Page:Every Woman's Encyclopedia Volume 1.djvu/392

 LADY OF QUALITY 370 Lady Minto Nursing Association. Lady Hardinge of Penshurst, who succeeds Lady Minto as Vicereine, is formulating a scheme for promoting the training of native women as doctors. A World of Colour The experiences of a Vicereine when first she assumes the duties of her position are altogether novel. When she lands at Bom- bay and sees strange Eastern people, some clad in rich and glowing colours and some wearing practically no clothes at all, she realises into what a new world she has come. Ever>'where is the mystery and glamour of the East. Before her are the princes and dignified Indian gentlemen and the Parsee ladies in many-hued picturesque dresses, among whom she is to reign as social queen. Language, religion, and social usages, moreover, are for the most part unfamiliar. The Vicereine is greeted with a silent, obsequious awe which is bewildering. Never- theless, she will realise gradually that, being a woman, she is, to the Eastern mind, fathoms below the high plane accorded to his Excellency the Viceroy. When Lady Canning went out she was told that it was imperative that she should land alone for the state entry into Calcutta. She might go before her husband or behind him, but not with him. Lady Canning made the best of the situation by electing to land first. At Bombay the Vicereine gets her first experience of the social life of India at the dinners, receptions, and balls which are given in honour of the new Viceroy, and there are usually visits to schools and institutions to bs paid. Then follow the great official entry into Calcutta, the arrival at Govern- ment House, the swearing-in of her husband in the historic council chamber, the farewell festivities which mark the departure of the outgoing Viceroy, the good-bye to her predecessor, and then the Vicereine faces her position of somewhat lonely splendour. She chooses and arranges her own special suite of rooms, probably starts an aviary, or possibly even a menagerie, for there are many curious animals and gay plumaged birds to attract her attention. Parrots are probably too plentiful, for one Vicereine complained of having fifteen parrots screech- ing from their nests in the colonnades outside her boudoir. Regal Splendour Regal splendour surrounds the Vicereine on every side. The principal servants wear scarlet and gold ; men in long red tunics, white trousers, bare feet, red and gold sashes, and white turbans, wait at table ; while higher functionaries attend in gold- embroidered breastplates. The Vicereine finds the servant problem reversed. At home the difficulty is to get servants ; in India, the difficulty is to get nd of them. Those silent, statuesque figures m doorways, halls and corridors, with the guttering, observant eyes, ready to proffer assistance if her Excellency but raise her eyelids, are oppressive to the nerves at first. Vicereines have been known to sigh for a footman with creaking shoes. A legion of male " housemaids," in tunics and turbans, moves silently about ; magnificent person- ages are on guard in the passages ; and there are multitudes of other servants, " some in rags and some in tags " and some with no clothes at all. Lady Dufferin describes the effect of caste on service in the viceregal household. " One caste," she says, " arranges flowers, another cleans the plate, a third puts candles into the candlesticks, but a fourth lights them ; one fills a jug of water, while it requires either a higher or a lower man to pour it out. The man who cleans your boots will not condescend to hand you a cup of tea, and the person who makes your bed would be dishonoured were he to take any other part in doing your room. In conse- quence, instead of one neat housemaid at work, when you go to my lady's chamber you find seven or eight men in various stages of dress, each putting a hand to some little thing which has to be done." There may be fifty or seventy horses in the viceregal stables, but each horse has a man to himself, who lives and sleeps at the foot of his stall. A Mortifying Experience In the management of her vast and novel household the Vicereine depends on the aides-de-camp who preside over the various departments, under the chief rule of one great functionary, who settles every detail, from the highest ceremonial affairs to the problem of mosquitoes that have somehow got inside her Excellency's curtain. The Vicereine's morning is largely taken up in conferring with the aides-de-camp on menus and invitations, charities and functions. She is fortunate if she has an aide-de-camp versed in family and social feud. He will save her from the mortifying experience of pne Vicereine who, after her first State dinner, found that, in a company of thirty -four, six couples not on speaking terms had been invited, and, worse ill-luck, they had all been placed together. Tact and social instinct are the most valuable assets for a Vicereine. She is practically "At-home" each day, and receives the wives of officials and distinguished visitors to the capital, as well as her intimate friends. Social entertainments follow one another in quick succession, for life in India is full of gaiety and colour. The great Drawing-room is held in Christmas week, and rivals Bucking- ham Palace in stately splendour. In the old days, the wife of the Governor-General entered the throne-room at State functions by a side door, escorted by an aide-de-camp, and her husband led the procession alone. " That will not suit me," said Lady Canning, very properly. And after the creation of the Viceroyalty she instituted the State entrances at Drawing-rooms and State balls, and took her place beside the Viceroy. At this period full Court dress for the men, and lappets and feathers for the ladies, were introduced. Trains did not become general