the two girls
who had ensconced themselves in long chairs on the verandah outside her
bedroom.

Broad-minded and big-hearted, she had tried to overcome the intense
irritation which the Eurasian manner of speech invariably aroused in
her. Some get accustomed in time to the parrot-like monotony; some
don't; and to the end of his days the young, immaculately groomed and
turned-out assistant in Hamilton's will wonder why the beautiful girl
with gold-flecked eyes had suddenly frowned, and placing the trifle
intended for a wedding present upon the glass counter, had left the
shop with an appallingly inadequate excuse.

Fortunately for him the pukka European has not been endowed with the
gift of hearing himself speak as others hear him.

Like the broken flight of maimed birds over a lawn in the process of
being mown is the Eurasian speech and intonation; with the inevitable
dip in the middle, the rise at the end of each sentence, and the
ceaseless clipping of syllables.

And Leonie frowned as she lay under the mosquito netting awaiting the
warning of the dressing bell, and even felt thankful to a crow which
suddenly perched itself on the top twig of a fir tree, and shrieked its
condemnation of the sunset, the star just above its head, and the
chatterers in the chairs.

In an effort to break through the overpowering lethargy which lately
had fallen upon her at odd moments of the day, she lifted herself on to
her elbow, only to sink listlessly back on the very hard bed. After
all, why worry over problems to which there seemed no answer? Why fret
over the silence of the man she loved when she had curtly refused his
offer of companionship; for there always comes a time when mere man,
subjected to the unsatisfactory daily menu of snubs and refusals, tense
moods, and moody silences, will refuse it, and clear for a diet, which,
although somewhat lacking in salt and spice, will have the advantage of
being substantial, therefore satisfying.

Also there was no doubt about it the social ostracism of Calcutta had
followed her to Benares; she had not failed to notice that the people
packing the hotel looked at her furtively, smiling spasmodically when
caught in the act, and seemed ill at ease when left alone with her.

Another thing which annoyed her intensely was the habit she had
developed of peering into the shadows of the compound at odd moments,
and listening for a sound she could not even describe to herself, and
which s