Mrs. Rouat glanced uneasily at Hester, and reminded herself that she must keep in mind the close relationship of the "parties."
"Your information is incorrect," said Hester firmly. "Unfortunately my husband has no relatives in India or anywhere else. His father and mother both died when he was a child," she added placidly, never doubting the truth of her assertion.
"Tell thatt to your grandmother," interjected Leila, with a rude laugh. "It's easy to see, Aunt Tilly, she's been taken in by Alfred's lies same as I was till he jilted me," ended the girl, with a spiteful glance on the paling face of the woman she hated.
Hester rose from her chair, folded her hands, and said in a restrained voice:
"I must ask you to excuse me! Boy, call the carriage," she added, calling the butler. Then she passed out of the room, leaving the aunt and niece staring at each other with discomforted air.
"Perhaps I acted a little suddenly," murmured Hester to herself, as she climbed the stair to her room. "But Alfred may be here at any time, and if he found these two Eurasians seated in the drawing-room, I really could not answer for the consequences! I suppose their extraordinary tale has been manufactured by that fat person. It does seem very odd--and what was that the girl said about Alfred having jilted her? Perhaps she is under some hallucination, but I dare not mention it to Alfred. One of these terrible fits of temper would be sure to follow, and just when we are going to try to be happy and throw off all our worries on the Blue Mountains."
But the longer Hester's thoughts dwelt on the visitors' tale, the more uncomfortable she felt. She recalled how the woman had mentioned Mr. Morpeth, and decided that her husband's aversion to the good Eurasian must be known to the community.
"There was evident malice in it all. What a cruel plot to spring upon us all of a sudden!" she said to herself, as she busied herself with preparations for the coming journey, finding relief from her troubled thoughts.
Soon, however, she began to wonder why her husband was delaying his return. The landau had been waiting for some time for the evening drive, but at length she dismissed it to the stables, not being inclined for a solitary drive. The hour for dinner arrived and still he did not appear, nor was there any message from him which surprised her, since he had been unfailingly punctual of late. After her lonely dinner she betook herself to her home-letters for the outgoing mail on the following day, eager to share with her dear ones the great news that she was to exchange the hot winds and red dust for the breezy Neilgherry Hills.