dagobaz and ride for the nearest gate, and from there in my own time to the chattris. The sooner go the less likely am to be stopped by the crowds, but it would be wiser for you to come later and with less haste, and… if you will give me an hour's start I will leave Dagobaz at the edge of the grove, on the side furthest from the city and behind the ruined chattri with the triple dome the crowds will not reach as far back as that, and you should find him easily enough. Will you take him with you Sarji, for my sake? I would not ask it of you except that I could not bear to abandon him in such a place as this. Will you do that for me?’
‘You do not need to ask,’ said Sarji brusquely.
‘Thank you. You are a true friend. And now, as there may be much to do tomorrow, let us take the Hakim-Sahib's advice, and sleep.’
‘Can you do so?’ asked Sarji curiously.
‘Why not? I have not slept well for many nights because my mind would not let me rest. But now that all the problems are settled and the way ahead is clear, there is nothing to keep me awake. Besides, if Gobind is right about the Rana, I shall need a clear eye and a steady hand tomorrow.’
He rose to his feet, yawned and stretched, and crossing to the window looked out at the night sky and wondered what Juli was doing, and if she was thinking of him. Probably not, since by now Shushila must be half mad with terror, and Juli would have no thought to spare for anyone or anything else. Not for her lover or her old uncle, or for the mountains and deodar forests of Gulkote. Least of all for herself, even though she faced the same fate as Shu-shu. It had always been this way, and would be to the last. Dear Juli… dear, loving, faithful Kairi-Bai. He found it difficult to realize that tomorrow or the next day he would actually see her again. Only very briefly, and then –
Would the crash of his revolver herald darkness and nothingness? Or afterwards would they meet again, and be together for ever and ever? Was there a life after death? He had never been sure, though all his close friends seemed to be certain enough. Their faith was firm, and he envied them that. Wally, Zarin, Mahdoo and Koda Dad, Kaka-ji and Sarjevar might differ as to what form it would take, but they did not doubt that there was one. Well, he would soon know if they were right…
Wally was a believer. He believed in God and in the immortality of the soul, ‘the resurrection of the body, and life in the world to come’. And also in such old-fashioned deities as duty and courage, loyalty, patriotism and ‘the Regiment’; for which reason – quite apart from the fact that there was no time now to write a lengthy letter – it had been impossible to tell him the truth.
To have written to him at all was probably a mistake, thought Ash. It might have been kinder, in the long run, if he had merely dropped out of Wally's life without a word or a sign, and let him think what he liked. But the thought of Wally waiting and wondering, hoping against hope that one day his friend and hero would return, was not to be borne; and besides, there was another consideration – the fact that Wally (and only Wally) could be counted upon to do everything in his power to have his friend's disappearance investigated, which