Truly, she had made no bid for their favor,
choosing to stand alone and without their support; but even had she done
so it would have been useless. She wore an enemy's color in her face, and
keen, pitiless eyes had already probed into the innermost depths of her
plans and found them dangerous.
In the middle of the dinner the Colonel broke the news that the whole of
the English community had been invited by the Rajah to a reception in the
palace grounds. He made the announcement with evident reluctance, and
Beatrice was conscious that Stafford, who sat beside her, stiffened and
frowned. The sense of opposition and disapproval on the part of the man
whom she had set out to conquer put her on her metal, and with the verve
and _sang-froid_ of a woman too sure of her own power to know fear, she
related her adventure in the temple. Her hearers listened, according to
their sex, with amusement, curiosity and pious horror. Some were
unreservedly delighted, others--such as the Colonel and
Stafford--struggled between a certain admiration for her and a decided
disapproval of her action and its results. Yet Stafford at least was a
soldier before he was a conventionalist, and her bold, well-played comedy
in the temple of Vishnu, told simply, but with fire and energy, could not
fail to stir to flame the embers of his own daring. From that time he
ceased to rivet his attention to the other end of the table, where Lois
was sitting, and Beatrice was conscious that she had won the first move in
the great game which she had set herself to play.
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