Rafella's suspicions and shyness succumbed to these friendly advances. She confided to Mrs. Greaves that she was afraid she should find housekeeping dreadfully difficult--she had not been accustomed at home to an army of servants, nor to a lady's maid (as she called her ayah), nor to a carriage, nor to more than two courses at meals. It all seemed to her to savour of wicked display and extravagance; and as far as she could judge at present, people in India appeared to live for nothing but amusement and self-indulgence.
"But you must remember," admonished Mrs. Greaves, "that we are living under totally different conditions out here. The servants won't do each other's work, on account of their caste. We have to keep such a lot, not for our own convenience but for theirs. And you must have an ayah, unless you don't mind the menservants attending to your bedroom."
Rafella flushed uncomfortably. This last remark struck her as rather indelicate.
"Then as to the food," went on Mrs. Greaves, ignorant of having offended the taste of her hearer. "Materials are a good deal cheaper out here than they are at home, and not nearly so nourishing, so that extra courses in a climate like this are not so extravagant as they might seem. It is better to give the servants plenty to do, and to keep them up to a certain standard, since we have to respect their prejudices; and there is also custom and prestige to be considered, which are not to be slighted in this country. That you will soon find out! If you were to reduce your establishment and your meals, and your general manner of living in your position, you'd never get a respectable servant to stay with you, and your name would be a byword in the bazaar!"
There was a pause. Rafella said nothing, and Mrs. Greaves felt she had come up against a narrow and obstinate nature. Nevertheless, she continued her well-meant harangue.
"As to amusements, what else have we to fall back upon but each other's society? We are all cut off from home and our relations and intellectual advantages; and wholesome exercise, whether tennis, riding, dancing, or sport, cannot be classed as self-indulgence when it is well within our reach financially. The men work hard for the greater part of the day--perhaps you have not yet realised how much your husband gets through before he is free to follow the recreations that suit him best? You mustn't judge Indian life too quickly from the surface, or from your own standpoint."
"I wish to do good," said Rafella priggishly, "and it seems to me that I have no one to be kind to but the ayah."
"Don't worry about that!" advised Mrs. Greaves, suppressing a smile. "There's plenty of time. You'll find you'll have as much as you can do for the next few months getting used to India, and, if I may make a suggestion, don't be too kind to the ayah, or she'll think you're afraid of her and take every advantage. What native servants appreciate is justice and patience, not indulgence, which they always mistake for weakness."
"She certainly has asked for a great many things," Rafella confessed, "but she seems so poor, and says she has such a large family, that I gave her more wages and some clothes, and a very nice lantern and a couple of warm blankets, and I have promised her an allowance of sugar and tea and the money to buy a goat."
"Well, I hope you won't regret it," remarked Mrs. Greaves.