A Bottle in the Smoke Part 13

"Yet just think what she does," said Hester with dilating eyes. "Her purse is always open! But, Alfred, I'm really in honour bound to carry through this treat. It's too late to draw back now, you would never ask me do such a thing."

"To draw back? Of course, that's precisely what you must do! It's an absurd project! I'll be bound, it wasn't for that sort of thing Binny's Bungalow was lent to Mrs. Fellowes!" said Mr. Rayner, rising as if to end the discussion.

"It's too late to draw back now," returned Hester decisively. "I happened to meet two of the Vepery girls as I was driving home. I stopped the carriage to tell them of the happy day Mrs. Fellowes was planning for them----"

"Vepery, did you say?" asked Alfred, turning with a start. "I understood your cla.s.s was at Royapooram."

Though he had tacitly acquiesced in his wife's helping her friend in what he called her "quixotic projects," he had taken no further interest. It disturbed him not a little now to know that the meeting might contain, his objectionable acquaintance, Leila Baltus, and sheer alarm drove him to more indignant remonstrances than before. At length he summoned his office-bandy, and at that unwonted hour ordered the sleepy syce to light the lamps, and drove off to town, leaving his wife in tears.

Hester, sorely vexed as she was, never for a moment contemplated abandoning the project which she decided she was in duty bound to Mrs.

Fellowes, as well as to the Club girls, to carry out. Hurrying up-stairs she counted her own little store which she had laid aside for Christmas presents for those at home. It proved more than the required sum.

When her landau appeared next forenoon to take her for a round of visits, she told the syce to drive her instead to Waller's Stables, where the hire of the required carriages was speedily arranged. She resolved to tell her husband on the first opportunity that the carriage difficulty was now solved, and to try, when she did so, to hide the soreness which still rankled in her heart concerning it.

There was an air of apology in Mr. Rayner's manner when he returned from the High Court that afternoon. He evidently did not forget that he had lost his temper on the previous evening, and his wife hoped this state of mind might make it easier for her to broach the vexed question.

This she was about to do as they sat in the verandah after dinner, when her husband turned to her with a gracious smile.

"You're looking lovely to-night, Hester! Your day at Ennore yesterday has brought back the English roses to your cheeks. Fine birds deserve fine feathers, shall we say? See what I've brought to adorn your lovely white neck!"

He opened an elegant leather case and held up triumphantly a beautiful diamond pendant.

"Oh, Alfred," gasped Hester, after a moment's silence. "Have you actually got that for me? Oh, I can't--I won't have it! You must give it back! You will return it?"

"Return it, forsooth! A nice suggestion when an affectionate husband presents his wife with a gift! Besides, Hester, you really haven't the correct toilette without jewels. That trumpery gold cross is the only thing you have to wear. It's been my despair at all our parties to see you without diamonds when the frowsy dowagers are resplendent with them--and the young brides into the bargain. This pendant is a simple necessity. I'll add a tiara when I can."

"Never! I wouldn't wear one for the world! And if you want to make me happy you'll return this. Oh, how could you waste money on it, especially"--she paused with a little catch in her voice--"especially since you said you couldn't afford to give me the rupees to pay for those carriages though I told you I had promised them."

"Well, don't you see I had it in my mind to give you this surprise--and a nice reception you've given it!"

Mr. Rayner snapped the lid of the elegant case with an angry air.

"Anyhow the diamonds are yours and you must wear them," he added, throwing the case into her lap. "I'm not going to be made a fool of, taking them back with my tail between my legs like a whipped puppy. Why, it would soon get out that I am a hen-pecked husband, and so I am, between one thing or another," he ended sulkily, and betook himself to the perusal of the _Madras Mail_.

Hester, though she hated concealment, felt that this was not the moment to announce that the carriages for Ennore had been duly arranged for, and that she would have to go next day to help Mrs. Fellowes to entertain the Eurasian girls. Neither could she, at this moment, make any further remonstrance concerning the foolish gift. She would watch for an early opportunity when her husband was in a better mood, and try to persuade him to return it to the jewellers. The pendant was, in itself, vulgar and ostentatious. She felt she could never wear it. She smiled when she pictured her mother's face if she saw the flaring jewel upon her young daughter's neck. Mrs. Bellairs disapproved of jewellery for girls, even for young matrons, and her prejudice was so well known in her circle that among Hester's numerous wedding gifts there had been a marked absence of trinkets of any kind, and her husband had more than once expressed his regret that his wife should be unadorned save by the little antique gold cross.

Perhaps she had been unkind in making such a determined stand, Hester thought now. But when she recalled her husband's a.s.surance that they were spending so largely that even seventy-five rupees would prove a strain on their month's finances, she felt rea.s.sured that she would only be acting as a true wife should in urging that the gaudy gift should again take its place among the jeweller's wares; and, if she remained firm, surely Alfred would not force it upon her.

CHAPTER XV.

Next morning, soon after Mr. Rayner left for the High Court, a peon arrived with a chit from him to tell Hester that he had been summoned to the Mofussil on pressing business, and would probably be absent for a couple of days, and directing that his dressing-boy should bring his kit to the railway station. Hester felt disappointed that his unlooked-for departure deprived her of the opportunity she desired to tell him that all was now arranged for the projected trip to Ennore, which was to be announced by her to the girls of the Club that evening.

Mrs. Fellowes' modest room was beginning to be a familiar place to the Eurasian girls. She had not followed any hard-and-fast plan in conducting the meetings further than making it her object to draw forth these young women who lolled listlessly about the pandals of their pent-up homes, to endeavour to fill their hearts with new thoughts, and their hands with useful work. "The pioneer meeting," Mr. Morpeth gleefully called it, no effort of quite a similar kind ever having been attempted before for the betterment of the aimless lives in the purlieus of the Eurasian quarter. Mrs. Fellowes and her "lieutenant," as Hester called herself, proved inventive in happy methods in which cheerful work and rational amus.e.m.e.nt intermingled. The older lady, with unwearied skill and patience, shaped useful garments for the girls, and tried to persuade them to subst.i.tute neat sewing for their careless methods of fixing them up anyhow. Interesting books were always provided for reading aloud, as well as a growing library fed by Mr. Morpeth. A piano, the gift of an unknown donor, had been lately introduced, greatly enhancing the popularity of the gathering, which was only beginning to be known; and Mrs. Fellowes was always on the outlook for new recruits.

The end of the hour had come on this afternoon, and Hester was divulging Mrs. Fellowes' invitation to Ennore to the a.s.sembled girls when she was interrupted by a new arrival.

A young woman, attired more gaudily than was usual to the "Friendly,"

had pushed open the door and taken her seat without note or comment, and was gazing intently at Hester. The new-comer was the object of much whispering and many scowls from the frequenters of the meeting. Hester presumed that she wished to become a member, but her aspect was so unconciliatory that she felt some hesitation in addressing her, and applied for information to a girl standing by her side. All she could learn was that the girl had only recently appeared in Vepery and was unknown to her; the stranger, however, seemed to have sharp ears.

"If it's my name you want," she said, "I'm not ashamed of it as some might be of theirs. Mine's Miss Leila Baltus!"

A displeased murmur went round the meeting, and all eyes were directed to Miss Baltus, who tossed her head defiantly.

"We are glad to see you," began Hester with quiet courtesy. "We welcome everyone to our meeting." She paused, but resumed, "With regard to Mrs.

Fellowes' kind invitation, we shall have to restrict our number to those already on our list."

Approving nods from the company acknowledged the reasonableness of Mrs.

Rayner's remark. A girl, who evidently knew more about the stranger than the one to whom Hester had applied for information, said in a loud whisper to her neighbour:

"Cheap on Leila for her impudence! She's got thatt awfulee high and mighty since she went to Calcutta--and thatt spiteful too!"

Stung by hearing her name, and no doubt ruffled that she was not even to have the chance of declining the proposed treat, Leila Baltus rose, dropping her showy parasol noisily on the floor as she did so. She made her way towards the door, saying enigmatically:

"I'll take my leave now. I've seen you, and that's enough for one afternoon!"

She hissed out the words and rolled her dark eyes unpleasantly on the sweet young English face. "There will be a second meeting, or my name's not Leila Baltus! A Friendlee Society, forsooth!" Her cheap skirt with its papery rustle swished along the floor as she made her exit.

A disapproving murmur ran through the ranks of the loyal partisans, but the incident was soon forgotten amid the pleasant preoccupation over the trip on the following morning.

On Hester's mind, however, it left an unpleasant recollection. She hoped the mutinous intruder might prove more amenable to Mrs. Fellowes'

influence at some future time, and that they might one day be able to get nearer to this embittered-looking girl with the beautiful eyes. To have had such a bellicose element in to-morrow's party would have been jarring, to say the least of it, and unfair to the others. It was doubtless hearing of the pleasure which she was not to share, however, that had made the girl so rude and unmannerly. Noting her name in her pocket-book, Hester resolved to consult with her wise friend what should be their att.i.tude towards Miss Leila Baltus.

The bungalow where Mrs. Fellowes was staying belonged to an old and distinguished firm of Madras merchants. The princ.i.p.als of the firm had used it on occasion as a country house before South Indian hills became so easy of access; and often now they put it at the disposal of friends.

To many a young couple had Binny's Bungalow at Ennore proved a place of dear romance; to many a weary veteran a haven of quiet rest.

There was a peculiar fairyism about Ennore. It seemed to nestle in all its sylvan beauty on the borders of an inland lake whose slopes were fringed by cocoanut palms, dense glossy shrubs, and odoriferous spice plants; while graceful bamboos flung their interlacing tendrils all about. Great water-lilies spread themselves over the surface of the water, and the water-fowl floated or skimmed over its sparkling ripples.

A trim, white-sailed boat, with an ancient, white-bearded serang in attendance, was always at the disposal of the bungalow guests. Afloat on the placid waters of the lake and sheltered by its leafy borders, every object tended to convince one that it was entirely an inland sheet of water, till suddenly you might, perchance, be startled by the shrill cry of a sea-gull, or the fierce roll of the near breakers would fall on your astounded ear. You would then glance across the sunny ripples of the lake, and perceive with amazement that a strip of sand was all that divided the peaceful backwater from the great Bay of Bengal; so white and thin were its grains that they might be put through an hour-gla.s.s without refinement, and so narrow was the strip that, in a minute, a child could run across it. On one side light zephyrs dance on the tiny ripples; on the other, the waters roll in mighty waves dashed to the sh.o.r.e in tossing, writhing floods of whitest foam.

At the upper end of this long stretch of smooth sand stands the gallant little bungalow with its trim, green-painted _persiennes_, trellised verandahs, and its breezy "up-stair" room, surrounded by some st.u.r.dy date palms, and sheltered from the elements by a belt of hardy jungle trees which break the fury of the gales.

The one ample sitting-room of the bungalow from which branched various bedrooms and dressing-rooms, seemed to Hester the most English-looking room of a certain type which she had seen since coming to the East.

Perhaps it suggested the old-fas.h.i.+oned inn-parlour more than anything intimately domestic. On its walls hung numerous quaint-coloured prints of English hunting scenes. Its sofas, planted against the walls, offered luxurious rest; while its big dining-table and rows of chairs gave it a hospitable air. The many windows at each end of the long room disclosed impartially the inland beauties of the backwater, and the expanse of the great restless ocean. On one side of the building the favoured small guests, who found themselves making holiday at the bungalow, might float their mimic s.h.i.+ps in safety; and on the other, beyond the ma.s.s of seething foam, the stateliest s.h.i.+ps of the world might be seen sailing over the great deep.

Hester had driven out early to help Mrs. Fellowes with preparations for her numerous guests, and now stood by the side of the hostess, giving the girls a smiling welcome to Ennore. It soon proved that the prearranged programme for their entertainment was superfluous, so charmed were the guests with the unwonted surroundings in which they found themselves. Some groups sought the long narrow strip of sunlit sand by the "many das.h.i.+ng ocean sh.o.r.e," to search for the rare sh.e.l.ls to be found there, thrown up by the tide, retreating with shrieks of laughter when the curling waves dashed their spray upon them. Others were more fascinated by the peaceful charm of the backwater, and made expeditions in the boat to the further end of the lake, bent on securing trophies of greenery for the decoration of their dull Vepery parlours.

The white-haired, nut-brown serang had many freights of pa.s.sengers that day, and more than one sensational shriek reached the ladies who sat in the verandah watching all the ongoings.

A plentiful tiffin brought the guests indoors for a time, but they were eager to be out again, even under the hot afternoon sun, to explore the sylvan brakes or saunter on the sunny sands.

"Do you know, Mrs. Fellowes," said Hester, "I begin to feel rather an impostor! I told myself that I must come to-day to help you to entertain your guests, and now I find I'm doing nothing but hugely enjoying myself!"

She lay back happily in one of the luxurious teakwood arm-chairs which were a special and memorable feature of the verandah.

"Well, my dear, I'm only too glad you are having a nice rest," returned Mrs. Fellowes, glancing at her with a kindly smile. "I thought you looked rather jaded and worried when you arrived, but this air is wonderfully soothing and restoring."

"I confess I was rather worried last night," said Hester, with a sigh.