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Show iilii EBOigTT BY TALBOT MUNDY c TAbot mUNDY-wNu sERv,ce SYNOPSIS Cnplaln Carl Norwood has been sent ti ZZ,t "Ct Ind,a- alonS with h's indispensable in-dispensable manservant, Moses O'Leary soldier of fortune. Norwood's job is to survey he district to determine whethe? a valuable secret diamond mine belongs to the temple priests or to the ruler, the Maharajah of Kadur. Norwood calls on respects. On his way he catches a Slimpse of two women In a palace car- f,V?BeV?ne .l whom is young and beautl-, beautl-, ' ,tle other woman he knows to be i n M'1,naranee of Kadur. O'Leary later tells him that the young woman is an American girl named Lynn Harding, who with her aunt. Mrs. Deborah Harding, is a guest at the palace. On a sightseeing tour Mrs. Harding sprains an ankle, and sends to the palace for aid. Prince Run-dhia. Run-dhia. handsome, spoiled nephew of the rulers, comes to her rescue. CHAPTER III Continued 3 Lynn Harding had been becoming troublesome. The skillful tyranny of Aunty's moneyed fostering had forced Lynn to postpone the natural rebellion of youth to an age at which some girls are steadying down. Lynn's rebellion had hardly more than begun. Aged twenty-two, she had been denied the democratic grace of college education. Aunty, who held the purse-strings, knew that colleges corrupt; and what Aunty knew, was so. No one could change Aunty's opinions. Lynn hadn't tried to change Aunty. But she had learned to be strategic and even uipiumatic. one naa assented, without enthusiasm, to become engaged en-gaged to a decadent F.F.V. But there, Aunty's first reverse had caught her completely off-guard. An immovable wiD and an irresistible explosive met. Lynn blew up. She didn't merely break the engagement. engage-ment. She smashed it. She scattered scat-tered its splintered fragments recklessly. reck-lessly. So Aunty beat a strategic retreat. She decided on a world tour. It had been fairly successful, barring occasional incidents on shipboard and in hotels. The almost incredibly incredi-bly beautiful Lynn had received enough attention from unpedigreed, or at any rate uncertified, strangers to keep Aunty on the war-path. The British officers in India had given Aunty plenty to worry about. So the invitation from the Maharanee Maha-ranee of Kadur had come like a godsend. It gave Lynn a romantic outlet for enthusiasm in impeccably respectable surroundings, where there were no undesirable men to ruin Aunty's dream of a correct and socially influential marriage. So this Prince was a staggerer. He had been absent when the Hard- ings arrived, frequently mentioned but not expected to return for several sev-eral weeks from what was spoken of as a vacation. Aunty had had a good look at him in the full glare of the headlights of the Rolls-Royce. He was a worse shock than the undignified un-dignified bruise and the twisted ankle. an-kle. He resembled one of those young Argentine plutocrats who used to corrupt Paris until the price of beef and wheat reduced them to the level of common mortals. A splendid figure of a man, perfectly tailored. Manners that only money can buy and cynicism support. Beautiful eyes, without a trace of effeminacy and not yet betraying signs of having lived too furiously. furious-ly. An all-conquering male. Heir to a throne as old as England's. With astonishing strength he lifted Aunty from the earth and placed her on the soft-springed cushions that made her sigh with physical relief and mental horror. Aunty knew she was up against it. The Prince drove her with skill. He avoided bumps. He damned the guard at the palace front gate with the voice of a cultured cul-tured gentleman and a vocabulary that Aunty instinctively knew was scurrilous. At the arched entrance the. iriipsthouse catio, he lifted her out. He caused servants to come like firemen to a burning house. He sent immediately for his private Bengali doctor, a member of his own household. "Competent, Mrs. Harding, I assure as-sure you. Discreet, I guarantee." Almost simultaneously with the arrival of the Bengali doctor, who looked devilishly discreet and more afraid of Aunty than if she were the devil's own widow, the Maharanee's Maha-ranee's carriage drew up, with its horses' noses snorting on top of the Rolls-Royce. Out got Lynn, too full of excitement excite-ment and alarm and fun and sympathy sym-pathy to remember she should veil her face. She could hear her aunt through the open guesthouse window win-dow Lynn came running into the glare of Rundhia's headlights. "Who are you? What is wrong with Aunty?" "Your aunt has hurt herself. My physician and some women are exploring ex-ploring for broken bones. I believe it is nothing serious." Aunlv ill. as obvious, thought otherwise oth-erwise 6he wasn't liking the doc tor She was calling him a fool and she could make the word sound like a description of a flunkey caught S,The" Maharanee had to be cere-menially cere-menially helped out of the carriage. She too. had hesrd Aunty s J ell, She was overflowing with eagerness t0 overwhelm an injured guest wuh Ldi.es, but she couldnt run as fast as Lynn. And then Rundhia stood in the way, smiling, careful not to embarrass Lynn with gallantry. gallan-try. "Nothing," he said in English, to the Maharanee. "A twisted ankle A bruise. A little badly shaken I believe. My doctor is attending to her. Won't you introduce me to the goddess?" The Maharanee purred. She unveiled un-veiled her face. She put her arm around her lamplit protegee: "Lynn darling, this is my nephew Prince Rundhia. He is a bad boy, but I do hope you will like each other. Rundhia, this is Miss Lynn Harding, who is teaching me how Americans do things; and I am having hav-ing such fun pretending she is one of us. I wish she were! Oh, how I wish it." Presently, when the doctor came out, Rundhia eyed him in the lamplight lamp-light with a stare that made the Bengali flinch. He did his best to look like a confidential, dignified retainer, re-tainer, but it didn't work. Aunty had broken his dignity, and his fear of the Prince had no covering left. He almost stammered: "Nothing broken. Tape iodine bandages. She will soon recover." He made a sudden, nervous effort to regain the feeling of being important impor-tant and on the inside of events. "Have you heard that Captain Norwood, Nor-wood, of the Royal Engineers, has Wwm "Wonderful! But no, that won't do!" arrived? He is in camp outside the city." Rundhia looked startled. The doctor doc-tor continued: "He has with him an Eurasian named Moses O'Leary who, they say, already is poking his ugly nose into what is none of his business." Lynn Harding stood examining the Rolls-Royce. She was quite used to luxury, but even Hollywood owned nothing like that thing. Its gadgets and gold-plated adornments were a sufficiently good excuse for giving Aunty's temper time to cool off. So she lingered, letting the Maharanee go alone into the guesthouse. Alone-ness, Alone-ness, of course, included three servants, serv-ants, but a Maharanee is lucky who endures only six eyes to watch what she does, and six ears to hear what she says. Lynn could not hear what Prince Rundhia was saying to the doctor, but he was doing all the talking and she felt fairly sure that he was talking about her. He strode toward her looking as deadly self-assured as Mephistophe-les. Mephistophe-les. Lynn fell on guard. "You win," said Rundhia. . "Win what.' "Whatever you came for." "I came for a good time." "Uh-uh? Been having it?" "Yes. Your aunt has been conducting con-ducting me into Indian mysteries." "We have none," said Rundhia. "We are an open book. We are three hundred and fifty million people, peo-ple, every single one of whom carries car-ries his heart on his sleeve. You are the mystery. Have you a heart? Where is it?" Lynn laughed: "Is that any of your business?" . "Of course it's my business." "Why?" "Because you are the most beautiful beauti-ful mystery I have ever seen. Every Ev-ery mystery is an invitation to find the right key." "Oh, are you a detective? "You bet I am. I've detected your cruelty. You intend to keep me guessing. I can't endure it." Lynn laughed again: "Should 1 pity you?" "No. Pib and compassion are the twin curses of India. We're so compassionate to one another that we hate one another for not being even more miserable than we are, I so as to be able to mop up greater floods of useless pity." "So vou're an iron man?" -Xo-nor a jellyfish. I have a leatherv disposition, due to talents that have dried from lack of use." "Oh. are you lazy?" No. Iron has entered into me. It's like a spur that dug too deep and keeps on working inward. It irritates abundant energy that has no outlet. Add boredom to that, and what have you?" "It sounds like an explosive mixture. mix-ture. Aren't you afraid you may blow up? I believe you're sorry for yourself." "Sorrow is not in me," he retorted. retort-ed. "I don't know the emotion." "Not even when you make mistakes?" mis-takes?" "I never make them. A mistake is what a fool does to an opportunity. All that I have lacked until now is a real opportunity." Mrs. Harding's voice came through the guesthouse window sharply impatient: "Lynn! Lynn! Where are you?" "All right. Aunty. I'm coming." Experienced tyranny knows countless count-less ways of compelling submission. Aunty groaned on a sumptuous bed: "No, don't let me trouble you. Don't let me be a nuisance. I am sure that the cares of a palace must be more than enough. You must try to forget my existence. Lynn can look after me." Lynn's eyes met the Maharanee's deep unto deep. The Maharanee looked rather like a New York East-side East-side Jewess who has risen through the ruck of immigration to the ranks of affluence and prestige. Full-bos- omea, matroruy, Kina, dui aware that the world is full of pitfalls: aware that the world needs kindness, but can misinterpret and cruelly resent re-sent good intentions. She had the genius, gentleness, iron. She had also a will that no Deborah Harding could bully to obedience. Lynn undid a necklace from the palace heirlooms, and handed it to the Maharanee. She began to remove re-move a bracelet, but the complicated complicat-ed fastening prevented. She held out her wrist. "Please. I must get into some clothes that Aunty thinks respectable respecta-ble and stay with her." The mild, plump Maharanee countered coun-tered with surprising firmness: "Darling, we will expect you to dinner. Yes, I will take the jewelry because it must be returned to the Keeper of the Jewels. I will choose two women from my own attendants attend-ants who shall take care of Mrs. Harding. She almost flounced out, giving Aunty no time to reply. There was silence until the drum-beat of the horses' hooves died away along the drive in the direction of the palace. Then Aunty spoke: "This comes of making social concessions. con-cessions. I never heard of such audacity. Did you hear her speak to ne as if I were a servant or a charity patient? Go and take off that immodest costume. It suggests a fancy-dress ball in a bad house. "Aunty, the doctor has promised to return with something to relieve the pain, so that you will get some i sleep." "Sleep! While you are doing what In the palace? Do you think I am deaf, blind? Do you think I have forgotten your flirting on board ship and in hotels until I blushed for you? I heard you, through the window, win-dow, talking to Prince Rundhia." "Aunty, I think I hate you. It makes me feel mean and ungrateful. ungrate-ful. I would so much rather love you." "I have left off hoping to be loved," said Aunty. "I demand your respect. That may teach you to respect yourself and so merit the respect of your equals. Love? Gratitude? Illusions! I have learned that." Lynn went and changed into black silk Chinese pajamas. They would remind Aunty of that fancy-dress ball on board ship, when the penniless penni-less son of a Tirhoot planter had made the pace so hot that Aunty nearly had fits. Lynn stared at her own reflection in the mirror, not quite liking it. She smiled at herself, her-self, just to see what the smile would look like. The Maharanee returned from the palace, excited, fawned on by four women. Two meek men-servants followed her with baskets of provisions. provi-sions. Lynn ran to greet her. The Maharanee almost squealed at the sight of Lynn in black pajamas with her golden hair massed in becoming becom-ing contrast. "Wonderful! But no, that won't do! Yes it will, yes it will! I forget. I am so excited, I forget! We are to have an informal supper party at the palace, instead of dinner truly, truly unconventional modern a picnic!" "6h, my God!" said Aunty. But the Maharanee could be as deaf as Fate when it pleased her to be. She continued, almost breathless: breath-less: "His Highness my husband" (she always spoke of the Maharajah as His Highness my husband) "has heard that Captain Norwood is in Kadur. Captain Norwood is a Royal Engineer. He is said to be a man of great attainments. His Highness my husband is very eager to be pleasant to him." "Engineer?" said Aunty. "Yes, he is to make a survey of 1 the Kadur River. It would not be etiquette to notice him until after he makes his formal call, which he should do tomorrow. Howeyer, I persuaded His Highness my husband, hus-band, who is a very conventional man, but now and then he listens to me." She turned to Aunty: "We are so, so sorry, Mrs. Harding, that you can't be with us." "I will spare you that regret." she answered. "I will be there. You have a rickshaw? Your women can help me to dress, I don't doubt. Lynn and I will be leaving as soon as I am fit to travel. A last supper sup-per in your palace will be something some-thing to remember." "Oh, how gracious of you," said the Maharanee. "But are you quite sure " The Bengali doctor appeared, cautious, cau-tious, with a bedside confidential air that did not, however, prevent the Maharanee from instinctively veiling veil-ing her face. "Mrs. Harding, I have a little pel-et pel-et for you, just one little pellet, prepared specially." "Thank you, I don't take pellets." The doctor hesitated. The Maharanee Ma-haranee spoke through her veil: "TVTrs TTarHinET is rnminff tn snrt- per at the palace." "Oh?" said the doctor. "Well, perhaps she will take the medicine at supper. Shall I send it by a servant? She should -take it with a little piece of bread or with a glass of water." "Thank you, you needn't trouble," said Mrs. Harding. "I need no medicine." med-icine." "Come, Lynn." The Maharanee could hardly wait while Lynn looked for a wrap. "So long. Aunty. See you later." "Does she never consult an astrologer?" astrol-oger?" the Maharanee asked. Lynn laughed: "She did once and only once!" "But you? You believe in them?" "I think the answer is no. I know so little about them practically nothing. But aren't they charlatans? I've always been told that they are." "Oh, many of them are," the Maharanee Ma-haranee admitted. "There are charlatans char-latans in all professions. We have a very good court astrologer. I will order him to cast your horoscope. In fact, I have already consulted him about it." "What fun! "But please do keep it secret from Aunty. She would have conniption fits." (TO BE CONTINUED) |