"Then we shall see what we shall see," he said, "I don't think you will find me ungrateful."
She shook her pretty head.
"It is good talk," she cried, "but it means nothing. You always say the same. How am I to know that you will not learn to love one of the white memsahibs when you are so much among them?"
"Because there is but one Trincomalee Liz," he answered; "and for that reason you need have no fear."
Her face expressed the doubt with which she received this assertion. As she had said, it was not the first time she had been cajoled into advancing him large sums with the same assurance. He knew this, and, lest she should alter her mind, prepared to change the subject.
"Besides the others, I must take Hiram Singh and Wajib Baksh. They are in Calcutta, I am told, and I must communicate with them before noon to-morrow. They are the most expert craftsmen in India, and I shall have need of them."
"I will have them found, and word shall be sent to you."
"Could I not meet them here?"
"Nay, it is impossible. I shall not be here myself. I leave for Madras within six hours."
"Is there, then, trouble toward?"