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'They look after the goats,' the King explained. 'Each has his own flock and his own pasture.'
'Why do they wear bells round their necks?' Jeremy asked with an air of scholarly interest.
'So that they can be heard if they get lost,' said the King with great patience.
'Why…' Jeremy began, but his mother cut him off gently, 'That's enough, Jeremy.'
The King smiled at her. 'He asks intelligent questions.' The dark eyes moved on to scrutinise Marie. 'And this is Miss Brinton, your governess?'
Marie shook hands with him, impressed by his direct and interested manner. He was not at all what she had expected.
'Have you been to this part of the world before?' he asked her. 'What do you think of our small country?'
'I've never been to India before,' she admitted. 'But I'm sure I'm going to like it.'
'This is not India, Miss Brinton,' he said flatly. 'Jedhpur is an independent kingdom with its own history, language and traditions. We are very proud of our past and very hopeful about our future.'
She was embarrassed by her slip, glancing at Jess apologetically, hoping she had not offended the King too much. Jess smiled at her comfortingly, giving a slight shake of the head.
The King clapped his hands and the proud-faced servant in white appeared, bowing profoundly.
'Rahaib, take Miss Brinton and Master Jeremy to their bungalow, will you?' He smiled at Marie. 'I wish to have a long talk with Mrs Cunningham about her work. I hope you will excuse us for a while. Rahaib will see that you have everything you need. If you have any worries, please mention them to him and they will be attended to at once.'
Marie was taken aback, but smiled back politely and allowed Rahaib to lead her and Jeremy away.
Back they went along the marble corridors, her eyes dazedly admiring the gilt glitter of some of the mosaics, staring in fascinated confusion at huge barbaric statues of gods or men, the limbs entwined in strange contortions, the faces calm and impassive. Rahaib walked at a calm pace just ahead of them, one hand loosely hovering around his sash. When someone suddenly slipped out of an alcove between two pale pink pillars Rahaib's hand moved like a snake, flying away from his sash with a curved, glittering dagger between the brown fingers.
'Put that away, Rahaib,' commanded an amused voice.
Rahaib relaxed, bowing. 'Lord, I did not see it was you.'
The newcomer was a young man in Western clothes; a white shirt and loose white trousers, wearing white sports shoes on his feet.
Marie looked at him in curious surprise. He grinned at her, his thin brown face full of mischief.
'I've been playing cricket,' he explained, pointing to his clothes. 'You must be Mrs Cunningham. I must say, you look amazingly young to be a famous artist.'
She laughed, her blue eyes dancing. 'That's because I'm not Mrs Cunningham. I'm only her son's governess.'
'Ah, yes, the son,' he murmured, glancing at Jeremy, who was a few feet away, inspecting a wall carving of an elephant with much fascination. 'I had forgotten him.' He turned back to her, smiling. 'I am the King's cousin, by the way. My name is Aziz. May I ask your name?'
'Marie Brinton,' she told him.
His voice dropped confidentially. 'I am delighted to meet you, Miss Brinton. You are the answer to a maiden's prayer.'
Her eyebrows curved in silent amusement. She thought he had misunderstood the phrase, but, seeing her unspoken reaction, he grinned at her.
'I mean that literally,' he said. 'I do not suppose the King mentioned Aissa?'
She shook her head. 'Who is Aissa?'
'His sister,' Aziz said softy. 'She has just returned from a year in Paris and she is already beginning to be very bored here. Like myself, she had had a Western education, but now that we are back in Jedhpur we are expected to return to the old ways because otherwise we might shock the people. It is not so bad for me—men have always had more freedom than women here, but for Aissa it is stifling.'
Marie stared at him, uneasy and perplexed. She sensed that she was about to be involved in trouble, but there was little she could do to dodge out of the situation.
Aziz went on pleadingly, 'Aissa badly needs a friend. There are many things she could do with another girl around that she could not do if she were alone. It would not be permitted for her to drive around alone outside the palace, for instance, but if you were her compa
nion her brother would not object.'
