ther satisfied with
what he had said--when an attendant entered and informed him that an
English officer had arrived with despatches from the cantonments, and
desired to deliver them in person.

Reginald, with somewhat of a sailor's carelessness, left his papers on
the table at which he had been writing, with the casket and the precious
document it contained. Remembering that he ought to assume the state
and dignity in which his grandfather always appeared in public, he
habited himself in his rajah's costume, and, with the chief officers of
his household, entered the reception-hall; at one end of which he took
his seat on a raised ottoman, which served as a throne, his grim
bodyguard in full armour lining either side of the hall, while the late
rajah's scimitar and shield hung above his head. All being arranged, he
directed that the officer should be admitted.

On the curtain being drawn aside for the entrance of his visitor,
Reginald's eyes fell on Captain Hawkesford, who was advancing towards
him. He kept his countenance, wondering whether he should be
recognised; but it was evident from the captain's manner that he did not
suspect into whose presence he had been admitted. Speaking Hindostanee
with tolerable fluency, he did not require an interpreter; and having
gone through the usual ceremony, he delivered his dispatches, which
Reginald eagerly read. The captain then gave a verbal message he had
been directed to deliver. It was to the effect that the resident hoped
to be allowed, in the course of a day or two, to pay his respects to his
highness, to congratulate him on his accession to the dignity of Rajah
of Allahapoor, and to express his sympathy at the loss he had sustained
by the death of his father, of which he had only just heard. The
resident had been led to suppose that the ranee would have succeeded;
and he was rejoiced at the thought that the government of the country
was in the hands of one who, he doubted not, would be well able to rule
the people, while he begged to assure him of the cordial support of the
British Government.

Reginald--who had his reasons for not wishing Captain Hawkesford to
discover who he was--naturally fearing that his pronunciation might
betray him, answered with due caution, and kept his eyes fixed on the
captain's countenance. The result of his scrutiny convinced him that
his guest was still under the impression that he was in the presence of
a native prince. He was s