CHAPTER TWENTY TWO.
AT MAZARAN.
Cynthia Daintree had heard of Raynier's transfer immediately on landing,and had lost no time in proceeding to Mazaran, which move wasfacilitated by the fact that the friends with whom she had come out hadrelatives in the frontier station, to whom they duly passed her on, andwith whom she was now staying.
She had received Raynier's telegram at Aden. Her father had forwardedit, without comment, and although its burden caused her a littletemporary annoyance it neither surprised nor disconcerted her, for of itshe there and then resolved to take no notice at all. More than evernow she congratulated herself that the angry letter she had been on thepoint of sending him after he had left her so brutally--as she put it--had remained unsent; more than ever did she rejoice that no furthercommunication had passed between them, and that therefore he could claimno formal release. What had passed between them she would choose toregard as a mere tiff, which the magnanimity of her disposition movedher unconditionally to condone, and this she would give out ifnecessary. For the rest, she reckoned on his easy-going nature, which,by reason of his extraordinary forbearance as regarded herself, she hadcome to regard as weak, and despised accordingly. There was no otherwoman in the case, she was sure of that, otherwise he might have turnedrestive. As it was, she would have things all her own way, and he wouldyield unconditionally.
Another point in her favour was that she would take him more or less bysurprise, for she had carefully arranged that the letter which we haveseen him receive, should only reach him a few days before her ownarrival. But when she arrived, only to learn that the border war hadblazed forth in the very neighbourhood of Mazaran itself, and that theman she had come to find was missing, her wrath and chagrin knew nobounds. The first she was forced to conceal, the second she passed offin concern and anxiety on behalf of her _fiance's_ peril. Attempts onall sides were made to reassure her. The missing official would havethrown himself on the protection of someone or other of the chiefs whohad not joined in the _jihad_--Sarbaland Khan, for instance, who wouldcertainly remain loyal--and to whose interest it would be to ensure thesafety of so high a representative of the _Sirkar_. But if she allowedherself to be reassured on that point, there was a new and whollyunlooked-for aspect of the situation, which in her heart of hearts wasfraught with possibilities. With the missing man was the Tarletons'girl guest. Only to think how they would be thrown together, and thatday after day, in their wanderings and possible dangers! What was thegirl like? She set herself to find out.
It happened that the Tarletons had no portrait of Hilda Clive, but onthe subject of the latter's attractions Cynthia was in a great measurereassured. When, apparently in pursuance of a natural interest in themissing girl, she inquired on the point, the answer was never moreenthusiastic than "Oh, so-so," with a sort of covert implication thatshe was not in it with the inquirer herself. For Hilda had made noimpression upon the male side of the station, to whom she conveyed anidea of coldness and reserve even when not, as Haslam put it, one ofuncanniness. So Cynthia was reassured, and managed to get through timefairly contentedly; and while ever manifesting a becoming degree ofanxiety on behalf of her _fiance_--as she gave him out to be--on thewhole the station regarded her as a decided acquisition. And then HildaClive had reappeared, alone.
Among the first to visit her was naturally Cynthia, and the consequentreassurance as to Raynier's temporary safety hardly rejoiced her so muchas the first glance at his fellow refugee. Why, the girl was downrightplain--if not hideous, she decided. She had green eyes, to begin with;large and well-lashed certainly, but--green; green and uncanny, like acat's. Then, she was white and haggard looking. As for her dress,Cynthia could not judge, for Hilda had only agreed to see her underprotest and had appeared in a tea-gown; for she was suffering fromlassitude and nervous reaction, following upon physical hardship and theimmense mental strain she had undergone. Small wonder indeed if shewere not looking her best. Wherefore, Cynthia decided that here was nopossibility of rivalry, and having so decided she set to work to makethe best of the situation.
Mazaran was practically in a state of siege, yet a matter of twenty-fourhours sufficed to accustom its social side to that state of things; and,if it was unsafe to venture beyond the lines, the social side aforesaidtook care to amuse itself to the best of its ability within them. Andhere Cynthia Daintree was in great request. She was a novelty, she wasstylish and well dressed, and well looking. She kept up a certainmodicum of carefully regulated concern for her missing fiance, but sheallowed herself to be drawn, albeit under protest into all that went on.The general consensus of opinion was--especially among the garrison--that the missing Raynier was a deuced lucky fellow, but why the mischiefhad he kept his engagement so dark?
Not quite all, however, were so minded. Haslam, the Forest Officer, forinstance, was not so sure on the point; possibly, because Cynthia hadnot thought it worth while laying herself out to captivate him, possiblynot. Anyway, he remarked at the Tarletons' one day,--
"I wonder if Raynier will weep for joy when he gets back or not?"
"Why, what do you mean, Mr Haslam?" said his hostess.
"Nothing. Only that I shouldn't like to be in his shoes."
"Sour grapes, Mr Haslam," laughed Mrs Tarleton, not meaning it, for shehappened to be one of those who did not take the new arrival at her ownvaluation.
Haslam chuckled.
"That's just it. You've hit it, Mrs Tarleton. There will be found agood deal of acidity about that particular bunch, and that's why I don'tenvy Raynier."
"Well, you can't expect anyone to be perfect, can you?" struck inTarleton, inconsequently oppositious as usual.
"Never said I could," answered Haslam, lighting another cheroot. "Whatdo you think about her, Miss Clive?"
"How can I give an opinion on a `brother woman,' Mr Haslam, especiallyto a man?" laughed Hilda. "If I don't say she's perfect, you'll go awayand tell everybody I'm jealous. If I do you won't believe me."
"Hallo. That's rather good," said the Forest Officer, who liked HildaClive, and resented the fact of the other coming there to cut her out,as he persisted on looking at it. "But, I say. Talking of--er--who wewere talking about--it's my belief she's hedging."
"What the doose do you mean by that Haslam?" said Tarleton. The othercackled.
"Why, she's making running up there in the garrison. Supposing Rayniernever came back, poor chap--eh? Or supposing he was hauled over thecoals for not foreseeing this _tumasha_, as it's not impossible he maybe, and sent back to some beastly Plains station--what then? YoungBeecher for instance--they say he has no end of expectations. Eh? Theydo a good deal together."
"Now, really, Mr Haslam, you are a regular scandalmonger," laughed MrsTarleton, who was thoroughly enjoying the Forest Officer's strictures."I'm sure Miss Daintree is a very nice, sweet, affectionate girl, and MrRaynier is to be congratulated."
"Affectionate dev--h'm, h'm. She's got a cold eye."
"A what?"
"A cold eye. Look at it next time. It's the eye of a fish--a shark forchoice."
"Well, you couldn't expect her to have a warm one, could you?" drowsedTarleton, who was half asleep. Whereat they all roared.
Now in all of this there was more than a little, for, apart from hernatural inclination to have as good a time as possible, here amidentirely new conditions of life, and forming as they did a markedcontrast to those of a country vicarage, Cynthia had kept her ears openas well as her eyes. Even station _gup_ had not as yet linked Raynier'sname with that of Hilda Clive. But it had speculated as to the viewthat would be taken at headquarters of the Political Agent allowinghimself to be lulled into a state of absolute blindness on the subjectof the ill-affectedness of the Gularzai; the most important and powerfultribe within his jurisdiction. All of which Cynthia had not been slowto take in; and Captain Beecher, who was always on hand with hisdogcart, or a very sleek and serviceable Waler--of which she wassecretly afraid--if she p
referred riding, was very devoted, andsubstantially sound, and Cynthia was verging on thirty. And a live andfrisky dog was very much better than a dead and reduced lion, and Haslamwas an abominable cynic who knew his India, and the dominant populationthereof, thoroughly.
Hilda Clive, watching this state of things, said nothing, only thought.So completely did she say nothing in fact, that the station decided thatin view of the circumstances of the case, she was singularly lacking inappreciation, not to say gratitude. She and Raynier had been togetherthrough the winnowing of a common danger. She had come out of it safeand sound, he had not. Yet she seemed to give him no further thought.
Did she not?
"All are forgetting him," she said to herself, in the bitterness of herintense self-concentration. "All are forgetting him--even decrying him,and there are those hungrily ready to step into his shoes. All the morereason to show him that here is one who is not."
She thanked Heaven she was well off; indeed, for a single woman, almostrich. Nothing can be done in this world without filthy lucre. She hadbeen endowed with this if not with the art of drawing men round her likeflies around a jar of stale marmalade. Money can buy anything withincertain limits, even life. Yet how many there would have expended sayone thousand rupees to purchase that of Herbert Raynier's?
But she? She shut herself up in her own room a good deal just then,shut herself up with business papers--which, by the way, she thoroughlyunderstood. And running through all her calculations and correspondencewere certainly recollections of a time spent in a free _al fresco_ life;and subsequently, in an _al fresco_ life which was anything but free,and hedged round with hardship at every turn, and somehow it seemed thatthat time was not the least enjoyable period of her existence. Then shewould push away all the business matter in front of her, and pass herhands over her brows, and if anyone had broken in upon her at that timeit would have been to see upon Hilda Clive's face a look that renderedit wondrously soft and lovable and attractive.
But through it all there mingled a puzzled and half-distressed state ofmind. Her strange powers of foresight seemed to hover around, and yetrefuse to be called into definite action. There was something to bedone, they told her, and she was the one to do it; yet what, and how?Ah, now it was clear. Money would purchase anything--even life.
The first thing she had done on her return to Mazaran was to presentMehrab Khan with such a substantial sum in rupees as to cause thatfaithful Mussulman to stare. Then she had set to work to obtain for hima sort of indefinite furlough, so that he could attach himself whollyand entirely to her service, which he was by no means loth to do. Ithad not been difficult, because, as it happened, his term of enlistmenthad all but expired, and Mehrab Khan was far too valuable a jemadar ofLevy Sowars to part with at that juncture; wherefore, through Haslam,who, as we have seen, stood her friend, and others, she contrived thatthe authorities should allow her the use of him _pro tem_. To what shewould turn that use we shall see anon.
The Sirdar's Oath: A Tale of the North-West Frontier Page 22
