I must tell my readers an amusing story. A nobleman of high position often came to Cooch Behar for shooting, and after one of his visits I received a large parcel from Japan containing some very expensive kimonos. I was delighted with them, and thought the parcel came from the earl and his wife, so I wrote to the lady and thanked them. In the meanwhile I got a letter from a friend of ours saying she had sent the kimonos. After some weeks the countess wrote saying she was so pleased I liked the kimonos her husband had chosen.
I am sure there can have been few sportsmen to equal my husband. He was a fine polo-player, good at tennis and rackets, and a wonderful shot; while riding, driving, wrestling, and dancing seemed to come naturally to him. His voice was sweet, and he looked his best in his national dress. I remember Lord Dufferin once remarking, when he saw him in full dress, “Maharajah, you do your country credit.” My husband had a great desire to make Indian boys keen about sport, and started football for them at Cooch Behar. If he had a weakness, it was his kindness to others.
Although he was progressive in his ideas, the Maharajah never approved of our ladies coming out too freely. He disliked women who smoked and drank with men. He used to say: “India has not yet arrived at the stage when her women can mix freely with men.” I have often heard him declare that unchecked Indian youth is far worse than that of any other country. If he saw a girl with rouged cheeks and reddened lips, he would say: “You must never make yourselves look common by painting your faces. God gave women their good looks. Don’t use Art.”
This ruler, whom so many envied for his wealth and worldly state, was at heart the simplest soul. He was perfectly happy when we were alone in Cooch Behar. In the hills we often cooked together on Sundays in our special kitchen. My husband made vegetable curries, while I was busy with the sweets. My boys and girls also cooked. Sundays were eagerly looked forward to by all of us.
After dinner we had music and played cards. Had any one dropped in then they would have found our house was not that of a Royal Monarch, but of a happy father and husband surrounded by his loving wife and children.
CHAPTER XI
EDUCATION OF THE BOYS
Rajey’s education was at first entrusted to governesses, but in Lord Lansdowne’s time, when he was about eleven, we had to settle where he should go to school. There is a college in Rajputana, founded by Lord Mayo and known as Mayo College, where only the Rajput and up-country Princes were educated; no Bengal Prince had the privilege of going there, whether the Maharajahs in that part did not wish it or whether there was any caste prejudice I cannot say. However, Lord Lansdowne kindly arranged that Rajey should be sent there, and Colonel William Lock, the principal, gave my son a cordial welcome.
