chill of dawn; had
enjoyed a long talk with Colonel Leigh; had made the acquaintance of
Vernon and Phyllis, aged six and four; also of Flossie Eden, a kind of
adopted daughter, aged twenty; and, tiffin being over, had announced his
intention of riding out to re-discover the rose-red wonderland of his
childish dreams--the peacocks and elephants and crocodiles and temple
bells. Thea, however, had counselled patience, threatening him with dire
disillusion, if he went seeking his wonderland at that glaringly
unpoetic time of day.

"An early cup of tea, and a ride afterwards," she prescribed, in her
best autocratic manner. "Only sunset, or the first glimmer of dawn, can
throw a spell over the municipal virtues and artistic backslidings of
Jaipur! I speak with feeling; because _I_ rushed forth untimely; and, in
the full glare of afternoon sunshine, your rose-red city looked like
nothing on earth but a fearful and wonderful collection of pink and
white birthday cakes, set out for a giants' tea-party! It seemed almost
a pity the giants had never come and eaten them up. Vinx said I was
ribald. As a matter of fact, he was simply jealous of my brilliant
metaphor! Look at him now--bored to death with me, because I'm telling
the truth!"

Colonel Leigh--a tall pensive-looking man, who talked little and
listened assiduously--met her challenge with the indulgent smile of a
husband who can be at once amused and critical and devoted: an excellent
conjunction in marriage.

"If you can stay Roy's impatience with your metaphors, I'll begin to
have some respect for them!" said he.

And she was staying Roy's impatience now, with cigarettes and coffee and
the tale of Aruna--'England-returned.' She had revealed little by
letter; an uncharacteristic touch of caution derived from her husband,
who questioned the wisdom of her bold incursion into the complexities
and jarring elements of a semi-modern Hindu household. But Thea Leigh,
daughter of Honor Desmond, was strongly imbued with the responsibility
of the ruling race. She stoutly refused to preserve, in Jaipur, the
correct official detachment of Anglo-India. More: she possessed a racial
wisdom of the heart, not to be gainsaid; as who should know better than
her husband, since it had saved him from himself. And now, having
secured Roy for half an hour, she confided to him, unreservedly, all she
could gather of the tragic tangle she was unravelling in her own
effective fashion.

"Aruna's