CHAPTER VIII
THE DINNER-PARTY
At Muktiarbad, the usual form of evening entertainment was adinner-party with music and bridge to follow; and Mrs. Bright, wife ofthe Superintendent of Police, was specially noted for her hospitality inthis respect. The brief intervals spent at home by her husband betweenhis rounds of inspection or inquiry in his District were alwayscelebrated by herself and her daughter as festal occasions; and theirfriends were gathered together at short notice to eat, not the "fattedcalf," as that would have offended the religious susceptibilities of theHindus who held the animal sacred, but one of the fattened geese keptavailable for such occasions.
The ladies did not always accompany Mr. Bright on his journeys about theDistrict, as they were usually hurried and undertaken with scantpreparation. Very little of the flesh-pots of Bengal sufficed to satisfyMuktiarbad's Chief of Police, who had been thoroughly broken in to therough-and-tumble of official life in the _mafasil_. The presence of hisfamily in camp was a hindrance to Mr. Bright, and he was better pleasedto return, after his strenuous duties, to the peace of domesticity athis bungalow in the Station. Moreover, there was little of interest inthe monotony of camping in lonely places for a young girl to whom hermother wished to give every opportunity of settling in life, whatevermight be her own ideas respecting a vocation. Muktiarbad, though a ruralbackwater of Bengal, and pronounced by the gay-minded, a penalsettlement, had matrimonial possibilities not to be despised by anxiousparents with daughters to be happily disposed of.
On the whole, it was a highly social if small community who made themost of their opportunities for enjoyment, accepting the limitations ofthe place to which it had pleased Providence and the Ruling Power toappoint them, with the usual healthy philosophy which has made India sorich in memories.
It mattered little if they had to endure the discomforts of the climateand various inconveniences besides; others were in a worse case. Nor didit matter if they never reached the goal for which they strove--it wasKismet!
Fatalism is a habit of mind peculiar to the people of the East, wherethe unexpected might happen at any time without warning; and it is notunusual for Europeans to slip half-consciously into the same mentalattitude.
It is consequently not surprising that, in spite of many lurkingdangers, life in the rural districts is careless and free. Risks ofcholera, sunstroke, and snake-bite, are taken boldly without a thoughtof possibilities. India has need of resourceful minds and nerves ofsteel; and no use for the faltering and irresolute.
Even Mrs. Bright took chances for her family and friends when her cookat the eleventh hour sent to Robinath Mukerjea's store in the bazaar fortins of salmon (the fish procured from a local tank being deemedinevitably earthy in flavour); for Mukerjea bought his provisions atsales of old stock from the Army and Navy Stores, vowing they were freshconsignments from _Belait_; but no one was deceived when patronising hisshop in spite of risks of ptomaine. However, a dinner cooked by KareemMajid was an achievement more worthy of a Goanese than a Mohammedan, andnone who dined at the Brights' was ever the worse.
"My dear," Mrs. Bright had been heard to observe in earlier days, "wereit not for Honor and the necessity to cultivate the acquaintance ofone's own child, I should never leave India. How I miss that treasure,Kareem! He has been with us since we were married, and there never was amore useful servant. Whether in camp or in my own bungalow, it is justthe same; he rises to every emergency and cooks like a French _chef_. Ata pinch he'll valet my husband. He has even in an emergency fastened thehooks of my blouse at the back; and when Honor was a child, played withher when she had the measles and kept her from crying herself into afit. When other servants ran away from the cholera, he stayed and dideverything but sweep the floors! And when any one is sick, I have neverknown the equal of his 'chicken jugs'! He is so self-reliant, too. Ihave only to say, 'Kareem, six guests for dinner tonight. Don't ask fororders--do just as you please, only don't mention the subject of food asyou value your life!' And he will _salaam_ and say, '_Jo hukum_,' afterwhich I have no responsibility whatever; dinner up to time, everythingcooked to perfection, and when you think of what an Indian cook-houseis, really, you are overcome with admiration. Can you fancy an Englishcook consenting to turn out dinners under like conditions? You getnotice in a day! And who thinks of sparing Indian servants? As manycourses as you like, with a wash-up like a small mountain, which the_masalchi_ disposes of behind the pantry door on a yard or two of bamboomatting, with an earthen _gumla_, a kettle of boiling water, and anunthinkable swab! An English maid would have hysterics."
To make existence possible to the residents of Muktiarbad, there was thegreat, straggling bazaar on the outskirts of the Station ready to supplythe necessaries of life. An enlightened confidence in the rule of thesahibs and in their honour and justice was a tradition with the localpopulation whose trust in the _Sarcar_ was unbounded; for sedition hadnot yet poisoned the minds of the peace-loving, contented agriculturistsand shopkeepers who were as conservative as they were simple. It wasonly in outlying villages that occasional trouble brewed when ignorantand superstitious minds were played upon by malcontents.
Ten minutes' grace was allowed to Mrs. Meredith--no more--and Mr. Brightoffered his arm to Mrs. Barrington Fox and led the way to thedining-room. Mr. Barrington Fox was seldom to be persuaded intoaccepting Station hospitalities; and usually made the time-worn excuse,as on the present occasion, of inspection duty on the line. The Station,however, understood it to mean that he had ceased to find pleasure inhis wife's company and was determined not to be victimised.
The dining-room at the Brights' was a large apartment, whitewashed likea hospital ward, but redeemed by hunting pictures on the walls, gracefuldrapery, and good furniture. A _punkha_ with a mat frill hung motionlessoverhead, as weather conditions were sufficiently altered to dispensewith an artificial breeze; and the dining table beneath it presented aninviting aspect with its glittering mass of silver, glass, and flowers.A draught-screen concealed the door of ingress from the pantry where thebusiness of serving was carried on by the _khansaman_ assisted by agroup of white-robed domestics. Agitated whispers from behind the screenwere infallible indications of mistakes retrieved in the nick of time;otherwise, the occasional blow of the ice hammer, or the rolling of theice machine on the outer door-mat were the only sounds audible from thedining-room.
Mrs. Bright, full of confidence in her staff and indifferent to mistakeswhich were not inexcusable, showed a complete detachment from thedetails of serving while she entertained her guests.
A little reshuffling of the order of precedence, when Mrs. Meredith'snon-appearance was assured, had disposed of Tommy Deare to his entiresatisfaction. Left to shift for himself he moved to the other side ofHonor Bright whom Jack Darling had piloted in. He was a plain,freckle-faced boy of twenty-two with plenty to say for himself, and amost engaging smile. In height he was on a level with Honor who wasconsidered tall; yet, to his disgust, he was referred to as a "littleman." But since it was recognised that "valuable goods are packed insmall parcels," he assured his friends of his inestimable worth, and wascomforted.
"Mrs. Meredith is too absurd about that kid of hers," Mrs. Fox was heardto remark in the first hush that fell with the arrival of the soup."Isn't it the baby who is ill tonight?" to Captain Dalton.
"If I had known, I should have mentioned it," said the doctor above hissoup plate. The rudeness of the reply was characteristic of him.
"I understood from Mrs. Meredith that she and her offspring are in yourcharge. How neglectful of you to know nothing!"
"I am ready to attend to them when called in," he replied.
"Then you have not been wanted!" she laughed spitefully. "It must bevery mortifying never to be wanted except when you are of use!"
"A doctor is the one man whom you are only too glad to see the last of,"said Dalton coldly.
"All the same, I shouldn't be a bit surprised if it's the baby who isill, and you are sent for before dinner is over. Mrs. Meredi
th said itwould be the only reason that would stop her coming," put in Mrs.Bright, anxious to soothe.
"I hope not, indeed!" cried Mrs. Fox. "For now we've got you we mean tomake you sing. Don't imagine we'll let you off."
The doctor bowed a stiff acknowledgment, which meant nothing, andentered into conversation with the Executive Engineer on the subject ofa morass which he had condemned in his Sanitary Report, and recommendedto be drained.
"The villagers won't stand it," said Mr. Ironsides. "They draw theirdrinking water from that _jhil_, and providing them with wells insteadwill not console them for its loss. Incidentally, they use it also forlaundry purposes and bathing," he laughed.
"Exactly. So the sooner it is done away with the better for their healthand the health of the District. Malaria and cholera have their source atPanipara."
"I hope you are not trying to deprive us of our duck-shooting, Doctor,"said Mr. Bright in alarm. "We depend upon Panipara Jhil for game in thewinters, and there is little sport besides, in this God-forsaken place."
"It will have to go if you want immunity from sickness," said Dalton.
"If _they_ don't mind it, I don't know why _we_ should. It rages chieflyin Panipara village itself, and is nothing to us."
"It comes on here afterwards with the flies," said Tommy.
"A few natives, more or less, wiped off the face of the earth hereaboutswould be a benefit to Muktiarbad," drawled young Smart of the Railwayfrom his seat on Mrs. Fox's right, which, by an unwritten law was alwaysaccorded to him at Station dinners.
"How very unfeeling!" cried two or three ladies in unison.
A vigorous argument arose to which Honor listened, deeply interested.Panipara Jhil lay a few miles outside the Station, with the village ofthe same name lying on its banks. It occupied an area of a square mileor two of marsh land, was overrun with water-weeds and lotus plants, anddotted about with islands full of jungle growth and date-palms--apicturesque but unhealthy spot, dear to lovers of sport.
"The natives haven't the foggiest idea of hygiene," said the doctorfinally. "But they cannot be argued with. They will continue theirfilthy habits though twenty to thirty per cent. of them get wiped out bycholera annually. Drain the _jhil_ and give them wells, and there'll belittle or no sickness afterwards. Incidentally, several hundred _bighas_of ground will be reclaimed for agricultural purposes, which will be abenefit to the owner."
"The Government will take its own time to consider the proposition, anda few years hence, when it has exhausted all the red tape available, itwill be put through," said Honor. "In the meantime, the cholera, likethe poor, will be 'with us always!'"
"I shouldn't be at all surprised," said the doctor meeting her eyes inswift appreciation of her verdict.
He said no more to her, for others intervened and the conversationchanged.
Captain Dalton looked a trifle more cynical and dissatisfied than usual,Honor thought. His strong jaw and irregular features hid his thoughts,but not their reflection which showed a mental unrest. He was clearlynot a happy man, and was plainly a discordant element in light-heartedcompany. "A real wet blanket," Tommy whispered in her ear. "If one makesa joke he either doesn't hear it, or thinks it not worth laughing at.Something has turned him sour, so he hates to see people happy."
But Honor was not in agreement with him. "I grant he is an embitteredman--he looks it; but he is quite willing that you should enjoy yourselfso long as you don't force your high spirits on him. If one's mind isnot in accord with blithesomeness, one surely might be excused fromtaking part in it."
"I do believe you like the blighter?" Tommy cried reproachfully.
"I have every reason to," she answered stoutly.
"Because he cured you of snake-bite? Doctors get a pull over us poorlaymen when it comes to matters of life and death. They do their duty,and you are grateful for all time," at which Honor laughed heartily, forTommy was looking personally injured.
"There's Mrs. Meredith!" he continued. "She talks of him with tears inher eyes as though he were a saint--Old Nick, more likely!--He has beenendowed with every virtue when he has none, simply because he put theSquawk to rights." Tommy had seen Joyce that afternoon and went on todescribe his visit. "She was looking topping, so was the kid; whichmakes it all the more mysterious, her not turning up. But, my word, sheis pretty! One might be excused for any indiscretion when she makes eyesat one!"
However, to his disappointment, Honor showed no symptoms of jealousy."I'll wager she neglected you for her baby!" She said. "Mrs. Meredithhas no interest in young men."
"She had plenty in me. We grew quite intimate--talked of the weather and_anopheles_ mosquitoes, and improved the occasion by rubbing _eau deCologne_ on the bites."
"How very thrilling! and she forgot all about you the moment you hadleft!"
"Everyone forgets all about Tommy the moment he has left," put in Jack,thinking it about time to remind them of his presence.
He was a handsome young athlete of twenty-five, with the reputation ofhaving played in the Rugby International. He owned a complexioninconveniently given to blushing. He and Tommy chummed together in athree-roomed bungalow near the Police Court and were generally known asinseparables. Both played polo and tennis with skill and kept theStation entertained by their high spirits and resourcefulness.
Honor's attention was diverted by an animated discussion among herelders respecting the duties of a wife and mother in the East.
"A mother is perfectly justified in taking her child home if it cannotstand the climate," Mrs. Fox was saying.
"I suppose the question to be decided is, whom a woman cares most for,child or husband--whether she will live away from her husband for thesake of the child, or from the child for the sake of the husband,presuming that the climate is not suitable to children," said a guest.
A strident voice was heard to remark that women had no business to marrymen whose careers were in the East, if they meant to live away from themmost of the time. "It's a tragedy for which doctors are mainlyresponsible," with a sniff and a challenging glance at Captain Dalton.
"Oh, you doctors!" laughed Mrs. Bright, shaking her finger at him. "Seewhat mischief you are accountable for!--ruined lives, broken homes!"
"In many cases, it is a charity to part husbands and wives," said thedoctor grimly.
"Hear, hear!" from Mrs. Fox, at which Mrs. Ironsides was shocked.
"I hope Mrs. Meredith will not go home so soon," she said. "It will be apity, when she and her husband have been so lately married. Somebodyshould influence her to remain and give the hills a trial. They seem tosuit children very well."
"If she goes home it will be nothing short of a calamity," said Honorquietly, thinking of Ray Meredith's devotion and his wife'sunsophisticated and undeveloped mind. "It would never do unless shemeans to return immediately."
"A child of tender years needs its mother," said a lady whose heartyearned for her little one in England. "No stranger will give it thesame sympathy or care."
"It is a difficult problem to which there is no solution," said Mrs.Bright.
"I always feel, when I see a wife living for years at home while herhusband remains out here, that there is no love lost between them. Thechildren serve as an excellent excuse for the separation," said Honor,colouring at her own audacity in voicing an opinion so pronounced. "Noreason on earth should be strong enough to part those who care deeplyfor each other."
"Hear, hear!" murmured Tommy under his breath, while Mrs. Fox laugheddisagreeably. "An excellent sentiment coming from you, Miss Bright, whohave no experience. Long may you subscribe to it."
Honor blushed still deeper. "I have my ideals," she returned.
"I trust they will never be shattered!" the lady sneered.
Again Dalton's eyes met Honor's with strange intentness. Feeling out ofher depth she had looked involuntarily to him for the subtle sympathy,instinct told her was in his attitude to her, and she had received itabundantly in the slow smile which softened his expression to one
ofabsolute kindness. It created a glow at her heart, to linger with herfor the rest of the evening.
"Whenever I used to run home on short 'leave of absence' to see if Honorhad not altogether forgotten me," said Mrs. Bright, smilingreminiscently, "and dared to hint at an extension, my husband wouldsquander all his T.A. in cablegrams threatening to divorce me on thespot in favour of some mythical person if I did not return by the nextmail. Wasn't that so, dear?"
"Gross exaggeration, my love. I could never get you to take arespectable holiday, for just as I was beginning to enjoy my liberty asa grass-widower, you would bob up serenely with 'No, you don't' on everyline of your rosy face. It was worth anything, however, to see thoseEnglish roses back again."
("The reason why Honor is such a nice girl," a lady once told CaptainDalton, "is because she has such a charming example of love in her home.Love is in her bones; her parents are so perfectly united that it isimpossible for Honor to be anything but a good wife. Parents areimmensely responsible for their children's psychology.")
"I have never ceased to thank Providence that I have no children!" saidthe wife of a railway official, with a sigh of contentment, "so thetragedy of separation has never affected me. I can honestly say that Ihave never left my husband for more than a day since we married, fifteenyears ago!" and she reared her thin neck out of her evening gown andlooked about her for congratulations.
"Lord, how sick of her he must be!" whispered Tommy under his breath, tothe delight of Jack and Honor. "Life would be stale and unprofitable ifI could not repeat the honeymoon every autumn when my wife returned fromthe hills. So thrilling to fall in love with one's own wife every year!"
"Which proves that you will make a very bad husband," said Honorseverely. "Out of sight out of mind."
"He won't talk so glibly of sending his wife to the hills when he hasdiscovered that she has been carrying on with Snooks of the ConvalescentDepot while he has been stewing in the plains," said Jack with a _blase_air.
"Since when have you turned cynic, Mr. Darling?" Honor asked,astonished. "It doesn't become you in the least!"
"Jack had an enlightening holiday in Darjeeling last month when he hadten days during the _Pujas_," Tommy explained with reprisals in his eye."It accounts for his attitude of mind. Having strict principles and afaint heart, no one had any use for him up there but Mrs. Meredith andthe Y. M. C. A.----"
"Don't listen to him, Miss Bright," Jack interrupted.
"--So in sheer desperation he turned nurse to Squawk and ran errands forits mother, wondering the while how it was that some men had all theluck!"
"Draw it mild, I say!"
"And now he sits up half the night composing odes to her eyebrows andboring me stiff with his sighs."
"Liar!" laughed Jack. "I couldn't write poetry to save my life."
"It doesn't prevent him from trying. Then there's her photograph----"
"It isn't hers, I told you!" Jack protested. "Tommy, you're a villain."
"It's jolly like her, what I saw of it when it fell out from under yourpillow."
By this time Jack was crimson. He relapsed into sulky silence anddevoted himself to his plate with appetite. Honor Bright wanted nobetter evidence of the fact that he was heart-whole, though shecontinued to wonder whose was the photograph he was treasuring sosentimentally.
Dinner progressed through its many courses towards dessert, when toastswere drunk to "Absent Ones," and "Sweethearts and Wives,"--the usualconclusion to dinners at the Brights'; then, with a loud scraping ofchairs, the ladies rose and filed out of the room.
Later, when the gentlemen appeared having finished their smokes, it wasdiscovered that Captain Dalton had retired. He had excused himself tohis host on the plea of a late visit to his patient at Sombari, threemiles out, and was gone.
"Dear, dear!" sighed Mrs. Bright. "How very disappointing! Evidently hehad no intention of singing tonight, and I hear he has such a divinevoice!"
"But we don't begrudge that poor girl his attention when she is so ill,"put in Mrs. Ironsides.
"Indeed, no. I wonder how she is."
"Pretty bad, from all accounts," said Mr. Bright.
"Her poor mother must be distracted. The only real happiness she has inlife is the companionship of this only child. Mr. Meek is sonarrow-minded and autocratic in domestic life. He must be sorry now thathe deprived the child of so many opportunities of innocent amusement."
"Not at all," said a guest. "He will congratulate himself that he kepther unspotted from the world. Muktiarbad is his idea of unadulteratedgodlessness. We are such a bad example to his converts, you know, withour tennis on Sundays!"
"Poor little Elsie! I hope she will recover," said Mrs. Bright.
Honor felt a distinct sense of depression when she heard that CaptainDalton had gone quietly away without even a hint to herself that he hadhad no intention of staying. It was clear that he had no interest inremaining; his excuse she disregarded, for he could have visited Sombariearlier in the evening when he knew that he was engaged to dine out. Shebelieved he liked her ... but he was "not seeking to marry her," as hehad said to Joyce in camp, so it was her duty to rise above the folly ofthinking too much of a man who would never be anything more to her thana mere acquaintance. With a determined effort to stifle feelings ofwounded pride and disappointment, she ordered Tommy to the piano tobeguile the company with ragtime ditties at which he was past-master,and while he played and others sang, notably Bobby Smart, who was not tobe chained to the side of Mrs. Fox, the latter was left to cultivate theacquaintance of the shy Apollo, Jack Darling, whom the Brights and Tommyhad hitherto absorbed.
Jack met her ravishing smile with a blush of self-consciousness, fearingall eyes upon himself as he accepted the seat beside her on achesterfield. He was so obviously new to the art of intrigue, soconspicuously ingenuous, that he had the charm of novelty for her. Shebelieved that Mrs. Bright was manoeuvring to get him for a son-in-lawand was chafing at Honor's lack of worldly wisdom in dividing herfavours equally between him and Tommy whose prospects in life were lessbrilliant. The situation was one entirely after her own heart, to makeor mar with impish deliberation. In spite of his comparatively inferiorsocial standing and unattractive appearance, Tommy was popular with thegirls for his ready wit. He dared to be unconscious of his disadvantagesand stormed his way into the front rank of drawing-room favourites; buthe was too unimpressionable and discerning to suit Mrs. Fox's taste, soshe left him alone to see what she could make of Jack whoseguilelessness was a strong appeal to women of her type. His developmentunder her guidance seemed the only excitement life had to offer her inthis rural backwater, and she was not one to miss her opportunities.
"I'd dearly love to act sponsor to a boy like you in the beginning ofhis career, Jack," she cried with a tender inflection of the voice. "Bythe way, I'm going to call you 'Jack'--may I?"
"Certainly, if you care to," he returned awkwardly.
"Oh, you are priceless! What an opportunity you missed for a prettyspeech!" and she laid her hand caressingly on his for a moment toemphasise her delight in him.
"Why? what should I have said?" he asked, laughing boyishly, and wincingunder her touch. The suggestion of intimacy in her manner somewhatembarrassed him.
"I should like to see you a few years hence when your education iscomplete," she returned, evading his question teasingly. "But youmustn't marry, or you will be utterly spoilt."
"There is no immediate prospect of that!" he said laughing and givingaway the fact that he was heart-whole. "But won't you take up the jobtonight and begin instructing me?"
"I am sorely tempted to," she replied, smiling affectionately on him."You must really learn your possibilities. They are limitless. Afterthat, everything will come naturally,--assurance, the wit to graspopportunities, and a bold initiative, without which a man is no good."
"No good?--for what?" he pressed ingenuously.
"To pass the time with, of course, O most adorable infant!" she laughedsilently, returning his loo
k with an expression of half-veiledadmiration.
In stations where officials came and went with meteoric suddenness owingto the reshuffling of the governmental pack of human cards, friendshipswere as sudden as they were transient. Jack Darling having arrived atMuktiarbad while Mrs. Fox was at a hill station, their acquaintance wasonly in its initial stage.
"Look at Mrs. Fox," whispered Mrs. Ironsides to Mrs. Bright. "She isdoing her best to spoil that nice boy with her flattery! You can tellthat she is pouring conceit into him by the bucketful. Shamelesscreature! I wonder her husband doesn't send her home."
"She prefers India," Mrs. Bright showed a restless eye.
"Mr. Smart will be only too glad if Mr. Darling relieves him of hisattendance on Mrs. Fox. Did you notice how he yawned at table while shewas talking to him?"
"He lives in her pocket, all the same, and is always at her beck andcall."
"Was my dear. I have noticed a great change latterly, and I hear he isgoing to be transferred. Mr. Fox knows his people at home and isarranging it."
"And he knows his wife better," said Mrs. Bright with satire. It seemedat Muktiarbad everybody knew everybody else's affairs.
She allowed a brief interval to pass and then, using her privilege ashostess, captured Jack on the pretext of sending him to the piano, withHonor to select his song from a pile of music in a canterbury. By thetime the ballad was finished and a chorus was in full swing, Mrs. Foxhad been carried away by Mr. Bright to make a fourth at auction inanother room.
Jack watched her go somewhat regretfully, wondering the while,shamefacedly, if he would be able to have another talk with her thatnight, and consigning all scandalmongers to perdition, who had dared tomake free with her name. He refused to believe ill of so charming alady, and was not surprised that Bobby Smart had found her companyattractive--why not? When a brute of a husband spent all his time downthe line instead of trying to make life pleasant for his wife, it was nowonder she was obliged to find entertainment for herself in the societyof other men! Hers was a poor sort of life, anyway.
When the party broke up, Mrs. Fox elected to walk home as a tribute tothe glorious moonlight, and Jack was commandeered to act as her escort.It was a good opportunity for the lady to show that renegade, MasterBobby Smart, that he was not indispensable. His yawn at dinner deserveda reprisal.
Bobby Smart, however, was not slow to profit by his release from escortduty, and wasted no time in pleasing himself. "I'll drop you home,Deare," he said cheerfully, "and we'll have a whisky-and-soda at yourbungalow before you turn in."
"I should wait till I'm asked," said Tommy lighting a cigarette anddropping the match in a flower-pot on the verandah.
"I knew you were pining to have me round for a _buk_."[9]
[Footnote 9: Chat.]
"You can come in if you promise to go home by midnight," Tommycondescended. "I'll not be kept up later."
"On the stroke. That's a jolly good whisky you have. I was going to sendto Kellner's for the same brand today, but forgot."
Tommy climbed into Smart's trap and consented to be driven home. Hishospitality and Jack's was proverbial at Muktiarbad.