They never did you any harm."
"No harm? To dress as an example and a stumbling-block for half Simla, and
then to find this Person who is dressed by the hand of God--not that I wish to
disparage Him for a moment, but you know the tikka-dhurzie way He attires
those lilies of the field--this Person draws the eyes of men--and some of them
nice men? It's almost enough to make one discard clothing. I told the Hawley
Boy so."
"And what did that sweet youth do?"
"Turned shell-pink and looked across the far blue hills like a distressed
cherub. Am I talking wildly, Polly? Let me say my say, and I shall be calm.
Otherwise I may go abroad and disturb Simla with a few original reflections.
Excepting always your own sweet self, there isn't a single woman in the land
who understands me when I am--what's the word?"
"Tete-Fele'e," suggested Mrs. Mallowe.
"Exactly! And now let us have tiffin. The demands of Society are exhausting,
and as Mrs. Delville says"--Here Mrs. Hauksbee, to the horror of the
khitmatgars, lapsed into a series of grunts, while Mrs. Mallowe stared in lazy
surprise.
"'God gie us a gude conceit of oorselves,'" said Mrs. Hauksbee, piously,
returning to her natural speech. "Now, in any other woman that would have been
vulgar.
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