A Garland of Marigolds (8 page)

Her gray eyes rested gently on mine. It was impossible to tell what she was thinking. I watched her closely as she turned away to Camilla and managed, just in time, to stop myself disliking her for the faintly patronizing smile she gave the younger girl. I would not allow myself to make any impulsive judgments.

We all sat down in a little semicircle. Miss Burnett pulled her chair as close to Gideon
’
s as she could manage, and I was oddly comforted when Joseph pulled his closer to mine with a proprietorial air that at another time would have amused me.

“
Settled in?
”
he asked me.

I nodded, pleased by the attention he was paying me. I felt at home with Joseph.

“
More or less.
”
I grinned suddenly.
“
I haven
’
t tried the bed yet!
”

He gave me a sympathetic look, joining in my laughter.

“
When I first arrived I didn
’
t get a good night
’
s sleep for a week! But after a while you begin to appreciate the simplicity of the arrangements in this dreadful heat!
”

To my surprise Miss Burnett giggled and joined in the conversation.

“
I suppose they
’
ve given you one of the Indian beds, a
charpoy
.
But you don
’
t have to be so uncomfortable. You can obtain anything you want in Delhi.
”

Gideon hooted with laughter.

“
At a price! And who wants a spring mattress here?
”

But Julie Burnett was not so easily put off.

“
My family all have proper beds. We wouldn
’
t have anything else.
”

Camilla and I exchanged glances. Nothing could have reconciled us to our string beds more quickly. It was with difficulty I refrained from laughing. Poor Gideon! Whatever he felt about Julie Burnett himself, his family were all going to hate her! She was not at all their style. I thought back to the house in Putney and his sister
’
s family and the children and, frankly, I couldn
’
t see Julie there at all!

But Gideon couldn
’
t leave well alone.

“
Why ever not?
”
he demanded.

Julie looked decidedly sulky.
“
Someone has to keep up the standards,
”
she muttered.
“
None of you make any attempt to do so here! Poor Daddy thinks it
’
s dreadful the way you dress and
...
and everything. He doesn
’
t really approve of my coming here at all, so there!
”

Gideon immediately looked contrite.

“
I know,
”
he said heavily.
“
It
’
s difficult for you living here, without many friends of your own kind.
”

Julie patted her hair with a certain sensual pleasure.

“
Now, now, Gideon, darling, you needn
’
t look so down in the dumps! I shan
’
t stop coming, no matter what anybody says! As I keep telling myself, someone has to keep you up to the mark, and I don
’
t suppose you would eat properly or anything unless I saw that you did!
”

I couldn
’
t bring myself to look at either of them in case I discovered that they were both as embarrassed as I was. But Gideon, when he spoke, sounded nonchalant and almost indecently cheerful.

“
Good for you! Let
’
s eat, shall we?
”

We sat at a long table, on handmade cane seats that were cooler than anything else would have been. Camilla was annoyed because, while her brother sat at the top of the table, Julie had placed herself firmly at the foot with her usual giggle.

“
I always act as hostess for Gideon whenever I
’
m here,
”
she explained to us all at large.

It didn
’
t worry me a great deal, because I was sitting next to Joseph and he was a much easier companion than the others.

A moth, larger than any I had seen before, swooped over the table toward Julie. She screamed very daintily and Gideon leapt to his feet and flicked his napkin at the winged creature. The attraction of Julie
’
s hair was too much for it, though, and it settled on the top of her head.

“
Keep quite still!
”
Gideon commanded.

But Julie was beyond doing anything of the sort. With frenzied movements she tore at her hair, unable to dislodge the moth and sobbing audibly as she gulped rather than breathed. Camilla watched her with indecent enjoyment.

“
I should have thought,
”
she said in clear, young tones,
“
that someone so accustomed to India would have been able to deal with a moth!
”

“
Shut up!
”
Gideon said tautly.

“
Well, really, it
’
s quite harmless!
”
Camilla argued placidly.
“
Why don
’
t you scoop it into a glass?
”

Gideon looked decidedly put out.

“
I don
’
t want to muss Julie
’
s hairstyle,
”
he said helplessly.

Camilla looked hard and long at them both.
“
Would it matter?
”
she asked lazily.

It is difficult to say who was the angrier, Gideon or Julie.

“
I hate your sister!
”
the girl sobbed hysterically.

“
I
’
m not surprised!
”
Gideon agreed grimly. And then, quite suddenly, his lips began to quiver and his laughter rang through the house.

“
I
’
ll never forgive you! Never. Never!
”
Julie stormed at him.

I felt decidedly sorry for her. Because I was not in the least afraid of flying things myself, I went over to her and picked the moth up by the tips of its wings and put it firmly outside.

“
You ought to do something to keep them out,
”
I said to Gideon.

“
Are you always so calm and collected?
”
he asked me softly.

I shook my head, suddenly tongue-tied. He was very charming when he wanted to be—too charming for my comfort!

“
Well, we can all be grateful to you this evening at least,
”
he went on. Deftly, he encouraged Julie back into her seat, smoothing down her hair with gentle but efficient fingers.
“
Let
’
s get on with dinner, shall we?
”

We all sat down again, trying not to notice the red, swollen eyes of Julie Burnett. Only Gideon paid her much attention, listening to her weak jokes and urging her on with such blatant flattery that my respect for him zoomed down to zero again.

“
Is she here often?
”
I asked Joseph in an undertone.

For some reason he colored slightly.

“
A fair amount. We provide most of the entertainment hereabouts.
”
He smiled quickly as if he were afraid of what I was thinking.
“
She only has time for Gideon.
”

Camilla frowned at him across the table and he blushed to the ears, realizing that the whole table had probably heard what he said.

“
What I mean is that you
’
ll be pretty busy,
”
he went on desperately.

“
And me?
”
Camilla asked him coolly.

“
Ssh!
”
said Joseph.

Julie Burnett became suddenly aware that something was going on. She stopped fussing with her face and hair and glared at Camilla.

“
Gideon always said you were a spoiled brat, but I don
’
t care what you say. A silly little chit of a girl doesn
’
t bother me!
”

I glanced sharply at Gideon.

“
That
’
s enough,
”
he snapped.
“
This was meant to be a pleasant occasion. I guess the heat is getting the better of us. Camilla, ring the bell and clear the soup plates. Perhaps the heat of Gobal
’
s curry will cool us all down.
”

The curry was very hot and the meat was tough. I ate slowly, washing it down with some of the buttermilk that was on the table. Unexpectedly, I liked it.

I was glad when the meal was over and Gideon and Julie went out on the verandah to sit by the oil lamps glowing in the dark and gossip about the days they had spent apart. Joseph excused himself by saying he had to work, and I dragged Camilla off to our own house while the going was good.

“
I suppose they
’
re all right alone,
”
she said wistfully.

“
They
’
ll manage,
”
I agreed heartlessly.

“
You mean she will! Suki, we
’
ll have to do something about that blue-haired doll.
”

“
But what?
”
I asked.

Camilla put on a scheming expression and I knew she was beginning to enjoy herself.

“
We
’
ll think of something,
”
she said sweetly.

Lakshmi had turned down my bed. Apart from the cover there were two natural-colored cotton sheets stretched over the thin khaki mattress. A single unshaded electric bulb hung from the ceiling and buzzed at intervals as the voltage changed. I had been accustomed to some discomfort all the time I had been studying, but this, coupled with my weariness of mind and body, was enough to reduce me to tears.

I undressed slowly, because I was still unaccustomed to the stuffy heat. The storm had started up again and I could feel its electricity prickling my skin. In a peculiar way it was exciting and I was sure that sleep would be a long time coming even when I had got into that uncomfortable bed. But I had underrated my tiredness. All I could remember was that the bed was not nearly as bad as I expected, and then I was heavily and dreamlessly asleep.

When I awoke it was pitch black. I lay on my back and listened to the peculiar sounds of the Indian night. The curious scratching noise of some insect on the ceiling, the wild howling of some large cat outside the settlement, and a variety of undertones, all so different from the softer nights I was accustomed to at home. I turned my pillow over, looking for coolness, and was surprised to hear the sound of the jeep going towards the main house. As it passed, the yellow headlights came flooding through the windows onto my bed and passed on again. I glanced briefly at my watch. It was a little after three o
’
clock. I supposed bleakly that it was Gideon returning from seeing his girl-friend home. And a fine time of night it was, too! I thought crossly, and then berated myself for being narrow-minded. But even so, I couldn
’
t believe that he would be really fit to do much work in the morning.

I was awake again at half-past six. The gray light of first dawn was already being broken up by the yellow and orange streaks of the rising sun, a perfect background for the lovely old trees that shaded the settlement of bungalows and a few of the village buildings that were included in the research-station grounds. I hurried into my clothes and wandered outside to take a look around by myself, before anyone else was up.

The village people were already stirring. I was particularly interested in a small, one-storied mud house that was set against to the wall of the research-station
’
s kitchen garden. The wall, which faced its own small yard, was covered with handmade dung cakes drying in the sun. The woman of the house, bejeweled with bits of gold in her nose and around her ankles, was slapping at a few more cakes with her hands and smacking them onto the wall.

I nodded and smiled, muttering good morning inadequately.

The woman came over to where she could see me better an
d
watched me with intense curiosity as I walked around the end
of
the wall so that I could see her house better. We stood in silence staring at one another.

Eventually she beckoned me over, putting out a wonderin
g
finger to touch my dress and the cheap costume beads that I wor
e
around my neck. Then suddenly she smiled and giggled shyly as smiled back. Grasping my wrist, she led me into her tiny domai
n
showing me the pots that she scoured with sand. Then she called her children, who had been playing naked in the yard, to go int
o
the house and put on the ragged shorts which were all the clothe
s
they had. Somehow the woman made me understand that she wa
s
in some way related to Lakshmi and that therefore she had heart all about me.

I was fascinated by the varied signs of the life they led in tha
t
courtyard. There were two small braziers in one corner, and
a
string bed standing on its side by the gate made me think that the
y
slept outside if at all possible. The woman touched my sleeve an
d
pointed to the door, and so, for the first time, I set foot in a completely Indian household.

There were only two small, windowless rooms inside. Most o
f
the walls were of unpainted mud with garish pictures of the Hindu gods pinned up here and there. A few essential household effects, like a mortar and a couple of shallow pans mostly used for making
chapattis,
Indian unleavened bread, and some storage jars, completed her few possessions. I congratulated her on them eagerly, all the more so because I was wondering if I could live on so little.

We
came
out
into
the
sunlight
again
and
I
saw
Lakshmi
standing in the yard waiting for me. My hostess said something to her and they both smiled at me.

“
My sister is honored by your visit,
”
Lakshmi said softly.

“
Your sister? She told me you were related,
”
I replied.

Lakshmi laughed.
“
She is older than I, and I am not yet married,
”
she told me simply.

I wondered briefly how the younger sister had managed to learn English and get an education.

“
I have been admiring her home,
”
I said.

Lakshmi nodded.
“
It is poor, but she is very happy.
”

We said our good-byes and strolled slowly back to the main bungalow.

“
Did they send you to find me?
”
I asked Lakshmi anxiously. I glanced at my watch, but it had stopped. With irritation I shook it and it started to tick again.

“
The
Sahib
is already up, but the others are still in their beds,
”
she answered calmly.
“
It was the
Sahib
who wished you to come to breakfast.
”

Gideon was sitting on the verandah when I joined him. A pile of letters rested on his knee, and he was looking at them with a curious expression of displeasure.

“
How did you sleep?
”
he asked me abruptly.

I stood, pointedly ignoring the question until he rose to his feet and offered me a chair at the table.

“
Dr. Wait, where do you want me to begin?
”
I enquired coolly.
“
Do you want me to go straight out into the fields?
”

He glared at the letter he had at last opened. After a few seconds his eyes met mine.

“
Miss King, I have put you in charge of the wheat and maize results. What you do with your time is your own affair.
”

What made me take him to task, I can
’
t imagine. I opened my mouth and to my dismay my question hung on the air.
“
Even if I come in at three in the morning?
”

“
I gather you didn
’
t sleep well, Miss King,
”
he retorted blandly.

“
I happened to see the lights from the jeep, that
’
s all,
”
I muttered.

“
Just happened, Miss King?
”

Furious with myself for getting into such a position, I bit my lip and tried to look cool, calm and collected.

“
I was turning over,
”
I said.

His amusement was very difficult to bear.
“
I see.
”

“I ...
I
’
m not used to the heat yet,
”
I added by way of explanation.

“
No,
”
he agreed, half-laughing.
“
And it does such terrible things to one
’
s curiosity, doesn
’
t it?
”

“I ...
I suppose it
’
s a long way to Miss Burnett
’
s house. I
’
m not really interested,
”
I finished loftily.

Gideon grinned at me, thoroughly enjoying my confusion.
“
It takes about twenty minutes,
”
he told me confidentially.
“
But of course it
’
s very romantic driving home in the moonlight.
”

“
It must be!
”
I said sourly.

He leaned over the table until he was close enough to touch.
“
The trouble with you, Suki, is that you
’
re not half as prickly as you pretend to be. You
’
re jealous.
”

“
Nonsense!
”
I said sharply.
“
It isn
’
t true!
”

“
Some other time I may try to find out,
”
he teased me.
“
Right now I must read this mail.
”
He sat back and laughed at me.
“
It will be a very interesting experiment,
”
he drawled,
“
don
’
t you think?
”
With difficulty I remained seated.

“
No, I don
’
t,
”
I said angrily. But Gideon wasn
’
t even listening. He was reading his beastly letters.