Then I grew proud of my English blood, and although I am, to my
people, Rajah of Tripataly, a native prince and lord of their
destinies, keeping up the same state as my father, and ruling them in
native fashion, in my inner house I have adopted many English ways.
"My wife has no rival in the zenana. I encourage her to go about, as
our mother did, to look after the affairs of the house, to sit at
table with me, and to be my companion, and not a mere plaything. I am
sure, Margaret, your stay with us will do her much good, and she will
learn a great deal from you."
"You have heard no news since you last wrote, Mortiz?"
A slight cloud passed across the Rajah's animated face.
"None, Margaret. We have little news from beyond the mountains. Tippoo
hates us, who are the friends of the English, as much as he hates the
English themselves, so there is little communication between Mysore
and the possessions of the Nabob of Arcot. We will talk, later on, of
the plans you wrote of in your last letter to me."
"You do not think that they are hopeless, Mortiz?" Mrs. Holland asked,
anxiously.
"I would not say that they are hopeless," he said gently, "although it
seems to me that, after all these years, the chances are slight,
indeed, that your husband can be alive; and the peril and danger of
the enterprise that, so far as I understood you, you intend your son
to undertake, would be terrible, indeed.
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