Kimi

The Captain exchanged a few words with the soldier in Gurkhali and then, turning to me, said, "Kimi is here to take you home for dinner."

"It must be nearing eight o' clock now, and I thought the curfew started at five," said I.

"That's a good joke, Sir," said Captain Clifton in the pseudo-Sandhurst manner of speaking which the Indian army has retained so charmingly, and added, "In fact, she can defy the whole bloody Indian army as long as she has your blessings."

It took me a while to realize that this was indeed an unusual kind of response. Since it was totally unprovoked, I decided to put things in a proper perspective.

"She has met me only once," I said emphatically, "and has obtained a food retail license on your recommendation. Moreover, I assume she had learnt about my visit, which I believe to be secret, from you, and had taken your permission for inviting me. In any case, now that she is here, you would surely offer her a drink."

"I don't mind the woman at all. In fact, she is highly desirable," replied Clifton, and then, raising his eyes towards the sky, murmured, "but perhaps her husband shall be more welcome."

"In the national interest, I guess," I quipped, in an obvious reference to the sublime diction of his letter. The result was a slightly more restrained form of self-assertion.

"I'm the official hunter of these vermins, if you please", he said, his eyes still focussed vaguely on a distant nebula. "Lalruata and his gang have recently got away with murdering some of our soldiers and key informers, and it is vital to my career that I get him dead or alive. You must also know, Sir, that food from government stocks is finding its way to the rebel hideouts. How else will the bastards survive? She probably had the last licensee bumped off by her husband so that she could get the business. You'd want hard evidence if I recommend cancellation of her license on these grounds, but that, as you know, would be impossible."

Then, looking straight at me, he added, "I must advise you very strongly against going to her place tonight. Lalruata has been holed up nearby these past few days, and god knows what he's up to. I'll face a court martial if you get shot in my area. Besides, of course, losing a good friend." An afterthought, but it sounded sincere all the same. The brandy had also begun to affect us.

"We aren't baboons walking straight into a snare, my dear Clifton," I replied, with sonority at my command, "and for god's sake, I've not come here to die like a fool. You've a company of Gurkhas here, and I'm sure a few desperados can be dealt with easily. I may be forgiven for being somewhat presumptuous, but I inevitably see my professional goals in longer terms than yours. It would be embarrassing to decline her invitation now. I only intend to visit her briefly and dine with you in style afterwards."

"I appreciate your responsibilities, Sir, and we won't let you down," he said, and continued as he saw Kimi entering the gate, "and, shall I add, you two will not be disturbed in whatever you intend to do this evening together."

We laughed at the insinuation, and I was glad the tension had cleared.

Two soldiers with sten guns escorted us as I walked down the hill with Kimi. Her three children greeted me outside the door of her house, with the oldest, a boy, straining to hold a kerosene lamp above his head so that he could see my face more clearly. As we stepped inside, Kimi beamed a perfunctory smile at the soldiers and bolted the door in their faces. I was amazed, and a little embarrassed, to notice in the brighter light inside that she was a very beautiful woman, a delicately erotic Beardsley drawing gone oriental ! And I also instantly understood the reason why Clifton had been so ill-humoured a little while ago.