Page:Between the twilights being studies of Indian women by one of themselves (IA betweentwilights00soraiala).pdf/188

168 Oh! but yes! Colman’s mustard that you get in yellow tins from Europe shops. … And,—“once they bade her to a ‘peace-making meal,’ but there was poison in the food … How did she know it? Oh! she was not without sense, who does not know poison when they see it!”

The Grandmother spoke a more forcible tongue; charges under the Penal Code, with quaint excursions into the family history of the past for parallel to this unworthy widow of her son.

The Ranee herself was dignified. You can afford dignity when you hold the purse-strings, and your accusations take the form of reduced allowances. She entertained me much this lady. As soon as word was brought her of my arrival she went to bed, feigning sickness. How did she know what manner of woman I might be! It were best to be on the safe side; if you were ill and in bed you could, with courtesy, avoid seeing visitors. So she went to bed. But she sent her Prime Minister and her most confidential officers to call upon me, that they might report. Was their report favourable, or did curiosity get the better of