ing him. But they were very level, and
revealed nothing whatever. She told herself indignantly that there was
nothing to reveal. The man had simply made her a friendly offer, and she
determined to accept it in a like spirit.

"It was kind of you to think of it," she said. "I will come with much
pleasure."

On her other side she heard Lord Ronald's leisurely tones conversing
with his neighbour, and wondered if aught of the project had reached
him. She hoped it had, though the serenity of his demeanour made her
doubtful. But in any case he would surely know sooner or later.

III

Major Fletcher was well versed in the ways of natives, and as they drove
in his high dog-cart to Farabad a few days later, he imparted to his
companion a good deal of information regarding them of which, till then,
she had been quite ignorant.

He succeeded in arousing her interest, and the long drive down the
hillside in the early morning gave her the keenest enjoyment. She had
been feeling weary and depressed of late, a state of affairs which could
not fairly be put down to the score of ill-health. She had tried hard to
ignore it, but it had obtruded itself upon her notwithstanding, and she
was glad of the diversion which this glimpse of native life afforded
her. Of Lord Ronald Prior she had seen nothing for over a week. He had
left Kundaghat on the day following the dinner-party, dropping
unobtrusively, without farewell, out of her life. She had told herself a
dozen times, and vehemently, that she was glad of it, but the
humiliating fact remained that she missed him--missed him at every turn;
when she rode, when she danced, when she went out in her rickshaw, and
most of all in her drawing-room.

She had grown so accustomed to the sight of the thick-set, unromantic
figure swinging lazily to and fro on her sorely tried music-stool,
watching her with serene grey eyes that generally held a smile. She
wished she had not been quite so severe. She had not meant to send him
quite away. As a friend, his attitude of kindly admiration was all that
could be desired. And he was so safe, too, so satisfactorily solid. She
had always felt that she could say what she liked to him without being
misunderstood. Well, he had gone, and as they finally alighted, and went
forward on foot through the fair, she resolutely dismissed him from her
mind.

She made one or two purchases under Fletcher's guidance, which meant
that she told him what she wanted