Five Lakhs Of Rupees

: The Coming Conquest Of England

At noon Prince Tchajawadse departed northwards accompanied by his page

Georgi and his Indian servant. Heideck had observed great reserve during

the short time he had known the beautiful Circassian, and had never

betrayed that he had guessed the secret of her disguise. She seemed to

be grateful, for although they never had exchanged words, she smiled at

him and gave him very friendly glances at their chance meetings. There

/> could be no doubt concerning the relation of the beautiful page and his

master. Heideck may have felt some jealousy--he hardly ever had seen a

more charming girl than this Circassian beauty in her picturesque dress;

but all his thoughts were with Edith. The Russian was indeed a lucky

fellow to have found such a charming travelling companion. She never

forgot her assumed part of the page, when strangers were near, and yet

it was clear to Heideck that she in truth was master. A single glance of

her flashing eyes was sufficient to keep the Prince in order, when under

the influence of intoxicants he would have otherwise given way to his

brutal instincts. In her presence he never dared to use ambiguous and

frivolous language.



With sincere regret Heideck saw the Prince depart. He did not share the

hope, which the latter expressed to him, that they would meet again.

But he remembered him as one of his most interesting acquaintances and

a very charming comrade notwithstanding those little foibles he had

noticed.



. . . . . . .



It struck seven o'clock when Heideck in full evening dress entered the

Colonel's drawing-room. He felt a wave of keen joy surging through him

when he noticed that it was empty, except for Edith Irwin. The horrible

events she had passed through had left her a little pale. To him she

seemed more beautiful than ever. She met him with a smile and gave him

her hand, which he kissed with great emotion.



"Mrs. Baird and the Colonel beg to be excused for a quarter of an hour,"

said she. "The Colonel has still much to do with the preparations for

the mobilisation. Mrs. Baird is suffering from one of her bad attacks of

headache and has had to lie down for a short time."



Heideck's face told Edith clearly enough that he gladly forgave his

host and hostess this little impoliteness. After having taken a chair

opposite hers, he began--



"I hope most sincerely, Mrs. Irwin, that you have had no annoyance on

account of my late call. All day long yesterday this was on my mind."



With a sad smile she replied, "No, no. On the contrary, my husband has

asked me to tell you that he is very sorry not to be able to thank you

personally for your heroic behaviour. He hopes to be able to do so

later on. He has been ordered to go to Lahore in great haste and for an

indefinite period. There was not time for him to see you, in order to

thank you."



Heideck imagined that he knew what this order meant. But he only asked:

"And are you going to stay on here under the protection of the Colonel?"



"Nothing definite has been arranged as yet. Nobody knows what may happen

to-morrow. It is certain that extraordinary events are in preparation.

In case of war, we poor women have to do as we are told, you know."



"And the Maharajah? You have not heard about him?"



"Colonel Baird saw the Prince officially yesterday; but I do not know

anything more; I had not the courage to ask. It seems to me quite

certain that the Maharajah is hostilely disposed towards the Colonel.

The event which happened here to-day is, I think, immediately to be

connected with the Maharajah. I know the ways of these Indian despots!"



"May I venture to ask what has happened?"



"An attempt to poison the Colonel at his own table."



"To poison the Colonel?" asked Heideck surprised.



"Yes. Colonel Baird's habit is to drink a tumbler of ice-water before

each meal. To-day, at tiffin, the Indian butler gave it him as usual.

The water appeared to him rather cloudy. He did not drink it at once,

and after a few minutes he noticed distinctly a white sediment at the

bottom of the tumbler. When he called for the Indian butler, the man had

disappeared, and has not been found yet. That increased our suspicion

that an attempt at poisoning had been made. A small quantity of the

fluid had been put into a dish which contained the food for the dogs.

It was then placed into a rat-trap which contained five or six of these

ravenous beasts. Ten minutes later they were dead. The remains of the

water have been given to Doctor Hopkins. He is going to make a chemical

analysis, and to tell us about it at dinner-time."



Before Heideck could find the time again to resume the discussion of

Edith's personal affairs, Mrs. Baird came in, accompanied by the Colonel

and his adjutant. They all shook hands with him in the most charming

way, and after Doctor Hopkins had also arrived, a small man with a very

vivacious manner, they went in to dinner.



Perhaps the Colonel would have preferred that nothing should be said in

Heideck's presence about the poisoning attempt. His wife's impatience

and excitement, however, could not be restrained.



"Well, Doctor Hopkins," she asked, "and what have you found?"



The Doctor evidently had been waiting for this.



"One of the most deadly poisons the Indians know," he answered. "The

diamond powder. There is no antidote for it, and it is impossible to

trace it in the body of the poisoned person, because it is of vegetable

nature, and gets absorbed in the tissues."



A cry of horror escaped Mrs. Baird. She covered her eyes with her hand.



Mr. Hopkins continued: "I have never before come across the diamond

powder, notwithstanding its use is said not to be uncommon. The

preparation of it is a secret, anxiously guarded by the Indian

physicians. It seems to play the same part at the Courts of the Indian

princes that the celebrated 'aqua tuffana' did in the Middle Ages

amongst the Italian despots."



These learned explanations of Doctor Hopkins were not adapted to raise

the spirits of the company. Everyone remembered that this horrible

attempt had only been frustrated by a lucky chance. The Colonel,

who seemed to feel very uncomfortable on listening to the Doctor's

conversation, gave a sign to his wife to rise, rather sooner than usual.



Tea and drinks cooled in ice were served in the verandah, charmingly

illuminated by coloured lamps. Heideck had only had eyes for Edith all

the evening. But he had avoided anxiously everything which might have

betrayed his feelings. And, even now, he would not have dared to join

her in the half-dark corner of the verandah, where she had seated

herself, unless she had called out to him asking him to take the empty

seat at her side.



"Mr. Heideck, here is another chair," she said, in a perfectly natural

voice, drawing aside the pleats of her foulard skirt in order to let him

pass. Again their eyes met unnoticed by the others. The violent beating

of his heart would have told him that he was entirely in the thraldom of

this beautiful young woman had he not known it already.



Suddenly the well-known shouts and cries of Indian drivers were

heard. The conversation stopped and everybody looked and observed with

astonishment the curious procession of waggons which they could see

approaching, as the night was pretty clear. The Colonel excepted, no one

understood the meaning of this spectacle. There were five waggons

drawn by richly harnessed bullocks and escorted by a bodyguard of the

Maharajah on horseback. Their captain rode till close to the verandah,

then dismounted, and went up the steps. His mien was distinguished,

and at the same time dignified. He was young and handsome, with Greek

features and big, melancholy eyes. He wore a blouse of yellow silk, held

around the waist by a shawl of violet silk, English riding-breeches,

and high, yellow boots. A string of pearls was laid round his turban of

violet-striped silk, and diamonds, large as hazel-nuts, sparkled on his

breast as they caught the light of the lamp.



"That is Tasatat Rajah, the cousin and favourite of the Prince,"

whispered Edith, in answer to a question which she read in Heideck's

face. "No doubt the Maharajah is sending him with a special mission."



The Colonel had risen and gone to meet his visitor, but he neither shook

hands with him nor asked him to be seated.



"Greetings, long life and happiness, sahib, to you in the name of

His Highness," he began with that noble air peculiar to the high-born

Indian. "In token of his friendship and his respect he is sending you

a small gift. He hopes you will accept it as a proof that you have

forgotten the conversation which you had yesterday with His Highness in

consequence of an unfortunate misunderstanding."



"His Highness is very kind," was the Colonel's answer, in a voice rather

formal, "may I ask in what consists the present he is sending me?"



"Every one of these five waggons, sahib, contains a hundred thousand

rupees."



"That is as much as five lakhs?"



"It is so. And I ask you once more kindly to favour His Highness with a

reply."



The Colonel considered a moment, and then answered with the same quiet

demeanour and impenetrable expression, "Thanks to you, Prince. Have the

contents of these waggons carried into the hall. The Viceroy will decide

what is to be done with it later on."



The Prince's face clearly showed his disappointment. For a little while

he remained there standing as if considering what to do. But recognising

that the Englishman wished to end the conversation, he touched the

middle of his forehead with his right hand and descended the steps of

the verandah. With the assistance of English soldiers a great many small

casks were carried into the hall. The procession moved on again with

the same cries and shouts which had accompanied its approach and soon

disappeared.



A smile flitted across the Colonel's face, erstwhile so unemotional,

as he turned towards his guests, probably feeling that some sort of

explanation for his attitude was due to them.



"I consider this half-million a very desirable acquisition towards the

war expenses of my detachment. But these Orientals never can understand

our way of thinking, and our ideas of honour will always remain an

insoluble riddle to them. With a present, that he, of course, has meant

for me personally, this despot believes he has smoothed over everything

that could possibly spell trouble for him--the plot against Mrs. Irwin

as well as the diamond powder business. For, of course, he has already

been informed by the butler who has disappeared of the failure of his

plot, and he is well aware of what is in store for him if I report the

scandalous story to Calcutta."



It was the first time the Colonel had openly declared his conviction

that the Maharajah was the author of both plots. No doubt he had

especial reasons for this, and Heideck fancied he had fathomed them,

when, in reply to the question of the regimental surgeon as to his

intention of sending in such a report, the Colonel replied--



"I do not know--I really do not know yet. According to the principle,

fiat justitia, pereat mundus, I ought to do so, no doubt. But the pereat

mundus is, after all, a debatable point. Probably war is imminent, and

I am afraid the Viceroy would not be grateful to me were I to add fresh

cares to all his other anxieties. At present these Indian princes are

indispensable to us. They have to place their troops at our disposal,

and we must not have any enemies in the rear when our army is engaged

in Afghanistan. A harsh procedure against one of them, and all these

princes might revolt. And a single defeat, or even only the false report

of one, might entail incalculable consequences."



Doctor Hopkins assented without further discussion, and also the other

officers present shared the opinion of their chief. As usual, during

these last days a lively discussion had arisen as to the probabilities

of war, and as to the probable course events would take. Heideck,

certain of learning nothing new from the mouths of these gentlemen, all

so confident of victory, utilised the opportunity afforded by the noisy

conversation to ask Edith, in a low voice--



"Not only political considerations, but also your wishes, have

prevented the Colonel from reporting the outrage of the other night to

Calcutta--is it not so?"



"Yes, I begged him not to do so," she answered in the same low whisper.

"But to-day, after the abominable plot upon his life, I told him that

I do not ask any longer for any consideration to be shown me, or

my--husband."



"You seriously think it possible that Captain Irwin--"



"Pray do not let us talk about it now, and not here, Mr. Heideck," she

begged, raising her eyes to him imploringly. "You cannot have any idea

how terribly I suffer from these dreadful thoughts. I feel as if before

me lay only dark, impenetrable night. And when I reflect that some day I

may be again forced--"



She did not finish her sentence, but Heideck knew well enough what she

had omitted to say. An irresistible impulse made him answer--



"You must not allow yourself to be driven to take any course repugnant

to your heart, Mrs. Irwin. And who is there who would dare to attempt to

force you?"



"Oh, Mr. Heideck, you have no idea what regard for so-called 'GOOD FORM'

means for us English people. No scandal--for Heaven's sake, no scandal!

That is the first and prime law of our Society. Kind as the Colonel and

his wife have been to me until now, I am very much afraid they would

drop me, without question of my guilt or innocence, if I should allow

anything to take place which they consider a scandal."



"And yet you must obey solely your own feeling--only the commands of

your heart and conscience, Mrs. Irwin; not the narrow views of

the Colonel or any other person. You must not become a martyr to a

prejudice--I simply cannot hear the idea. And you must promise me--"



He stopped short. A sudden lull in the general conversation caused him

to be silent also. And he fancied he saw the intelligent and penetrating

eyes of Mrs. Baird directed upon himself with an expression of mistrust.

He was displeased with himself. Displeased, because the intoxicating

proximity of the adored being, and his aversion for her husband, that

had almost increased to passionate hatred, had led him into the danger

of compromising her. But when, soon afterwards, he took his leave,

together with the other guests, a soft pressure of Edith's hand gave him

the delightful assurance that she was far from being angry with him.



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