“Then why this strange behaviour on his part? I was upheld by the consciousness of rectitude, reconciled to the Governor-General’s unjust treatment by the prospect it gave me of a speedy reunion with my wife—actually on the point of departure for home. Then I am summoned back in the most peremptory manner, compelled to sacrifice my passage and relinquish my hopes. And for what? I believed, all my friends believed, the Bombay papers proclaimed their hearty concurrence—that Sir Henry had recognised his own incapacity for the task allotted to him, and desired the Governor-General to command my return. There was nothing peculiar in this save the singularity of such a frank acknowledgment on his part—which I conceived accorded strictly with the candour of his nature as I had experienced it,—and it explained the haughty tone of Lord Maryport’s letter. The assiduous attentions of the Khans on my way up the river showed that they took the same view, and I made haste to join Sir Henry and relieve him, as I imagined, from the burden of a duty unsuited to his talents. What was the reality? I make no complaint of finding myself second where I was formerly first, though I own it grated upon me; but in our first interview it was made clear to me that Sir Henry desired my services purely in a minor capacity. I was to be nothing but a putli [puppet] in his hands. Tell me, I beg of you, whether this was his attitude from the first, or whether he changed towards me when he perceived the delight with which my return was welcomed?”
He had so obviously decided in his own mind in favour of the second alternative, that Eveleen and her husband both found it difficult to answer him. Richard spoke hesitatingly at last. “I tried to hint at what I believed to be the General’s true state of mind in one of my letters, you may remember.”
“Did you? It’s possible. But if I noticed it, I set it down to your habitual caution. But Mrs Ambrose—why did she not warn me three weeks ago? I made no secret then of the feelings that inspired me.”
“Ah, forgive me!” cried Eveleen, conscience-stricken. “I tried—indeed I tried—but you would not understand. And how would I tell you such a thing as that straight out?”
“No, I suppose it would be impossible to an Irish person,” he spoke as though to himself. “But what I can’t make out is”—with renewed vehemence—“how Sir Henry can have asked for me, knowing my views and my friendship with the Khans, and knowing also that all his intentions were diametrically opposed to the policy I have consistently pursued?”
“No, there you do him an injustice,” said Richard quickly. “He had no such intentions—he was as favourably disposed towards their Highnesses as yourself. You and he were agreed upon the necessity of forcing them to observe their obligations—but doing so in the most considerate manner. I give you my word, I believe there has been too much consideration. Had you been with us instead of at Bombay, and witnessed the ingenious provocations, the childish artifices to which the Khans have resorted, as though determined to tire out our patience, you must have decided, with the General, that they had exceeded all limits of toleration.”
“‘Et tu, Brute!’” said Colonel Bayard mournfully. “‘Mine own familiar friend——’”
“Pray don’t think I am alone in this. You have met a good many of the Khemistan Europeans in these three weeks. Is there one of them that takes your view of the case in opposition to the General’s?”
“The General is the disposer of benefits nowadays,” irritably. “Nay, forgive me—I am unjust. But these youths are all agog for war—naturally enough; Sir Henry has trained ’em for it. Of course they rejoice in the prospect of hostilities.”
“Not I. I have seen war in Ethiopia, and know what it means. Am I likely to wish to bring it upon Khemistan if it can be avoided? But I tell you plainly, I believe a temporising policy here, pursued further at the present juncture, would lead to a retreat and a disaster which, following upon our Ethiopian misfortunes, would lose us India. The Khans—and especially Gul Ali—have played with us too long already.”