But he put the idea from him, though he smiled as he re-read his orders and
thought of her surprise when she saw him in Darjeeling. Would she really be
pleased to meet her friend of the jungle in the gay atmosphere of a
pleasure colony? Like most men who are not woman-hunters he set a very
modest value on himself and did not rate highly his power of attraction for
the opposite sex. Therefore, he thought it not unlikely that the girl might
consider him as a desirable enough acquaintance for the forest but a bore
in a ballroom. In this he was unjust to her.
He was surprised to discover that he looked forward with pleasure to seeing
her again, for women as a rule did not interest him. Noreen was the first
whom he had met that gave him the feeling of companionship, of comradeship,
that he experienced with most men. She was not more clever, more talented,
or better educated than most English girls are, but she had the capacity of
taking interest in many things outside the ordinary range of topics. Above
all, she inspired him with the pleasant sense of "chum-ship," than which
there is no happier, more durable bond of union between a man and a woman.
The Season brought the work in which Dermot was engaged to a standstill,
and, keen lover of sport as he was, he was not tempted to risk the
fevers of the jungle. Life in the small station of Ranga Duar was dull
indeed.
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