A Garland of Marigolds (7 page)

The silence became uncomfortable.

“
I am afraid the research station has already exceeded the amount that was set aside for the project,
”
Gideon said. There was a thread of laughter under his words which surprised me. It was not lost on the old men either.

“
It is such a simple dilemma,
”
the
Swami
went on as if no one had spoken.
“
I shall place my scarf on the floor here in the corner and after everyone had gone doubtless we shall find enough money on it to pay the electrician. Now, let us drink and be merry.
”
The old men obediently drank up their fizzy drinks and then one by one, after depositing some money on the scarf, they departed, gossiping happily among themselves. The
Swami
sat upright, with his back very straight and his neck bent so that he could look at his toes tucked under him. To all appearances he was asleep and completely oblivious to his surroundings. I looked at the saintly lines on his face and wondered at his asceticism. He wore the saffron robes of the oriental monk which I knew betokened celibacy and a laying aside of all the pleasures of this world. Later I was to discover that he was the local holy man with a reputation for charity and that he deserved every word of praise that was constantly sung of him. Now, he merely puzzled me.

“
It was kind of you,
Swamiji,
to come to our assistance,
”
Gideon said when we were alone.

The young man looked up and smiled.

“
I think we have more than enough to pay our way now,
”
he said with satisfaction.
“
And it was my pleasure to help.
”

Gideon grinned.
“
Perhaps I should don an orange robe like yours.
”

But the
Swami
shook his head.
“
You will want to marry, my friend. You are ever a practical man!
”

“
And you are not?
”

The wild, unkempt hair waved in the wind.
“
I like to think,
”
the Indian retorted in an affected Oxford accent,
“
that I can keep my feet on the ground and my head in the clouds!
”

We all laughed, and quite suddenly, without a word of farewell, he, too, rose to his feet and sauntered down the steps and was gone without a backward glance. Joe and Camilla fell over each other trying to grab the money and they solemnly began to count it. Gideon watched them with a superior smile.

“
I
’
m glad you managed to restrain your western greed until after the
Swami
had gone!
”
he chided them. But they ignored him, their attention entirely engaged by a number of small coins that added together could only have represented a very minute sum.

“
Mr. Wait,
”
I said with a certain firmness,
“
would it be possible to see where I am going to work?
”

His eyes met mine with evident reluctance.

“
If you really want to,
”
he said indifferently. He swallowed the remainder of his drink with a gulp and stood up.
“
I may as well show you your quarters at the same time.
”

We went away from the corridor that led to the bedrooms and through a central courtyard that was full of the servants
’
children laughing and talking together.

He pushed open a door and led me into a laboratory. It was cluttered with papers and useless apparatus and it was quite obvious that it was being shared by far too many people already. Gideon frowned at some evil-looking growth on a tray and shoved it out of sight. His own area was the only neat part of the room. His trays were labeled and his paperwork looked to be in some sort of order.

“
I was afraid they would have shoved my stuff completely out of sight while I was away,
”
he muttered.
“
We haven
’
t nearly enough room.
”

“
I can see that.
”

“
In fact,
”
he added,
“
you will be the final straw!
”

I blushed and bit my lip.
“
Perhaps I can work in my bedroom,
”
I suggested stiffly.

He put his two hands on my shoulders and turned me around to face him.

“
Why are you so touchy?
”
he asked.

The strength of his fingers burned into my flesh.

“
I don
’
t think that I am
...
particularly.
”

“
Oh, come now! Let me disillusion you!
”
He stared straight into my eyes.
“
Are you still unhappy?
”
he demanded.

I shrugged myself free.
“
Of course not!
”
I denied in a brittle voice.
“
I know exactly where I
’
m going. I
’
m not in need of anyone
’
s sympathy.
”

“
No?
”

“
No, certainly not! All I want is to be left alone!
”

The warmth and humor vanished from his eyes.

“
In that case you won
’
t take it amiss if I tell you not to tease Joseph. He doesn
’
t have your care-free disposition!
”

His sarcasm hurt more than I cared to show.

“
Why do you think I
’
d hurt Joseph?
”
I asked him unhappily.
“
He
’
s susceptible. Don
’
t encourage him.
”

I stood up very straight and glared at him.
“
We
’
re friends!
”

“
Rubbish!
”
he dismissed me sharply.
“
Joseph is incapable of being just friends with any woman.
”

I sucked in my cheeks to stop myself from crying. To give my hands something to do I played with the gas tube that fed one of the burners.

“
You
’
re not very loyal to him, are you?
”
I muttered, hoping to hurt him as he had hurt me.

“
More loyal than you think! Unfortunately I wasn
’
t considering Joseph
’
s well-being when I hired you.
”

“
Too bad!
”
I stormed at him.
“
But it doesn
’
t really matter what you say or think. Joe and I have agreed to be friends, and I daresay I shall be very much better for him than you think.
”

Gideon slammed his hand on the table.

“
If by that you mean a repetition of that little scene I witnessed last night, I hardly think so.
”

I blushed again. I could feel the color creeping up my neck and cheeks. And then, quite suddenly, I was so blazing angry that I had to hold on to the table to give myself support.

“
What a splendidly scientific conclusion!
”
I stormed at him.
“
Well, as far as I
’
m concerned you can think exactly what you please!
”

“
Is that so?
”
Then I
’
ll tell you what I think. I think you
’
re on the rebound, young lady, and that one man
’
s attention will do just as well as the next. And, what
’
s more, I
’
ll prove it!
”

He pulled me toward him and kissed me hard on the lips. The funny thing was that, furious as I was, it wasn
’
t quite as disagreeable as I expected.

CHAPTER
FOUR

Thunder rolled around the skies and was mirrored in my own impotent rage. Gideon let me go and took a step backward. He looked white and a little less sure of himself.

“
Shall we go on with our tour?
”
I asked him in a funny tight voice I scarcely recognized as my own.

“
I think we
’
d better join the others,
”
he answered.

Deliberately, I lifted my eyebrows.
“
Really? Afraid, Mr. Wait?
”

His fists clenched as he stared at me.

“
Dr. Wait, if you don
’
t mind, when we
’
re working. And no, I am not in the least afraid of you. I have the advantage, you see. I can always fire you!
”

The small bit of confidence that temper had given me slowly evaporated before him. I bit my lip, reflecting that he was taking a base and very unfair advantage of me. The thunder crashed again overhead, and I shivered.

“
Is it going to rain?
”
I asked.

Gideon shook his head.
“
It
’
s a
dry
storm. If
I turned
out the lights you could see the lightning tearing the
sky apart.
The rain will come later when the monsoons start.
”

He put his hand up to the switch, but I shook
my head in
sudden fright.

“I ...
I think I
’
d like to go to my room,
”
I
said.

He gave me a quick look and
I
was bitterly self-conscious about my mussed hair and the quivering
sensation of
tears
at
the back of my eyes.

“
I
’
ll call Lakshmi,
”
he
said
abruptly and, turning
on his heel, walked out of the laboratory.

Left
alone, I could get a
much better idea of the
work that was being done. A few sickly
wheat plants
had been pickled in jars and
I
looked at them with interest.
They
were a far cry from the wheat
I
was accustomed
to in Europe. I
reckoned that the yield from these plants could only be
about half
what it should be, and they were all suffering from diseases that were easily curable. Nearly half of the specimens showed signs of a disease of the roots that had practically been mastered in England.

A shadow moved across the jars, and I looked up and saw that Lakshmi had joined me in the laboratory.

“
Hello,
”
I said.

She gave me a mildly reproving look, apparently not sure that such a greeting was entirely proper.

“
Do you want me to take you across to the other house now?
”
she asked.

“
If you don
’
t mind,
”
I responded.

She swished her sari more securely around her shoulders and stepped out of the room, half-waiting for me to follow her. Another flash of lightning blazed across the heavens and was followed by a heavy roll of thunder. Lakshmi winced and then smiled.

“
I am afraid of thunder,
”
she admitted softly.
“
It is better when it rains, but these dry storms only make me think that the gods must be angry.
”

I could see what she meant. There was something eerie and supernatural about the white light and the nose with no resulting rain.

“
I
’
m a bit afraid, too,
”
I said.
“
We have nothing like this in England.
”

She gave me a glance of barely concealed scorn.

“
In England life is very much easier,
”
she said calmly, and led the way through the house and out across the back verandah.

The air was tense and electric with the storm. I could feel it prickling on my skin and I hesitated to walk across the open space, but Lakshmi went daintily before me picking her way over the rough ground. Surely I could not be less brave than such a tiny, delicate creature. But I was glad when we reached the safety of the second bungalow. It was much smaller than the main building and built on a similar though simplified, pattern of several rooms all looking out into the central area.

Lakshmi entered one of the small, practically bare rooms and went over to the window, flinging open the shutters.

“
If you need anything, you have only to ask,
”
she said almost apologetically. I looked around the room with a feeling of dismay. A single bed, low and threaded with string instead of springs, stood in one corner against the wall. Apart from the bed there was only a desk and a homemade wooden chair with one leg at least an inch shorter than the other three. An old, frayed rug had been spread across the floor, somehow accentuating the poverty of the rest of the furnishings.

“
Where do I keep my clothes?
”
I asked, trying to keep outraged shock out of my voice.

Lakshmi smiled. She went over to one of the walls and pressed it with both hands. To my surprise it opened at her touch and revealed a spacious cupboard.

“
Everything is kept here,
”
she said.
“
It is too hot to have much in the room with you.
”

I was touched by her unspoken sympathy.

“
I
’
m afraid many things will be strange to me,
”
I murmured.

A fresh outbreak of thunder threatened to bring the house down about our ears. Lakshmi stood, slight but foursquare, and still smiling.

“
I think you will very soon grow accustomed to our ways,
”
she said.

Many things were strange that evening. The storm rolled away to the distant hills and left the air hot and sultry. Occasionally, one could see a servant sweeping but the dust never disappeared. It covered everything, white and sandy, making the same inevitable patterns in the corners of the rooms. And then, later, there were the suicide squads of insects trying to kill themselves in the oil lamps on the verandah. A servant came to let down the screens made of netting in an attempt to keep them out, but they came through every crack and cranny, in all shapes and sizes, some of them small but equally frenzied in their attempts to reach the light.

“
Now I know I
’
m home,
”
Gideon said, surveying a particularly nasty specimen crawling up his trouser leg. How peculiar, I thought, that he should think of this strange and rather frightening place as home. I looked from him to Camilla, who had found a moth and was studying the pleasing sable of the fur on its wings with every sign of delight. It must run in the family, I thought, and crept farther away into the shadows to be by myself. I felt very remote from them all and rather lonely. When I thought of Timothy I wanted to cry, and yet when I tried to remember his face I could only recall the most obvious facets as if he had been no more than a stranger.

Joseph had gone to his room much earlier and later on I had heard the jeep and presumed he had gone out. I didn
’
t like to ask where he had gone, but I found that I missed him. Once or twice I surreptitiously looked at my watch and wondered when we were going to eat. A variety of highly spiced smells had been coming from the kitchen for hours, but one glance inside told me why it took so long to prepare the meal. The cook had to grind each spice by hand to make his curry, which he did with tremendous care, making a fresh lot every time.

“
Hungry?
”
Camilla asked.

I flushed, aware that I had been looking at my watch yet again.

“
I think I must be,
”
I answered her.

Gideon looked up from his drink and smiled.
“
We have to wait for Joe to get back,
”
he said calmly.

Camilla was prepared to argue the point.

“
Joseph wouldn
’
t mind if we started without him,
”
she said impulsively.

“
No, but his companion would!
”
her brother retorted.

I pricked up my ears, astonished.
“
Is there anyone else here?
”
I asked.

Gideon
’
s smile became mysterious and quite aggressively masculine.

“
Not here. Joe has gone to fetch her for dinner. She comes around quite a lot when we
’
re here.
”
His eyes sparkled.
“
She
’
s very pretty and a gentle little thing. You
’
re both to be kind to her!
”

Camilla gave him a very sisterly look.

“
You
’
ve been holding out on us!
”
she accused him.
“
Who is this mysterious woman? Are you in love with her?
”

Gideon gave her a lazy slap.
“
That
’
s none of your business!
”
he reproved her.
“
Her name is Julie Burnett and she lives here. Her father stayed on after independence. He has a bungalow in the next village—he retired there. I
’
m afraid it makes for a rather dull life for Julie.
”

“
How old is she?
”
Camilla demanded.

He looked at me consideringly.
“
I suppose she
’
s about the same age as Miss King.
”

Camilla frowned.
“
I should think she
’
s older than that! Suki
’
s father hasn
’
t retired!
”

It was my turn to frown. I was not enjoying the two of them discussing me while I was sitting there, especially not as something told me that in Gideon
’
s eyes at least I was only a pale shadow of this Julie, who was quite obviously the love of his life.

“
The Burnetts didn
’
t get married until quite late. Julie is their only child and the apple of their eye.
”

Camilla made an unpleasing face.
“
I can imagine!
”
she said.

Gideon
’
s face lost its good humor.

“
Camilla! Julie is a very attractive person, and if you can
’
t be civil you can go to your room.
”
And then, most unfairly, he turned on me.
“
And that goes for you, too, young woman!
”

Just what I might have answered, I hate to think, but at that moment we could hear the jeep approaching and, a second later, Joseph
’
s exuberant laugh as he brought Julie around the house to join us.

It is difficult to describe the impact Julie had on Camilla and me. She was very small and dainty and walked with a bouncy little step that somehow made sure that everyone was looking at her. She was something to look at, too! Her hair was the palest gold and her clothes and her makeup were stunning. With difficulty, I stopped myself from staring at her and went through the movements of greeting her. If this was what Gideon wanted, I thought, no wonder he disapproved so heartily of me!

“
How do you do, Miss Burnett,
”
I
said bravely.