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By Root 2984 0

saw her exchange a brief glance with Ash, and though he had never been a particularly imaginative man, it seemed to him, as it had once seemed to Kaka-ji, that an invisible current leapt between them, linking them together so that they did not need to touch each other or speak or even smile in order to prove that two people can at times be truly one. He could see too what Walter had meant when he said that she was ‘restful’. But somehow he had not expected her to be so young – or to look so vulnerable. This slender young thing in the white shulwa appeared to him to be little more than a child, and he thought confusedly that it was the term ‘widow’ that had misled him: no widow should be as young as this, and he felt as though the ground had been abruptly cut from beneath his feet; though he would have been at a loss to explain why this should be so. But the fact remained that the sight of her had been enough to upset a number of preconceived notions, and all at once he was unsure of himself, and, as a result, of the suggestion he had come here to make.

Was he perhaps being foolishly naïve in expecting Cavagnari, or anyone else for that matter, to abandon their policies and opinions merely on the basis of information from unofficial sources, supposing that information did not agree with their own? Was he, Wigram, taking too much on himself, being conceited enough to imagine that men like Cavagnari and the Viceroy, not to mention a host of big-wigs in Simla, did not know what they were about and needed help and advice from interfering know-nothing amateurs? Yet… He became aware that Ash had asked him a question, and replying at random saw by the quizzical lift of a black eyebrow that his answer had betrayed his inattention.

Wigram flushed and apologized in some confusion, and turning to his hostess said: ‘I'm sorry, Mrs Pelham; I'm afraid I have not been attending. It was rude of me, and I hope you will forgive my bad manners. You see… I came here to put a – a proposition to your husband, and I have been thinking of that instead of listening.’

Anjuli studied him gravely, then she gave a little nod and said politely: ‘I understand. You mean you would like to speak to my husband alone.’

‘Only if you permit.’

She gave him a brief enchanting smile, and rising, placed her palms together, and then remembering that Ashok had told her that this was not the Angrezi way, laughed and held out her hand and said in her careful English: ‘Good-night… Captain Battye.’

Wigram took her hand in his and unexpectedly bowed over it in a gesture that was as foreign to him as a handshake was to her, and that surprised him almost more than it surprised Ash and Wally. But it had been an instinctive tribute – and also in some way an unspoken apology for the things he had thought about her. Straightening up and looking into the eyes that were almost on a level with his own, he saw that Wally had been right when he said that there were gold flecks in them – unless it was only the reflections from the pierced bronze lamp that hung from the ceiling and sprinkled the little pavilion with stars. But he did not have time to find out, for Anjuli drew her hand away and offered it to Wally before she turned and left them, and watching her retreat into the shadows he had the odd fancy that she was taking the light with her.

All the same, he was relieved to see her go, because her presence would have precluded straight talking, and he had neither the time nor the inclination to defer to feminine sensibilities. As the sound of her footsteps receded on the stair he heard Wally give a little sigh, and presently Ash said: ‘Well?’

‘She is very beautiful,’ said Wigram slowly. ‘And very… young.’

‘Twenty-one,’ supplied Ash laconically. ‘But I didn't mean “What do you think of her?’ I meant what is this proposition you mentioned?’

‘Yes, come on now, out with it,’ urged Wally. ‘It's dying of curiosity I've been. What have you got up your sleeve?’

Wigram grinned but said a shade defensively that now it came to the point he was not so sure that he wanted to say