after the approved method in the East, a
bunch of keys jingling in her pocket, and everything that was of value
locked safely away; a cook to stand behind her chair, once a day, to
render the bazaar accounts; visits of inspection to the kitchen, an
eagle eye kept on the dusting and sweeping, and the laundry-man's weekly
wash duly checked; for Meredith's head _bearer_, who had assumed
responsibilities in his master's bachelor days and was too valuable to
be deprived of his office, continued to keep accounts and run the
establishment on oiled wheels. Joyce held him in secret awe and respect.

Her ayah instructed her in Indian ways and customs, and caste
susceptibilities; and it was no little tax to remember how not to
offend. The _bearer_ was not to be asked to carry trays of food, or the
_khansaman_ to trim the lamps; the _masalchi_ had no responsibility with
regard to the boots, or the sweeper with scullery concerns; and so on,
and so forth. It was all very bewildering and made her nervous. She
cared too little for India to take much trouble to improve her knowledge
of the country or of the people, and was content to remain as an
honoured guest in her own house, with her precious babe to worship and
cherish with jealous devotion.

On her return from camp, visitors dropped in to see her, foremost among
them, Mrs. Barrington Fox, the wife of a railway official of some
importance in the District; a lady young enough to have retained a
belief in her power to charm. She had been very handsome at her _debut_,
ten years ago, but the ravages of the climate had not spared her
complexion which was delicately assisted by art to retain its bloom. She
had the air of being languidly bored with the monotony of her life, and
seemed disposed to patronise the "leading lady" who never led, save when
the laws of precedence obliged her to occupy the seat of honour at
dinner parties in the Station. It was a temptation to Mrs. Fox to advise
her in the way she should go, and she tactfully managed to hint at it.
"India is naturally strange to you, yet you do wonderfully!--I am sure
you are very clever," she would begin, and then make some suggestion
which Joyce was very glad to follow. For instance--"I hear the Padre
from headquarters wishes to hold service here next Sunday. He ought
really to put up with you, but the Brights have had him lately and
unless you write and invite him he is likely to go straight to them.
What do you think?" she a