Gascoigne burst into a loud, involuntary laugh, as the incongruous picture tickled his imagination. His laugh rang down through the forest trees, and reached the ladies, who looked at one another with peculiar significance.
"Oh, yes," resumed Angel, "I intend to influence ursa Major; through him I shall influence his wife; through her, I shall influence the whole province. I shall be like a pebble thrown into a pool, whose ripples go far;" then in a voice, "When shall you be down, Philip?"
"In three weeks or a month, and meanwhile I know, Angel, you will be happy with Mrs. Gordon; she will introduce you to the people—and show you the ropes."
"Oh, but I know the ropes," said Angel, kicking a pine cone before her, "I've not forgotten my India. Kind, hospitable, intimate old India, with your mysterious under life, your tragedies, and comedies, and scandals. I love you still," and she paused for a moment to kiss her hand to a distant peep of the far-away blue plains. "Can anything be more exquisite than this view?" she continued. "Look at the ferns and moss growing on the trees, the carpets of wild orchids, the stern purple mountains; I should like to remain in these hills—they seem to draw me to them. I was born in the Himalayas, you know. Well, I suppose I must leave them," and she heaved a sigh. "It is a pity, for I feel as if I could be so good up here."
"I trust that you can be good anywhere?" said Gascoigne.
"Oh, I don't know," she rejoined. "I am so sensitive to climate. I love the sunshine, it makes me good-natured and generous, but I always feel so wicked in an east wind! As for my sensations in a stuffy, three-berth cabin, with two sea-sick companions—but I spare you. By the way, one of my fellow-sufferers, a Mrs. Farquhar, gave me an urgent invitation to visit her at Umballa."
Gascoigne most devoutly wished that Angel had accepted this offer, and thus given him even a few days' breathing-space.
He looked at his ward, as she walked lightly beside him. She was so natural, so simple, yet so worldly wise; and she was distractingly pretty—not many men would have been so painfully anxious to rid themselves of such a companion.
She would certainly turn the heads of all the young fellows in Marwar. What a prospect for him! Already he beheld himself at a wedding, giving away the hand of the most lovely bride. Yes, of course, it would not be long before Angel was carried off; she was a girl of unusual attractions, and with this hope in his heart he became quite hilarious. She would make a far happier marriage under his and Mrs. Gordon's auspices than under that of her heartless and worldly old grandmother.
On second thoughts, Major Gascoigne accompanied the party the whole way to the railway, and saw them off, although it entailed an immense ride afterwards.