The India Fan (31 page)

She talked of her children in France and Italy and confessed that she was finding it hard to imagine what an Anglo-Indian menage might be like.

Polly said, glad youe going with her.And afterwards to me, he a good sensible woman, that one. I was afraid they were going to send you out with some young flighty piece.

I reminded Polly that flighty pieces rarely worked as nannies.

ou find all sorts anywhere these days,was her comment.

I had brought the peacock-feather fan with me. I showed it to Polly.

t was left to me by Miss Lucille.

,said Polly. retty.

She opened her eyes and gasped when I showed her the jewels.

hat must be worth a pretty penny.

believe so, Polly. Lady Harriet referred to it as a nest-egg.

ell, that nice to have, I must say.

want you to keep it for me. I didn know where else to leave it.

l take care of it. Il put it in a safe place, never fear.

I hesitated. I did not tell her that it was supposed to be unlucky. I knew she would have laughed at the idea in any case; and I think secretly I wanted to forget it.

She said, wish I was going with you. Take care of yourself. And look out for that Fabian. I expect you might run into him while youe there.

don suppose I shall see much of him. Hel be engaged on business matters.

e the sort who bring himself forward and I wouldn touch him with a barge pole.

believe youe said that before.

ell, Il say it again. And remember this. Wee always here. If they try any hanky panky either of them I never did trust anyone by the name of Framling you just let me know and Il be waiting for you when the ship comes home.

hat a comfort, Polly.

emember it. There always a home for you here.

will remember it,I said. oodbye, Polly, and thank you for coming to the rectory and being there all those years.

ell, we was made for each other, wasn we? Now take care and come back soon.

wo years, Polly. It not long.

l count the days.

And shortly after that we sailed on the Oriental Queen for Alexandria.

Alice and I stood side by side on the deck until the last piece of land that was England was out of sight. Then we went down to the cabin we shared.

It was small and cramped, but, as we realized later, we were lucky to have it to ourselves. But I was too excited to think about such details then. We were on our way to adventure.

I had had very little experience of travelling. True, I had crossed the Channel once or twice on my way to and from Lamason. I was immediately reminded of that secretive journey back to England with Janine and a pregnant Lavinia.

That set me thinking of Lavinia and wondering whether marriage had changed her and what surprises I had waiting for me at my destination. But that seemed a long way off. There was so much to be experienced first.

Within less than an hour of our departure the sea became very rough and continued so all through the Channel and into the Bay of Biscay. We had to curb our inclination to explore for a while, for it was difficult enough to stand upright on the ship.

When we did mingle with our fellow passengers we found them pleasant enough. Many of them knew each other, as they had made the journey several times on the ship; that rather set us apart, and it was quite unusual that two women should be travelling alone, for Alice, although of a more mature age than I, was still comparatively young. I was sure Lady Harriet would not have approved if it had not fitted in so well with her plans to send us out.

However, there we were, and in a few days we did learn a little about the people on board.

There were two girlsf different familiesoing out to get married. It was a fairly frequent happening, I understood. There was Fiona Macre, a Scottish girl who was going to marry a soldier, and Jane Egmont, whose husband would be one of the officials of what was referred to as the Company.

I kept thinking of Lady Geraldine, who would be coming out on some future voyage to join Fabian. I fell to wondering whether I should see him and what his attitude towards me would be. I wondered whether he would approve of my coming out to be with his sister.

Alice and I were naturally very much together and I learned a little about her. Once she had been engaged to be married. She had not then decided that she would become a nanny. She had lived with her married sister and brother-in-law in Hastings. She had not been very happy; not that her family had not been kind to her, but she had felt an intruder. And then she had met Philip. Philip was an artist. He had come down to Hastings for his health. He had a weak chest and the sea air was said to be good for him.

She met him when he was seated on the shore painting a rough sea. Some of his drawings had blown away and landed right at her feet; she had rescued them and returned them to him.

here was this howling wind, I remember,she said. t tore at you. I thought he was crazy to be working in such weather. They were sketches he was making. He was pleased that I caught them and we talked and got on well. Then we used to meet every day.Her eyes grew tender and she was like a different woman, soft, gentle and feminine. e were to have been married. He told me that he was not strong. He had consumption. I planned to nurse him. I was sure I could bring him back to health. He died a month before we were to have been married. Ah, well, that life. Then I decided I wanted to look after people little ones and I became a nanny. It didn seem as if I were going to get any children of my own, so I had to make do with other people.

We did share confidences very quickly. I told her about Colin proposal and Lady Harriet conviction that it was the best solution for me and that I was stubborn and foolish not to take it.

She grimaced. ou have to be careful of the Lady Harriets of this world. They are all manipulators. I never be manipulated. Good for you that you weren either.

never shall be.

ou were right to refuse him. Marriage lasts a long time and it got to be the right one. Perhaps you meet that one once in a lifetime. Perhaps he doesn even notice you. But if he the one no one else will do.

I did not tell her about Dougal, who had failed me before I had time to fall in love, nor did I mention Fabian, whom I never seemed to be able to get out of my thoughts.

Our first stop was Gibraltar.

It was wonderful to be on dry land. A certain Mr. and Mrs. Carling invited us to go ashore with them. I think they were sorry for two women travelling alone.

We had a very pleasant day inspecting the Rock and the monkeys, and it was exciting to be in a foreign place; but the British flag flew over it, so we still felt we were part of home.

Sailing along the Mediterranean was peaceful. We sat on deck basking in a mild sunshine. It was on one of those occasions that we made the acquaintance of Monsieur Lasseur.

I had noticed him once or twice about the ship. He was of medium height, verging on middle age, with black hair and dark eyes, which seemed to dart everywhere as though he were afraid of missing something.

He had always given me a pleasant smile and bow, with a cheerful ood morningor whatever time of the day it was. I gathered that he was French.

As we were coming into port at Naples, I was leaning over the rail watching our approach. I was alone. I was not quite sure where Alice was. I became aware of him standing beside me.

n exciting moment, is it not, Mademoiselle, coming into port?

es, indeed it is,I answered. suppose one feels the excitement because it is all so new.

feel it and it is not new to me.

o you travel this way frequently?

ow and then yes.

ou are going to India?

o. I go as far as Suez.

believe we have to travel by land from Alexandria.

hat is so. A little lacking in comfort. How will you like that?

verything is so new and exciting to me that I don think I shall notice the discomfort.

ou are very philosophical, I see. And the older lady your sister perhaps?

h no.

ot so? Then

e are travelling together. We are both taking up posts in India.

hat is interesting. May I ask ? But I am curious. It is just that on board well, the conventions do not apply in the same way. We are here together we are one family So I can be like the uncle the elder brother peut-etre.

hat is a pleasant suggestion.

ou have not made many friends yet.

o many people seem to know each other already, and married couples drift together. I suppose it is unusual to find two women like us travelling alone.

efreshing, shall we say? Refreshing. Now I am going to ask you. Are you going ashore at Naples?

ell, I am not sure You see

know. Two ladies alone. Now I am going to be very bold.

I raised my eyebrows.

am going to say this. Why do I not conduct you two ladies ashore? Two ladies to go ashore by themselves He lifted his hands and gravely shook his head. o no that is not good. These people, they say, ere come two ladies we will charge them more.And perhaps there are other bad things they practise. No, no, ladies should not go ashore without protection. My dear young lady, I offer you that protection.

hat is good of you. I will speak to my friend.

shall be at your service,he replied.

At that moment I saw Alice. I called, lice, Monsieur Lasseur is kindly offering to escort us ashore.

Alice eyes widened with pleasure. hat an excellent idea! I was wondering what we were going to do.

ademoiselle, the pleasure is mine.He looked at his watch. et us meet say in fifteen minutes. I think we shall be allowed to leave the ship then.

So that day in Naples was spent in the company of the gallant Frenchman. He talked to us a great deal. He was a widower and childless. He had interests in Egypt and would stay in Suez for some time on business.

He contrived to find out a certain amount about us. He had an intent way of listening that made us feel that what we had to say was of the utmost interest to him.

There was about him an air of authority. He shepherded us through the hordes of chattering people, among whom were countless small boys begging or trying to sell us articles. He waved them all aside.

o, Miss Delany,he said, see you are feeling sorry for these piteous waifs, but believe me, they are professional beggars. I have heard that they do very well from gullible visitors.

here is always a possibility that they may be as poor as they look.

He shook a finger at me. rust me,he said. f you gave to one you would have them all round you like vultures, and you may be sure that while you were concerned with your almsgiving some little fingers would find their way into your pockets.

He hired a little carriage drawn by two small horses and we were driven through the town. Monsieur Lasseur obviously knew the place well, and as we drove under the shadow of the great mountain Vesuvius, he talked interestingly of its menace. We said we wondered why people continued to live so close to it.

h,he replied, hey were born here. Where one native land is that is where one wants to be except adventurous young ladies who would go to the other end of the earth.

t is because their work takes them there,pointed out Alice.

o India land of strange spices and unsolved mysteries.

Then he talked about Vesuvius and the great eruption that had destroyed cities like Pompeii and Herculaneum. He was interesting.

He took us to a restaurant and we sat outside under gaily coloured umbrellas and watched the people passing by. He encouraged us to talk, and I found myself telling him about the rectory and Lady Harriet and how I had been to a finishing school in France. Alice said little about herself and it suddenly occurred to me that he did not prompt her to do so, although he listened avidly to what I told him.

I thought perhaps I was talking too much, and made up my mind to ask Alice when we were alone if this had been so.

Finally it was time to return to the Oriental Queen. It had been a most enjoyable day.

I said to Alice when we were alone, o you think I talked too much?

e certainly encouraged you to.

noticed you said little about yourself.

thought he did not want to hear. It was you in whom he was interested.

wonder if he really is, or whether he was just being polite.

h, there is no doubt that he was very interested in what you said, and yet

nd yet what?

h just a thought. I am not sure that I trust him.

n what way?

e seems a little speculative

did not get the idea that he was the least bit flirtatious.

o. That is what makes it rather odd.

h, Alice, you are being dramatic. I think he is just a lonely man who wants companionship. He travels a great deal. He probably becomes friendly with people for a few weeks and then forgets all about them.

,said Alice, but she was rather thoughtful.

In due course we arrived at Alexandria, where we left the Oriental Queen, boarded a steam barge and sailed up the canal to Cairo.

Monsieur Lasseur had explained to us what would happen. We would spend one night in a hotelreferably Shepheards nd from Cairo we would make our journey across the desert to Suez in a sort of covered wagon. These wagons were in constant use, carrying people to where they could embark on the next stage of the journey by sea.

It was very exciting to be on dry land after so much time at sea, and we were impressed by the grandeur of the hotel, which was unlike any we had seen. It appeared to be dark and shadowy, and silent-footed men in exotic robes glided about watching us intently with their darting dark eyes.

Monsieur Lasseur told us that there was a constant stream of travellersostly going to and from India.

From the moment we entered the hotel, I noticed the man. He was in European dress, and was tall and broad, which made him immediately noticeable. When we came into the hotel after leaving the carriage that had brought us there in the company of the other passengers who were taking the route to India, he seemed to be aware of us. He rose from the chair in which he had been sitting and came close to the desk, where we were being asked our names and informed about our sleeping quarters.