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.Then the Viceroy said, putting his fingers up to his forehead,“I cannot believe this is happening.I have always been assured that I am over-protected.Yet a girl has been taken out of my garden without anyone noticing it.”“It makes me furious too,” Lord Kenington said, “but for the moment you must not ask questions of anyone.If Warde can act his part well, so must we.”“You are quite right, Charles, but it makes me so angry that this should happen to one of the best men who has ever worked for us and to his charming daughter.”“I know, but she has the same courage as her father and I feel confident that we will find her.”He was thinking as he spoke how Aisha and he had talked about the Tibetan monks and how she was interested in the way they could communicate with each other.‘Perhaps,’ he thought, ‘she will try to tell me where she is.’Then he told himself he was being over-optimistic.It was ridiculous to think that a young girl could have the same powers that the monks in Tibet had worked at all their lives to achieve.Yet it was there in his mind and he kept thinking of it all the time over luncheon, trying to make conversation with the guests and hearing the Major not only talking but laughing at the other end of the table.‘He is a magnificent actor,’ he told himself.At the same time he knew that the Major had had a great deal of experience.He was determined that no one staying in Peterhof should know of Aisha’s disappearance.The luncheon seemed to drag on and take hours, but it was actually no longer than the day before.When it finished, the Major said in a loud voice,“Are you ready, Charles? It’s going to be a hot drive, but I promise a cool drink when we reach camp.”“Where are you going?” a woman guest asked.It was the same lady who had been so curious with Aisha earlier in the day.“We are going to a detachment of my Regiment,” the Major said.“We have a new gun that has recently arrived from England and I now wish to show it to Lord Kenington.In my opinion it is one of the most effective weapons to have been developed for some time.”“How interesting,” the lady twittered.This was a splendid titbit of gossip that she would be able to convey to her friends.“Do tell me all about it, Major.”“I will tell you about it tonight, but now we must be on our way.I have already told the Viceroy what I think about his roads and it was not particularly complimentary!”Everyone laughed and those who were going out to play tennis said,“Well, good luck and we expect we will be a lot hotter on the tennis court than you will be on the roads.”“I will test that tomorrow by having a game with you,” the Major countered.“I shall look forward the challenge,” was the reply.*The Major had already changed from his uniform into a casual thin suit and Lord Kenington did the same.There was an open carriage drawn by one horse waiting for them outside.There was only room for two people to sit in it, so that it was obvious that they would not be accompanied by the groom.“Don’t worry if we are delayed,” Major Warde said to him in Urdu.“We might, if there is a party this evening, stay tonight at the camp and the horses will be well looked after.”The groom bowed and the Major drove off.The horse was pretty fast and they covered quite a distance before Lord Kenington asked,“How far is this mountain?”“It is not really a mountain, but it is remote and at one time inhabited by Holy men who worshipped some peculiar God of their own.They were therefore found a place where no one would interfere with them.”“Go on,” Lord Kenington urged.“Well, these Holy men then dug small caves into the mountainside, each one for himself and there were a great number of them.Long after they moved on the caves have remained.Some of them extend some way back into the mountain and it’s difficult to go into them because of falling rocks.”“And you are sure they have taken Aisha there?”“No one can be sure of anything, but I have been told that our enemies use these caves and it was there that I found the body of Lord Swinton.”He paused for a moment and then added,“It was, of course, only his skeleton, as he had been missing for over five years, but his signet ring was still on his finger bone and I recognised the Swinton crest [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]