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future consideration. No sign of O Hara?
If he s here, he s in the Old Fort. Have you seen the way The Forts are laid
out?
I have.
The western half is where all the guests live, there s a huge courtyard
garden, the maharaja s quarters. But the eastern part isn t deserted one
occasionally sees guards on the walls. If the maharaja had a dungeon, it would
probably be there, where the guests wouldn t stumble on it.
Is there any way you can get in?
New Fort is locked up at night, although a circumspect individual might come
and go. I don t know about the other side, but it, too, looks the sort of
place that might be invaded by one or two.
Page 144
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
How much longer do you wish to stay?
Honestly, I can t see that I m going to uncover much more than I have.
Another day or two, perhaps? And, if you can arrange it, a telegram recalling
me to the outside world might be helpful. My host seems reluctant to permit
his guests to leave.
Very well. If I m not here, I ll be half a mile down the Hijarkot road,
there s a caravanserai there. You d better go or your watch-dog will come
looking for you.
I threaded my fingers through his, and we sat for a moment, eye to eye and
hands joined, before I separated myself from his presence to dart from the
shade of the wagon and into the nearest alleyway. I reached the city gates
before Faith; our sweating guard was greatly relieved to see me. We strolled
demurely back to the palace, and allowed ourselves to be shut in again.
The telegram camethe following morning, Friday, and said merely,MARY RUSSELL
PRESENCE REQUIRED MONDAY MORNING DELHI. It was brought while I was at
breakfast; I took it from the golden salver and opened it publicly, arranging
a look of intense irritation on my face before wadding the flimsy and dropping
it beside my fork. I left it there when I went to watch the morning s
entertainment, which proved to be a doubles tennis-match between dwarfs. Some
of the guests seemed to think it uproariously funny, although I found that
once my eyes had adjusted to the diminutive size of the players, it was just
another amateur game. Perhaps the afternoon s ostrich race would be more
amusing, I thought, and closed my eyes in the sun.
My doze was interrupted by a cleared throat, and I opened my eyes to find
achuprassiclutching a note. It read,
Miss Russell, would you join me in the gun-room.
Its signature was the letter K, with a stamp that I thought might be the
crest of Khanpur. I stood up and said, Could you tell me how to find the
gun-room?
Thechuprassiconducted me to New Fort s east wing, where the maharaja s
private quarters lay. We entered through a brightly gilded archway just to the
left of the gates, and within half a dozen steps, my jaw dropped. I had grown
accustomed to the grand opulence of the central wing, but the corridor we
walked down, the rooms whose open doors we passed, were another thing
altogether. Here were unlocked display cabinets of exquisite miniatures, ivory
and gold, beside paintings that any museum in Europe would covet. In one room,
I saw Louis XIV furniture, clearly in daily use; in another room stood a
display of trophies and photographs, including the one for the 1922 Kadir Cup
that I had seen in Nesbit s house. I tried not to gawp as we walked past, but
my head swivelled unceasingly.
It was a revelation. These paintings, those trophies, had been placed here
for the sole pleasure of one man, not as a way of impressing his guests these
fragile carpets took no concern of the wear of many feet, and the rooms had
been arranged for his privacy and comfort, not for the appreciation of groups.
The maharaja clearly enjoyed even gloated over his possessions, but he kept
the true treasures to himself.
Page 145
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
At the very end of the long corridor, thechuprassiopened a door and bowed me
through; once inside, I stopped dead.
I do not know what was more disconcerting, the completely muffled sound in
the room or its dim light, but one s immediate response on entering the room [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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future consideration. No sign of O Hara?
If he s here, he s in the Old Fort. Have you seen the way The Forts are laid
out?
I have.
The western half is where all the guests live, there s a huge courtyard
garden, the maharaja s quarters. But the eastern part isn t deserted one
occasionally sees guards on the walls. If the maharaja had a dungeon, it would
probably be there, where the guests wouldn t stumble on it.
Is there any way you can get in?
New Fort is locked up at night, although a circumspect individual might come
and go. I don t know about the other side, but it, too, looks the sort of
place that might be invaded by one or two.
Page 144
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
How much longer do you wish to stay?
Honestly, I can t see that I m going to uncover much more than I have.
Another day or two, perhaps? And, if you can arrange it, a telegram recalling
me to the outside world might be helpful. My host seems reluctant to permit
his guests to leave.
Very well. If I m not here, I ll be half a mile down the Hijarkot road,
there s a caravanserai there. You d better go or your watch-dog will come
looking for you.
I threaded my fingers through his, and we sat for a moment, eye to eye and
hands joined, before I separated myself from his presence to dart from the
shade of the wagon and into the nearest alleyway. I reached the city gates
before Faith; our sweating guard was greatly relieved to see me. We strolled
demurely back to the palace, and allowed ourselves to be shut in again.
The telegram camethe following morning, Friday, and said merely,MARY RUSSELL
PRESENCE REQUIRED MONDAY MORNING DELHI. It was brought while I was at
breakfast; I took it from the golden salver and opened it publicly, arranging
a look of intense irritation on my face before wadding the flimsy and dropping
it beside my fork. I left it there when I went to watch the morning s
entertainment, which proved to be a doubles tennis-match between dwarfs. Some
of the guests seemed to think it uproariously funny, although I found that
once my eyes had adjusted to the diminutive size of the players, it was just
another amateur game. Perhaps the afternoon s ostrich race would be more
amusing, I thought, and closed my eyes in the sun.
My doze was interrupted by a cleared throat, and I opened my eyes to find
achuprassiclutching a note. It read,
Miss Russell, would you join me in the gun-room.
Its signature was the letter K, with a stamp that I thought might be the
crest of Khanpur. I stood up and said, Could you tell me how to find the
gun-room?
Thechuprassiconducted me to New Fort s east wing, where the maharaja s
private quarters lay. We entered through a brightly gilded archway just to the
left of the gates, and within half a dozen steps, my jaw dropped. I had grown
accustomed to the grand opulence of the central wing, but the corridor we
walked down, the rooms whose open doors we passed, were another thing
altogether. Here were unlocked display cabinets of exquisite miniatures, ivory
and gold, beside paintings that any museum in Europe would covet. In one room,
I saw Louis XIV furniture, clearly in daily use; in another room stood a
display of trophies and photographs, including the one for the 1922 Kadir Cup
that I had seen in Nesbit s house. I tried not to gawp as we walked past, but
my head swivelled unceasingly.
It was a revelation. These paintings, those trophies, had been placed here
for the sole pleasure of one man, not as a way of impressing his guests these
fragile carpets took no concern of the wear of many feet, and the rooms had
been arranged for his privacy and comfort, not for the appreciation of groups.
The maharaja clearly enjoyed even gloated over his possessions, but he kept
the true treasures to himself.
Page 145
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
At the very end of the long corridor, thechuprassiopened a door and bowed me
through; once inside, I stopped dead.
I do not know what was more disconcerting, the completely muffled sound in
the room or its dim light, but one s immediate response on entering the room [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]