The Devil in Clevely (Afternoon of an Autocrat) by Norah Lofts Read Free Book Online Page B

the message, she had taken out and shaken. It was the last of four similar dresses presented to her as a parting present by Cousin Maud, whose generosity had exceeded her knowledge of what was suitable wear in India. She had known enough to say that India was no place for a white woman, but she had not known that it was equally no place for stiff silk, tightly waisted dresses with heavy panniers. Linda had soon removed the panniers and let out the seams of all four gowns. But in no time the silk had rotted and split; for in India one sweated--there was no other word for it--sweated like a coach-horse, and in the rainy season mould grew on one's dresses and shoes overnight. When the rose-pink, the blue-green, the yellow and the lavender gowns had all shown signs of immediate dissolution Linda had selected the lavender one, the most modest and practical-coloured of the four, and laid it away. When the others fell to pieces she had bought lengths of cheap flimsy cotton stuff in the bazaars and made herself some loose cool garments of curious style--a cross between the 'morning' prints she had worn at home, before she went to London to act as Cousin Maud's companion and amanuensis, and the clothes worn by Indian women.
    The dress gave one or two ominous little creaks as she lifted it over her head, and more as she strained back her arms to manage the fastening; but as the long gleaming folds fell to her feet and the lace-lined sleeves covered her sharp elbows she knew a moment of rehabilitation. It was a dignified dress, a proper English dress, and she regretted that the amethyst necklace, Cousin Maud's wedding-present, had had to be sold. It would have done much to conceal the painful scragginess of her neck and collarbones. Poor Maud--she had herself made an amazingly advantageous marriage, and in dear little Linda's capture of Richard Shelmadine--such a charming man, and heir to a baronetcy--she had seen her own worldly success repeated, with additions; for Maud's own husband had been elderly, middle-class, invalidish and--to say the least of it--grumpy. Richard Shelmadine was only thirty-- just the right age for an innocent, unworldly girl of eighteen; and though he was wild, had indeed quite a bad reputation, everyone knew that a reformed rake made the best husband. Maud had done, had given everything that could possibly make the match start off well.
    (There'd been that stormy interview at Clevely; Sir Charles had said, 'This is the last time, Richard. You marry and settle down or I'm finished with you!' And the perverse devil which ruled all Richard's actions had, two months later, derived the greatest satisfaction from composing a letter which said: 'According to instructions, sir, I have chosen my bride. She is the daughter of a poor parson; she has a dowry of five hundred pounds, the gift of her cousin who is the widow of a man who sold tallow candles with great profit; she is plain of face, rustic of manner but has the ability to make me laugh, and I can make her cry.' It was the last six words which proved to Sir Charles that there was no hope.)
    The hat which matched the lavender dress was a genuine Leghorn straw, wide of brim and becoming; but it had changed colour. Much exposure to strong sunshine had darkened the straw and faded the amethyst ribbon almost to grey. Still, it hid a great deal of the straight bleached hair and in its shadow the hollows were less noticeable. As she pulled on her lace mittens--very carefully, for they too had grown brittle--Linda was satisfied that she looked, not attractive, but at her best.
    The curtained, wheeled, scarlet-lacquered, silver-decked, cushioned litter which was provided for the use of those of the Rajah's harem who found it necessary from time to time to visit one of the various holy places in the district called for her exactly fifteen minutes and one hour before sunset. Indian time-keeping had always been, and remained, a mystery to her. (Richard had once said, 'It is