"Have you quarrelled with the Major?" asked Nina, as they rode on.
"Of course not," Beryl answered, with a hint of impatience.
But she knew that if she wished to appear at her ease she must not be
too icy. She felt a very decided reluctance to take her friend into her
confidence with regard to the Farabad episode. There were times when she
wondered herself if she were altogether justified in condemning Major
Fletcher unheard, in spite of the evidence against him. But she had no
intention of giving him an opportunity to vindicate himself if she could
possibly avoid doing so.
In this, however, circumstances proved too strong for her. They were
bound to meet sooner or later, and Fate ordained that when this should
occur she should be more or less at his mercy.
The occasion was an affair of some importance, being a reception at the
palace of the native prince who dwelt at Farabad. It promised to be a
function of supreme magnificence; it was, in fact, the chief event of
the season, and the Anglo-Indian society of Kundaghat attended it in
force.
Beryl went with the Commissioner and his wife, but in the crowd of
acquaintances that surrounded her almost from the moment of her arrival
she very speedily drifted away from them. One after another claimed her
attention, and almost before she knew it she found herself moving
unattached through the throng.
She was keenly interested in the brilliant scene about her.
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