The Dilemma/Chapter II
CHAPTER II.
Mustaphabad society allowed Miss Cunningham one day's rest to recover from the fatigue of her journey, and by way of preserving its own self-respect from the imputation of curiosity — the only exception being Captain Buxey, the paymaster, who as an old friend who had known her when she was a little girl, drove out to see her the first day; but on the second morning after her arrival quite a stream of visitors might have been seen making their way along the dusty road between the cantonments and the residency, with many of whom, to the desire of seeing the fair occupant, was added a curiosity to inspect the place by daylight; for the commissioner, although a hospitable man, who gave frequent solemn dinner-parties as became his position, was too much occupied with business to receive morning visitors while living alone.
First in the field was Mrs. Polwheedle, whose barouche drove into the residency-grounds even before the gong in the portico had struck eleven o'clock, the time when etiquette assumes that visitors should be only starting from their own houses, and early enough to find Mr. Cunningham still sitting with his daughter over a late breakfast-table. "I thought I would come early," said the lady, after greetings, "because I know your papa has to be in court all day; and as he wouldn't let you stop with us on the way, as I wanted him to, I thought it might be a comfort to you to have some one to introduce all the visitors when they arrive; for you will have quite a levee to-day — the whole station in fact. It's not quite the same thing, of course, as when we arrived, when the brigadier came to take up the command; then there was a salute fired, and all the officers came to call in uniform and swords; still, I can assure you, your arrival has made quite a sensation, as well it may," she added, taking a step backward, and surveying, with her head on one side, the beautiful young woman before her, who stood smiling and amused at the address of her voluble visitor. " My dear, you must let me give you a kiss," continued Mrs. Polwheedle, advancing as she spoke, and folding Miss Cunningham in her ample embrace; "I am sure that we shall be great friends. I have no daughter of my own — only one son; I will tell you all about him by-and-by," she added, with a knowing smile. "Then you will want some hints about the servants, for they will take you in nicely at first. Oh yes," she continued stopping Mr. Cunningham short as he was about to speak, "I know the dear good commissioner thinks they are quite perfect angels with black faces, — just like the brigadier, in fact — he believes in the natives too; and nicely he would be robbed if it wasn't for me; I don't believe his bearer would leave him a shirt to his back. And then you will be wanting some advice about furniture," she continued, as the two ladies moved towards the drawing-room — for the commissioner, unable to come into action under fire of the invader's guns, had effected a retreat into his own rooms — "and very difficult it is to get so far up country; but, bless me!" she exclaimed, as the altered aspect of the great room broke on her, its former empty condition having been remedied by the advent of a large assortment of tables, couches, easy-chairs, and ottomans, comfortable but incongruous, which the sly commissioner had managed to introduce without her agency or knowledge, the whole set off by a brand-new grand piano, arrived a day or two before its mistress — "bless me! why, this is indeed a transformation!" nor was the lady's astonishment diminished on finding that Miss Cunningham was till then unaware that all this splendour had been accumulated entirely on her account.
"Why, I declare, my dear, one hardly knows the place again. Your papa used to give very elegant dinners, you know, as became his position; half the station would be here at a time, and everything in first-rate style. You can do the thing properly in these splendid rooms — Calcutta matting, too, I declare!" she ejaculated, by way of interlude, poking the floor with her parasol; "must have cost a rupee a yard if it cost a pice. Splendid rooms, are they not? and no rent to pay. I often tell the brigadier he ought to write in to government for an official residence. Our dining-room will only hold eighteen comfortably, though you can get twenty-two in by a squeeze. We must make the commissioner fix an early day to bring you to dinner, — a sort of introduction to Mustaphabad society; but, as I was saying, although the commissioner used to give such fine parties, when the ladies came into the drawing-room there was hardly a chair for them to sit down upon, leave alone an ottoman. And now I declare," she added, surveying the room with a comprehensive glance, "I don't suppose there is a house outside Chowringhee so handsomely furnished. And the whole effect is really quite chaste; the mixture of green and blue satin blends so nicely, doesn't it? But, dear me, I have never asked you about yourself all this time! Tell me, my dear, you must have had an awfully trying journey. For my part I never will go even to the hills unless the brigadier goes with me; I really cannot travel alone. For all that I look so strong, I am really very delicate, and the least fright upsets me. Tell me, my dear, weren't you very nervous at first starting on your journey at being surrounded by chattering natives, and you not able to speak a word to them?"
"Oh no," replied the young lady, smiling; "you see we came — that is, my companion and I — with friends of papa almost the whole way. So we had no trouble at all; and then papa sent his head man — his jemadar I think he calls him — to Calcutta to meet me, and he sat on the box night and day, and seemed never to go to sleep at all; so we got on capitally, and then papa met us at Panipoor, and brought us on in a camel-carriage, a wonderful conveyance, but really very comfortable."
Thus Mrs. Polwheedle was already established on a friendly footing when the other visitors arrived, a succession of them too numerous to mention, ladies with their husbands, and bachelors, singly or in pairs — Colonal Tartar of the hussars, to wit, driving his mail-phaeton; Rowell and Scurry of the same regiment driving out together in the latter's tandem; Messrs. Cubitt and Stride of the artillery, in a buggy hired from Nubbee Bux, general dealer in the bazaar, the horse attached to which being newly employed in such a capacity made sundry diversions by the way off the road, happily unattended with serious consequences, as the embankment was not much raised above the surrounding country. Others, more economically disposed, made the journey on horseback, among them Lieutenant Yorke and Ensign Spragge of the 76th Native Infantry, who cantered down to the residency on their respective ponies.
The commissioner's house — destined to be the scene of a famous episode in events to come — which had been built in the days before the annexation of Mustaphabad, and when British authority and interest had been represented by a resident or diplomatic agent stationed at the court of the nawab, and therefore still bore the designation of "the residency" — had been designed with a view to symbolize the importance of the paramount authority — the reigning nawab under treaty engagements paying the cost — and the architect had apparently intended to produce some undefined resemblance to the British Museum or a Grecian temple, without feeling quite sure which of the two should be copied. The two visitors, riding through a gateless opening in the wall which enclosed the spacious grounds, alighted under a gigantic portico of no particular order, the columns of which dwarfed their ponies to the size of sheep, and where a sepoy of their regiment was standing as sentry; and then, proceeding up a flight of broad steps, on which were lounging half-a-dozen messengers clad in scarlet tunics, with gold waistbands and white turbans, were ushered into the house. The public rooms were large and lofty; but the drawing- room, which occupied the centre of the building, deriving all its light from narrow clerestory windows shaded by blinds, and through the doors opening into the surrounding rooms, was somewhat gloomy in the daytime. Not, however, that young Yorke noticed these particulars, although the time was to come when he would be familiar with every corner of the building; for, entering straightway from the glare of Indian sunlight into comparative darkness, he was painfully conscious of making an entry deficient in dignity, as he stumbled against an ottoman, and then knocked his shins against a chair, before he became gradually able to make out the presence of the occupants of the drawing-room. Miss Cunningham, Mrs. Polwheedle, and two officers of hussars; and as the new-comers established themselves on chairs at the far side of a great gulf or open space, bounded on one side by a table, and on the other by a large ottoman, our subaltern became more than ever impressed with a sense of his unworthiness, while feeling, too, that his tight red shell-jacket contrasted disadvantageously with the easy grace of the long braided frock-coats of the other visitors. Moreover, although the latter had driven over, they were adorned with long glistening steel spurs, whereas the two infantry subalterns wore little insignificant appendages screwed into the heels of their boots, as befitted men of their branch of the service when on horseback, wholly without lustre or rattle, and good only for use. The road too had been dusty, and the wind high, and even a December sun is hot at midday, and poor Yorke was conscious that his face was flushed and dirty, contrasting unfavourably with the cool and orderly appearance of the two drivers, one of whom sat calmly sucking the top of his cane, while the other, with a pleased simper on his face, and playing with his laced cap, was talking easy nothings to the lady of the house. Nor did the conversation begin auspiciously. It was opened by Mrs. Polwheedle.
"You young gentlemen rode over on your tats, I suppose? The subaltern's tat, my dear Miss Cunningham — that is the name, you know, they give to a pony in this country — is the most useful animal you can imagine. It goes out any number of times a day, and does any quantity of work, but never gets tired. Every subaltern, you know, in this country keeps his pony, although how an ensign can afford to do it on his pay is a perfect wonder, with grain at sixteen pounds the rupee."
Poor Yorke felt himself getting redder than ever; but while casting about for a repartee which did not readily present itself, one of the hussar officers took up the cudgels.
"Subalterns don't always keep ponies, if you please, Mrs. Polwheedle; I have never had one since I entered the service: I prefer horses; so does Mr. Scurry here."
"Oh yes, of course," replied Mrs. Polwheedle with a smile, as if half-disposed to wrath, half-disposed to condescension; "I was not referring to cavalry officers; you gentlemen have your chargers, I know, and very pretty they look, but —"
"By the way," interrupted the aggressive Rowell, "that's not a bad-looking tat the brigadier has been riding lately — where did he get him from?"
"You mean his grey horse?" replied the lady, bridling up.
"Well, it isn't exactly a horse," continued the persistent Rowell; "it certainly ain't fourteen; I doubt if it's much over thirteen."
"Well, sir, and if it is not, pray what has the age of the horse to do with the matter?"
"Not thirteen years, Mrs. Polwheedle; I wasn't speaking about the pony's age, but about his height. However," he continued, seeing that the lady appeared to have had enough in the encounter, "it looks a good, useful, weight-carrying nag, and handy for getting off and on again — not far to travel either way."
This last remark might be said to complete the victory, for riding was not among Brigadier Polwheedle's strong points; but the lady was not prepared to surrender all at once the position she had assumed, so, turning again towards young Spragge, she said —
"So you have got a new commanding officer now — Major Dumble. He called on us yesterday, and seems a quiet, gentlemanly person. How do you like the change from Colonel Marshall?"
"Well, of course we are sorry to lose our dear old colonel; he had never been away from the regiment before."
"And why did he leave it to go to another regiment, then?"
"He had to make way for Major Dumble. The major, of course, had to come back to the regiment on promotion, because he couldn't hold his appointment as a field-officer; and as he must come back to his own regiment, the colonel had to be shifted to another."
"Oh yes; the brigadier was telling me something about it. Major Dumble comes from the commissariat, does he not?"
"No, from the pay-department; he has been fifteen years away from the regiment."
"Well, I hope he is a good drill, and will take care to get the regiment into good order for inspection, for the brigadier is very particular. You must know, Miss Cunningham, that all the annual inspections are coming on. The brigadier has to inspect all the regiments in the station, and make a report on them to the commander-in-chief; this is a first-class brigade, you know, and so the brigadier reports direct to headquarters. You will enjoy these inspections, I am sure, and must not fail to come to them, especially the cavalry review, it is such a pretty sight. Isn't it, Mr. Rowell?" she added, turning towards that gentleman, and as it were holding out the olive-branch to him.
"Oh yes," replied Rowell; "the colonel generally knocks the regiment about a bit on these occasions — pursuing practice, and that sort of thing; it amuses the brigadier and the ladies."
Just then Miss Cunningham, opposite to whom Yorke was sitting, but a long way off, crossed over towards him. If she seemed beautiful before, the grace of her movements as she passed over the open space possessed the young fellow as with a sense of enchantment; while the rustling of her dress when she took the seat next to his raised a corresponding flutter in his heart, as he sat motionless, fascinated by her proximity, hardly venturing to look up, gazing at the folds of rich trimmings that fluttered beside him.
Yet there was nothing very formidable in her opening address. "These soldiers," she asked, "who mount guard by turns at our door, do they belong to your regiment?"
As Miss Cunningham said this in a low rich voice, which had in it an expression of unconscious pathos, and turning her long graceful neck, looked towards the listener, her manner was as if the question was full of interest for her, and her face, although it wore an open smile, seemed as one that might be readily attuned to sympathy with sorrow.
Yorke's acquaintance with young ladies was not large, and he had never met with anything like this before. Miss Glumme, one of the two young ladies imported into Mustaphabad in the previous season, never looked you in the face at all, but answered questions monosyllabically, and with downcast eyes, as if conversation was a thing unbecoming a woman; Miss Peart, on the other hand, a little brunette nowise afflicted with mauvais honte, jerked out her sentences with a sort of little laugh at the end of each, as if the mere act of saying anything in itself partook of the funny. But here was a young lady who appeared even when in society to take an interest in something. A queen, too, could not have been more gracious; and surely no queen ever looked more regal in her crown than did this beautiful young woman with a coronet of rich brown hair braided over her lofty head.
It was a simple question, but Yorke felt himself growing redder than ever, as he replied in the affirmative.
"I quite expected," continued Miss Cunningham, "to find the sepoys insignificant-looking creatures, with large soft eyes and big earrings. It was quite a surprise to see them so different. You must feel very proud of commanding such fine fellows."
"I don't command them, you know," replied Yorke; "I only command my own company — at least I hold two companies just now, as we are short of officers" — here the young fellow stopped with some confusion, for it suddenly seemed to him how vain he must appear to be, bragging about his duty in this way. Besides, what could a splendid creature like this care about the small organic details of a native infantry regiment, a thing regarded by society generally, and young ladies in particular for the first three or four years of spinsterhood — if it lasted so long — as altogether beneath serious interest?
Miss Cunningham, however, persisted in her inquiries. She had come to India, and wanted to know all about the country and the people, she said. The lascars on board the steamer were insignificant-looking people; but her papa's jemadar, who met her at Calcutta, had a most dignified appearance, and was so attentive and well-bred: although she could not understand a word he said, he seemed to know exactly what to do; and then he sat on the coach-box the whole way from Calcutta; she was really quite ashamed that he should be exposed to such hardships, while she was travelling at her ease.
The conversation ran on in this wise for a few minutes. Miss Cunningham, who had taken pity on the forlorn condition of the young fellow sitting on the outside of the circle, and snubbed by Mrs. Polwheedle, was trying to set him at his ease; and while that lady was discoursing at some length to the other guests on a point of domestic economy, Yorke, becoming emboldened by her sympathetic manner, was gradually acquiring a little self-possession, and had got to the point of explaining the difference between a subahdar and a havildar, when fresh visitors were announced, and the other gentlemen rose to take their departure. Yorke perforce followed the example of the rest; and as Miss Cunningham at parting held out her hand with a frank gracious smile, he felt that the void in his existence, of which he had been for some time conscious, was now at once more than filled up.
"Gave the old lady as good as she brought," said Rowell to Yorke, under the great portico, as he stepped into the tandem-cart after his companion; "that's the way to deal with her. You stick up to her, my good fellow, whenever she tries the patronizing dodge, and you will soon put a stop to it."