De Morin and I selected hunting tunics with carved buttons, white waistcoats, velvet caps, and splendid riding boots. Round our waists we wore leathern belts, which held our hunting knives, loaded revolvers, and a box of cartridges, and these, with our carbines slung across our shoulders, completed our costume.
The Doctor adopted a semi-official "get-up" calculated to take the fancy of the blacks; a blue coat with large brass buttons, grey trousers, patent leather boots, a sword by his side, and a minature pistol in each waistcoat pocket.
Madame de Guéran also thought it advisable to change her walking costume for a fancy dress, half-European, half-Oriental, very much after the fashion of the one which had gained for her the title of the Parisian Sultana. When she burst upon us thus transformed, with an air of surprise at seeing herself look so enchanting, and with an eager, smiling look, we hastened to compliment her upon her appearance.
"Take care," she said, laughingly. "Your compliments verge upon insult. They seem to imply that I need the adjunct of dress, and that, only this morning, when in my travel-stained, sun-scorched clothes, I was scarcely to be tolerated."
Just as we were about to protest against this view of the matter,
Miss Poles interposed, by saying—
"My dear Baroness, these gentlemen have not said anything really disparaging. Nature, you see, requires to be aided; the more generous she displays herself towards us, the more are we bound to do something for her. A little bit of dress completes us, as it were, and imparts to us additional lustre."
Miss Poles herself, instead of putting on a new dress, had fixed in her hair an enormous bunch of red flowers, thrown a yellow shawl over her shoulders, and put on a pair of ten-buttoned, blue kid gloves. According to her own mode of expression, she had completed nature by appearing as a rainbow. It was, perhaps, an act of imprudence to let her go near Munza, but, of course, the moment it was decided that Madame de Guéran should visit the King, her companion was bound to follow suit.
Seriously speaking, I must record that we had frequently discussed the propriety of allowing the Baroness to be present at the audience vouchsafed by the African monarch. We could not know by intuition what sight was in store for us amongst these savages, or, under the pretext of doing us honour, what class of entertainment they would offer us. But, in the common interest, and in order to attain the object we had in view, we should not have been justified in displaying an excess of reserve or prudery, even when our companion was in question. Proud, as all negroes are, and susceptible, like all despots, to affront, Munza, who had for some time past been aware, from the reports of his emissaries, that we had a white woman with us, would have been naturally annoyed at her absence if she had stayed away on the day when he condescended to give audience to foreigners. The wound thus inflicted upon his amour-propre might, from the very first moment, compromise us and cause us the greatest anxiety, and we therefore came to the conclusion not even to mention our scruples to Madame de Guéran.
Besides, we were quite capable of hiding from her anything that might offend her eye, and, in spite of our desire to ingratiate ourselves with the African potentate, if he took it into his head to honour us with any fêtes after the fashion of those indulged in by the Bongos, we should know perfectly well how to withdraw our fair leader to a considerable distance from his residence.
As soon as we had finished our toilet operations, we reviewed the escort. We had decided that the bearers should be left in camp, and that the Nubian and Dinka soldiers, our attendants and personal servants alone should accompany us.