“What! has she got away already?” cried Dick. “Excuse me, but this may be a serious matter. Did she know that she was recognised?”
“I believe not. I understand that when she heard it was Mrs North’s habit to visit the camp, she considered it unwise to remain there longer.”
“I wish to goodness I knew whether that was all,” muttered Dick. “Is there any hope of getting hold of her still?”
“I do not know. The matter does not appear to me to lie in your province, Major North, and I am not prepared to offer you any assistance.”
“Perhaps you are not aware, sir, that the woman in question is Bahram Khan’s most trusted counsellor? It is generally understood that all our recent misfortunes are attributable to her influence, and I know personally that she has done an immense amount of harm.”
“Perhaps you are not aware that the unfortunate woman of whom you are speaking has been for years most cruelly ill-used by Bahram Khan, and has vowed vengeance upon him in consequence? But I am not at liberty to say more upon the subject.”
“No!” cried Dick, with sudden enlightenment, “because she made you promise to say nothing to me before she would utter a word. She told you that I was brutally unsympathetic, and had insulted her in her misfortunes, and that I forbade my wife to receive her?”
“These are facts of which I should scarcely expect you to be proud, Major North.” Still, the General looked uncomfortable.
“I am prouder of them than I should be of being taken in by the most cunning Jezebel in India. The woman hasn’t a grain of truth in her composition.”
“I have been considered a good judge of character,” said General Cranstoun severely, “and I would stake my life on Miss Warren’s truthfulness. She has told me something of her history, and her manner left on my mind the most extraordinary impression of impotent fury thirsting for revenge. No acting could have produced the effect.”