She was to pack up and leave at once by rail to Jalpaiguri,
where he would meet her with a motor-car lent him for the purpose by the
Lalpuri Durbar, or State Council. If Mrs. Smith cared to accompany her an
invitation for her would be at once forthcoming. Fred added that he was
making up a party from their district which included Payne, Granger, and
the Rices. From Lalpuri Noreen would return with him to Malpura.
The girl was delighted at the thought of leaving Darjeeling sooner than she
had expected. To her surprise Ida announced her intention of accompanying
her to Lalpuri. But the fact that her Calcutta friend was returning to the
city on the Hoogly and that by going with Noreen she could travel with him
as far as Jalpaiguri explained it.
Chunerbutty, deputed by the Rajah to act as host to his European guests,
met Daleham's party when they arrived at the gates of Lalpuri and
conducted them to the Palace. They passed through the teeming city with
its thronged bazaar, its narrow, winding streets hemmed in by the
overhanging houses with their painted walls and closely-latticed windows
through which thousands of female eyes peered inquisitively at the white
women, the brightly dressed crowds flattening themselves against the
walls to get out of the way of the two cavalry soldiers of the Rajah's
Bodyguard who galloped recklessly ahead of the car.
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