Show b BY TALBOT MUNDY Q G 0 0 TALBOT MUNDY SERVICE CHAPTER continued 19 at the foot 0 of f the stairs norwood pulled out his card cage produced a card and gave it to one of the palace servants send that up to miss lynn harding say I 1 will be waiting outside I 1 will meet her near the front steps he walked out under the glare of the portico light he pulled out his handkerchief raised bis hs right arm and waved it OLe arys shrill whistle answered anaw ered long short long short lorder received and executed okay oleary had released the bengal Bengali doctor CHAPTER lynn looked like a ghost in white chiffon she turned instinctively to the right and stepped into the darkness she stood within a few pates paces of the spot where one night ago she had bridled at No blunt comments it seemed as if a whole lifetime had passed in hi the interval the guitar and the songs on the wall were a far off memory norwood strode out of the darkness Si lencel he said not a word nothing so easy on the nerves as saying nothing they continued walking until they came to a moonlit lotus pond and stood together staring at the reflections of trees A little animal jumped into the water and swam they watched the ripples spread until dilthey they reached the marble banks at last norwood spoke feeling better 1 I cant analyze it I 1 suppose im feeling guilty want some more silence no I 1 would rather say what you think norwood chuckled you remember the parrot I 1 draw extra pay for thinking and not talking I 1 have only one virtue you say only one virtue what is it 1 I never use double meanings are you telling the truth yes good then please say what you think of me straight without any double meanings or reservations lit lets if get ga that tha tover over with very well lynn but are you quite sure you wont be belligerent about it I 1 bring you out here to start a fight it the first time he had called her lynn but she noticed it it when first called her lynn she actually noticed it 1 I never am belligerent she answered no what a pity of course I 1 dont expect to be shot but idelt I 1 dont even want to make you really an gry youre a bit angry now arent you yes but with myself im not angry with you go ahead punish me ill take it say what you think do you promise you wont hit back or make a scene or accuse me of hidden motives captain norwood kindly go ahead and tell me ive treated you very badly and youre entitled to revenge I 1 will listen and AndI I 1 wont answer back dont promise say what you think she insisted 1 I think the same now that I 1 did when I 1 first saw you what is it perhaps im not being quite accurate it until ithac astonishing picnic at the palace that I 1 made up my mind to marry you I 1 tell ell in love with you at first sight without guessing who you were when I 1 saw you with the in the carriage when I 1 saw you on horseback in the early morning it was all over as far as im concerned nothing further to argue a bout about ive committed myself to the hilt bill how about you lynn caught her breath 1 11 I II 1 never dreamt of itt 1 I know you and youre not dreaming now were both bothof of ui us stone cold sober and wide awake do you always make love like this 1 I dont even know the first rules of the game im a chronic bachelor lor suddenly converted but bui captain norwood the e only girl I 1 ever fell in love with calls me carl or else calls the police but lynn laughed are there any police try shout for them an indian night is as full ot of eyes as the sky is of stars but I 1 know what to say to the police id better call you carl and now to use one of your phrases lets get this over with im a pauper ive four hundred pounds a year and an engineer captains pay carl I 1 hope you dont think im wealthy I 1 ha vent a cent in the world ive been disinherited you have Is that 9 victual fact yes aunty aulty even left me a reputation marvelously oh my god what luxury I 1 was scared stiff you scared yes scared of yo you afraid think I 1 was after your money carl I 1 a cent all right more preliminaries mostly I 1 live in a tent my servants are scandalous rogues who know nearly as much as I 1 do about crime and treachery and worse lynn laughed I 1 never lived in a tent and ive been kept away from sinners im a very ignorant person you ad better think again you no ive finished thinking about that but how about you its your last chance lynn youre on the edge of the abyss of matrimony any questions millions of question sl Billion st I 1 dont even know you ill ask them afterwards good the style therell be lots of time afterwards well youve refused to call the police and youve promised not to talk back or nake make a scene so ill be damned it if ill wait any longer lynn I 1 love you the indian night and the indian stars the perfumed silence and the moonlit lotus pool all merged into OEM I 1 4 n A 70 lynn looked like a ghost in white chiffon a consciousness of love lo veone one moment of eternity that swept away the past one moment mystery in which the lover and the loved were one and all life was their realm all values were in true perspective love kasreal was real everything else was illusion and unreal until gradually even in carl No arms lynns awareness of earth resumed its spell and she looked away at their reflections in the moonlit lotus pond look carl see look shadows then he spoke strangely shadows of reflections that reflect what you and I 1 are shadows we move in response to something else what is it carl are you real Is that you talking 7 1 I suspect its the real me talking to the rea real lyou you lynn im steeped in eastern thought lifes good were growing getting wiser gradually thata why I 1 spared run adhia hed have been hanged it I 1 done what I 1 did now hell get some money from the andI and live lve in europe but carl lynn hesitated perhaps I 1 say A it all AH right ill say iny it tor for you hell go to europe and do it again and blots of women wont have sense enough to stand himoff him off until hes ruined them and sneered and gone yes I 1 was thinking of that it was a mean thought no it 1 the way I 1 thought it ft it was M mean ean cart carl I 1 believe you because I 1 cant disbelieve you not for any other reason s it seems impossible now how can such a man as you are with such thoughts as you think possibly love rn me I 1 believe I 1 deliberately tempted Rund hla the norwood chuckled all right ill say that for you too she said mid he really loved you hed be a tool fool if ie he the trouble Is he la Is a fool so it wont last not that it makes any difference but if ive made him wretch ed his business each of us pays tor for his bis own mistakes but that was my mistake your end of it was yours but you paid cash ile he lets ets the bill run at compound interest everybody makes mistakes Nob odys worth a damn who made em bad ones the worse the better the rule Is s learn and dont repeat on that condition theres no aftermath you pay once andi and all carl do you mean that a persons past norwood laughed sink of inlo ty lynn jezebel come to think of it I 1 left your past history seated on a trunk on the path outside the guesthouse what with wilb the mosquitoes and her temper shell be cooking up tip a future unless we go to her rescue carl im shameless I 1 really am id forgotten her did you ever have toothache one forgets that too afterwards but this afterwards you dont know aunty aulty carl ill go to her you come please really you she will say things that I 1 dont want you to hear not true but shell say them are you sure you mean am I 1 sure not true 1 I mean are you sure shell say them yes she always does when ashes angry lets find out crl carl im youre embarrassed som I 1 its good tor for both of us so lets do it together they took their time strolling along shadowy moonlit paths toward the guesthouse too interested in each other to notice voices until they were quite close up beneath the darkness of the overhanging trees the trunks no longer stood in a row on the garden path there was a alight light in the servants pantry at the rear and a smell of cooking light poured through the living room window I 1 rush hush said norwood listen rule number one is dont talk in the dark rule number two is listen and learn but never never tell tales the Mahar anees voice came quite distinctly through the open window it if 1 I who am brokenhearted broken hearted can forgive my nephew an unmistakable voice interrupted youre being silly dont be sentimental you probably ruined by being sentimental at your age you ought to know better you should have spanked him film when he was young and kept him short of pocket money when he was older I 1 neglected to spank lynn the trouble and im ashamed of myself are you sure you know where she is are you quite sure who told you she is near the lotus pond with captain norwood six servants said the mahara mabara nee and one gardener also the chief of pollee police very kindly took the trouble to phone me about it imagine the impudence of that girl but I 1 noticed that she Is ls impudent 11 if she was in love with captain caplain norwood she should have told me do you think she know knew it asked the 1 I knew it late this evening eve afrig but do you think that lynn knew it aunty aulty harding cackled a chair womans comans ladylike laugh on two notes politely derisive knew it what this younger generation knows is more than you and I 1 ever will know incorrigible that girl has more whalebone in her will than there are cents in a dollar it brittle you cant break it its resilient yes said the this generation has its own ideas it goes its own way lynn will go far aunty aulty coughed go tar far she will go to the devil I 1 dont doubt but I 1 have this consolation consolati om it if what you say is true she has disgraced herself with the only gentleman I 1 have met in india the protested loyally his iligin highness ess my husband oh kings dont count said aunty aulty middle class nowadays I 1 cant forgive kings for the way sold out to the tha politicians I 1 never will forgive them im a democrat and ill ID die in my boots but forgive lynn getting back at me are you A little sarcasm eh if I 1 can get that minx lynn to forgive me before she has had time to slander dl r me to captain norwood ill think im lucky ill be a wizard or is it a witch or freyou are you a little wiser than you were the suggested norwood whispered how much did you bet are you still scared moses lafayette OLe arys whistle piped from the nearby shrubbery a few notes of a private signal C D F C D F C D F C it startled lynn what was that it sounded like someone in hiding are we being watched yes the night has eyes in india a saying here that even diamonds see in the dark a very rough diamond informing me that alls clear and hes oft off home you go in I 1 ill 11 follow you presed presently antly I 1 want to speak to him norwood walked alone into the shrubbery he almost walked into moses oleary 1 I warned you said oleary about women by the hundred all right ones a problem but you listen I 1 suppose get yourself a new man now to say yes to you and tell you youre solomon but solomon had him a thousand wives and concubines on top 0 that so put that in your pipe and smoke it am I 1 out of a lob wheres your horse 11 taint a horse I 1 rode your baby mare ashes near the gate when you get back to camp see sea that ashes rubbed down carefully and give her a light blanket stand by bk and see it done do you hear me yes sir air captain norwood heres the key to the whiskey help your yourself youve leave ot of absence until noon tomorrow turn up sober or ill Is the government broke here are ten rupees but not government money its personal dont get into trouble tro tible with it well sir ive seen miracles in my day ive seen yourick you pick winners maybe ashes as reliable as she is good looking heres hoping ill say a prayer far you dont keep that mare standing good night good night sir and heres hoping moses lafayette oleary bleary strode away into the night until the sound of his footfall ceased on the dusty path and there was nothing moro mor heard of him but the tune that h whistled olt oh officers wives get puddings and pies and soups and roasts and jellies but poor commies tommies Tom mies wives get sweet THE END |