The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1939-01-23
The Rains
Came


filled with thousands q bees. Just
beneath 1t the rulers Of Ranchipur
stod to receive their guests.
The Mshararee wore a sari q
white bordered with silver. Nah
rata fashion. with a giant fish-tail
train which passed between her
tiny feet and swept behind he as
she walked And she wore no Jew
els but Embellishments N her
ears and about her throat, on her
wrists and fingers and even on her
toes. emeralds collected here and
there throughout the world 10 sat
isfy her passion for jewels. from
Fifth Avenue and Bond Street and
the Place Nendome, from Moscow
and Jaipur and Picking.
Tonight she was not the spirit
ed old lady who played poker Ike
professional gambler in a mining
camp - shrewd. witty malicious
and sometimes Rabelaisian-but a
woman intelligent, and. in the
depths Of her nature. still half
savage. who was great Queen.
She was a small person. made with
the dehcacy and perfection of a
Tanagra, vet now she gave the
illusion Of stature and majesty.
She carried herself erect with the
.sureness and poise Of woman
who has never known the totter-
ing heels of fashionable Partisan
bootmakers.
The ancient Dewan was already
there, and Raschid and his dark,
modest little wife. and Mr.. Ban
nerjee and the cold and beautiful
Mrs. Bannerjee, and the Mahara-
jah himself, looking old and tired
and full of dignity, all in white
with single great diamond set
around with emeralds. blazing in
his scarlet Ranchipur turban. And
there were staff officers and
aides-de-camp and the two old
Princesses of Bewanagar, inti-
mates of the Maharanee.
\ Proud Indian Woman
Out Of all the group il was Mrs.
Bannerjee who caught Ransome's
attention.
She was standing against a wall
beside one of the great windows
netted against the giant bats. very
still and aloof and beautiful like a
woman out of one of the NINA
lures which adorned the wall She
was tall for an Indian woman and
very fair-skinned, and there was
an air of insolence and contempt
about her which was at once pro-
vocative and irritating. and an air
of stiffness and indifference which
permitted her to dominate any
room.
For a long time she had fasci-
mated Ransome. She never spoke
save to answer a question and she
was never made uneasy by long
silences as Western women We're.
She would sit watching and listen
ing or drifting off into some realm
of meditation beyond the compre-
hension of the others. Indifferent,
outwardly bored and yet somehow
more complete than anyone else in
the room.
Tonight when she found Ran
some staring at her she looked at
him for a moment beneath her
long lashes. inclined her head in an
arrogant gesture of recognition,
and seating herself on a divan took
out a neatly rolled pan of lime and
betel leaf from a box of jade and
began to chew. In most Indian
women there was for Ransome
something cowlike in their taste
for pan, but with Mrs. Bannerjee
it was quite different. Watching
her he was sware again of the cid
excitement which always made
him feel hot and a little suffocated.
He thought, She hates me be-
cause l am not an Indian"
And then across the room,
among all the brilliant clothes. he
saw the Eskeths come in. His
Lordship, sitting in a swallow
tailed coat, looked bleary and pur-
pie and rather like a peevish bull.
Beside him his wife appeared in
credibly fragile and pale. Then
for the first time in nearly fifteen
years Ransome really saw her.
She was dressed like the Mahara-
nee, all in white. but instead of
emeralds she wore against the
white of her gown a mixture of
diamonds and emeralds and rubies.
very nearly as magnificent as the
jewels of the Indian queen.
Against the deep blue Of the
wall, beneath the blaze of brilliant
uncompromisin light from the
crystal chandelier. she was all
white and pale gold, as beautiful
as Mrs. Bannerjee but in a fashion
as different as it was possible to
be. With the Indian woman one
had intimations Of fire. sullen and
smoldering somewhere beneath the
ice, but with Edwina Esketh one
OWNED almost at once that if
there had ever been any fire it was
eXtinguished now forever. It was
her boredom which struck you al
most Immediately certain dead
ness Of reaction TO everything and
everyone about her. as # she had
experienced too much so that moth
ing. save perhaps jewels and
clothes, had any longer any power
TO stir her. When she smiled at
the Maharanee il was a tired smile
full Of sadness. but without self
pity. Il was a smile as old as
time
She said. Your Highness has
been SO kind 10 US. I don't know
what we should have done other
wise and the voice was curious!y
tired ana flat.
The Maharanee laughed. a fun
throaty laugh: It's nothing We're
pleased to do anything we can for
q friend Of the Yiceroy."
There was fire in her dark eyes
and vitality in her voice. and Ran