Author Topic: Raj Quartet by Paul Scott -- Division of the Spoils (Read 69960 times)

marcie · « **Reply #80 on:** April 04, 2009, 01:27:50 PM »

Join us as we continue our discussion of the Raj Quartet.
We will be reviewing and finishing Towers of Silence, the third book of the Raj Quartet.

Discussion Leader ~ straudetwo

straudetwo · « **Reply #81 on:** April 05, 2009, 12:55:25 AM »

Thank you for your posts, Frybabe and Gum.
I am most grateful also that unseen hands have restored the original header of this discussion, the view of the bungalow and the map of the subcontinent. I'll have to learn how to do that and am sorry for my omissions.

I've always loved geography and maps. My old school atlas was one of the books I hauled across the ocean when we came to this country; it is in good repair and still being used.
The fictional Mayapore, Ranpur, Pankot and Mirat are believed to be the area of the Punjab.
In any event it is clear from Volumes 1 and 4 of the "Quartet" and from "Staying On" that the entire region in the north east of India became Pakistan.

BTW, Frybabe, "Staying On" (a much slimmer book, as we know) is available on line,
just in case you had extra time

to check it out.

Thank you both for responding to the question about the Pathan whom Teddy Bingham imagines he saw in the middle of the night. We'll see one or two more similarly attired Pathans in this book and may have to decide whether they are real or only an apparition.

Yes, Merrick was ambitious and a man of action from the very beginning. India was his chance. In India he could (and did) become SOMEONE important. He had the intelligence and the daring. He was capable and competent, attentive to his superiors. He had the ears of the regional British administrator in Mayapore and those of the army commander, Brigadier Reid. He bungled the Bibighar Garden affair and was removed from the scene, but not for long, and reemerged as an officer in army Intelligence, more important than ever.

He tried to ingratiate himself to the Laytons in Mirat before Susan's and Teddie's wedding but Mildred remained cool. Sarah does not like him. Aunt Penny later said:"He isn't one of our boys ..." After the wedding Merrick approached Sarah, ostensibly to thank her and apologize for the incident with the stone. He went into the story of Daphne and Hari, again, just as he had done on the day he met Barbie at Rose Cottage (she had come to retrieve her trunk), and to Count Brownowsky after the wedding, insisting each time that his actions were justified, that "those" boys" were guilty.
Hari has since been discharged and is living with his aunt Shalini and earns a little money giving English lessons.

When we were last together here, the night train was rolling from Ranpur to Pankot.
Rowan and Gopal are riding in the governor's coach as emissaries on a secret mission.
Merrick, just returned from Delhi, is planning to interrogate all the men from Col. Layton's Indian Armyregiment. His personal servant, a Pathan, is on board.

Guy Perron was in Delhi with Merrick because he has been officially assigned to Merrick's group. However, he wants no part of this and has put a prearranged Plan B into motion.
We'll find out all about that in the next chapter, "The Moghul Room".

It is a pleasure to know you are here with me, and I thank you.
FLOB = for the love of books.

Frybabe · « **Reply #82 on:** April 05, 2009, 05:28:57 PM »

Thanks Traude, but I already have bought the book. I am waiting to read along when we get to it. Six Days in Mayapore is on my to buy list.

straudetwo · « **Reply #83 on:** April 10, 2009, 01:36:45 AM »

Hallo, everyone.

The events described in Chapter 3, "The Moghul Room", are dense and so detailed that they were condensed in the TV presentations by Granada. I've pondered on how best to summarize this chapter while remaining faithful to the content of the book.

The leading characters are all in this chapter, but it is essentially Guy Perron's story for the telling. Events are seen through his eyes. On the train, Guy tells Nigel about Operation Bunbury, his Plan B, and that he has activated it because he has become one of Merrick's "chosen people"and wants no part ot it. He asks what Rowan knows about Merrick, but Nigel is holding back. Guy has been drinking heavily during his days with Merrick to aneasthesize himself. He is badly hung over when the train arrives in Pankot and onlh dimly aware of being taken by jeep first to Area Headquarters, where he has a late breakfast in an empty NCO's mess, and later to the military wing of the General Hospital to await further orders from Merrick. He thinks about the telegram he had sent to Aunt Charlotte and, for good measure, the coded letter, but in the misery of this anonymous room and the grim reality his illusion of imminent escape is withering.

To be continued

straudetwo · « **Reply #84 on:** April 13, 2009, 11:23:21 PM »

Hello everyone. Easter is over and I am back.

Before continuing to follow Perron's account of what is happening in Pankot, it is expedient, I believe, to check what else is taking place in Pankot where several players are converging. Will they accomplish the purpose for which they went there?
Both Rowan and Perron have taken a shine on Sarah.
Does either of them have a chance?

* Governor Malcolm had reason to fear disturbances because Mr. Mohammed Kasim was traveling to Pankot for the burial of his long-time secretary Mr. Mahsood. The British authorities have been alerted.

* The war is not over for British India. The Indian leaders of the Congress Party and the Muslim League are bitterly divided.
One of the most influential and respected Indian leaders is Mohammed Kasim (MAK), but he has not yet revealed where HE stands. Governor Malcolm has known MAK for years and is trying to arrange a last-minute meeting, even though he has no such official authority. This becomes Nigel Rowan's mission and Mr.Gopal is the go-between.

* A large noisy crowd greets the train in Pankot, the sound of drums is deafening. The crowd is eventually dispersed;
there are no major incidents. Perron is first taken to Area Headquarters and later to the grounds of the General Hospital,
as directed by Merrick.

* Nigel's mission fails. Mr. Gopal returns to Ranpur. Nigel is given leave to stay on in the Guest House next to the unoccupied Summer Residence for a few days. He has promised to contact Perron.

* On the train to Pankot Guy Perron has told Rowan that Col. Layton's Havildar (Sergeant) Karim
Muzafi Khan has hanged himself in prison in Delhi while Merrick and Perron where there. Another wasted life on Merrick's conscience, if he had one. There is no actual proof the havildar ever was a traitor. The interrogation of the other Indian returnees from Col. Layton's regiment is still on the agenda.

* Re Harry/Hari.
During Hari's examination/interrogation in prison, Mr. Gopal had not liked Hari but was inclined to believe him innocent of planned rape, while Rowan originally thought he was guilty (!!), something that was not revealed in earlier chapters. It was Mr. Gopal who extracted the truth from Hari at last.

Hari has been living with his aunt since his release from prison, without activities or plans. Believing himself partly responsible for Hari, Gopal secretly entrusted a good friend of his with approaching Hari. It took time before Hari believed that the man was genuinely interested in helping him. At this urgent suggestion Hari started teaching Indian boys English, but there are few of them and the pay is low. The friend, who reported regularly to Mr. Gopal, unobtrusively brought small gifts and necessities, some apparently sent from Mrs. Gopal. Once he found the aunt in tears. "How can he go on when there is no hope for him ?" she asked.

During the discussion of the first volume, "The Jewel in the Crown", we wondered what Hari COULD have done when he saw the poverty and segregation on his rrival, and what we might have done under similar circumstances. Some of us believed he should have sailed back to England with the next ship.
But how could he have done that? There was no money for the ticket. No future in England. No support, no power, no influence. Colin's father could have helped but decided not to.

* By contrast, Merrick found in India all the things he could never have had in England because of his low class :
power, influence, promotion. Now he has "chosen" the Laytons, specifically Susan, and asked for her hand in marriage.
It was all carefully and cruelly plotted. The deviousness and ruthlessness Merrick employed is beyond words and makes one gasp.

And that is where Corporal Dixon comes in. We cannot leave out his story, especially because it involves not Cpl. Dixon directly but another poor, lost soul (my term, with permission) "chosen" by Merrick (nota bene despite the fact that in the Granada TV presentation the characters of Cpl. Dixon and 'the poor soul' are fused into one).

To be continued

straudetwo · « **Reply #85 on:** April 14, 2009, 10:10:12 PM »

To continue

Guy Perron's reception in the NCOs' mess hut is friendly, if detached. A Sergeant Potter presides over the bar. Everybody listens when Corporal Dixon spins his tales. The men call him 'Sophie' or 'Miss Dixon', or "Mum". Several of the men had seen service in the field and considered Pankot a relief Station. Dixon points to Guy's green stripes and, with a grin, refers to him as "Copper". When quizzed, Guy answers that he'll be there a day or two.

Guy is next taken to the office of the adjutant in the Pankot Rifles lines. In a low slung building a school-lecture room is being readied for the interrogation/interviews of the returned Pankot Rifles prisoners scheduled for the following day. The adjutant, new in India, is greatly impressed by the painstaking arrangements which Merrick directs from a dais until he is satisfied.

The subaltern does not know (how could he?) that the planned interrogations are utterly pointless --
because the men have already been interviewed by Col. Layton himself (with the exception of Karim Muzafir Khan, so studiously kept away from Col. Layton by Merrick and now dead by his own hand);
an Indian lieutenant implicated in the death of a sepoy in Koenigsberg, Germany, is himself dead;
the involvement in treason by the Pankot Rifles, an elite regiment, is unlikely;
and the name of Karim Muzafir Khan is mentioned only once in the official documents (which Perron has read while in Delhi) in spite of Merrick's false claims that it appears several times.

With all details firmly in place, Merrick asks for transport back. Perron will be given a lift. A car arrives with the Red Shadow already inside and Perron is ceremoniously let out directly in full view of the mess hut. "Better get a tonga in the morning, Sergeant", says Merrick. "I can't guarantee transport".

When Perron arrives at the mess hut a little later, a bottle of rum under his arm as a gaift, the reception could not have been more different from the first one. The gift of the bottle of rum is refused because it is against some rule. His chit for a beer is not accepted. His presence is ignored. But it is only when Corporal Dixon comes in that Guy realizes he is being cut dead. Dixon begins a story ridiculing "certain people" identified only by nicknames, and Guy has the uncomfortable feeling he is one of them. On leaving Perron asks about breakfast the next morning and Sergeant Potter tells him that "it is a bit of a moveable feast" but Perron could take it in his room.

The next morning the Depot lines have a Saturday look. He waits and does not initiate any conversation. Merrick arrives bynoon and speaks with the adjutant first. Then he comes to talk to Perron.

The Japanese have surrendered.
Merrick is being reassigned and to fly from Ranpur to Delhi and from there to Ceylon. Perron is ordered to stay in Pankot to get the interviews started with an interviewing board of a couple of Pankot Rifles officers.

"I may send for you in Singapore", Merrick adds.
"Incidentally", he says, I saw Capt. Rowan last night We were dining at Col. Layton's house. at dinner with the Layton's. Has he contacted you yet?"
Perron shakes his head no.

"I'm sure he will. So be careful what you say if he raises the subject of Mr. Kasim's elder son Sayed of the Indian Army. Surely you are famiiliar with his case?"
Perron again shakes his head no.
"I was sure you would read the file. I told you in Bombay it is one of our most interesting cases." Perron makes no reply.

Waving Perron closer, Merrick says,
"By the way, Sergeant, I'm leaving Suleiman in your care, at least for a day or two. He'll continue to be quartered with the servants in Flagstaff House but report to you every morning. Another officer will come to replace me, and he might need Suleiman's services. If not you have to put him on a train back to Delhi. Meanwhile make whatever use of him you think fit. He knows his way around Pankot pretty well now."

Guy looks up and sees the Red Shadow leering at him. For the first time Guy grins back at him.

To be continued

P.S. These are the events told in chronological order and we WILL hear more about Corporal "Sophie" Dixon.

straudetwo · « **Reply #86 on:** April 15, 2009, 09:17:04 PM »

My pleasure in reviewing and summarizing this marvelous tale here is undiminished. Knowing that I have your cyber company doubles my pleasure and makes it all worthwhile. But I have no intention of prolonging this marvelous opportunity beyond all reasonable limits - and will proceed in due haste.
I also invite you to come in and comment, as you have, regarding the Quartet or other works by Paul Scott.

FRYBABE, for example, has mentioned Paul Scott's Six Days in Mayapore.
And [Kidsal[/b] had a question a while ago about Rowan's taking medicine by the handful. a
Please feel free to continue to comment or ask questions. And accept my apologies for not answering. Just holler!

Frybabe, I haven't been able to locate a source for Six Day s in Maypore. Though it isn't essential now, do you have a source? Scott published a half dozen or so small volumes before he finally hit it BIG with the Quartet.

Kidsal, you had asked about Rowan and the medicine he took in such amounts, fortified with booze -- . I'm sorry if I haven't made that much clearer, sooner.

Rowan had contracted AMOEBIC DISENTERY in Burma, a disease that could be fatal if left untreated. Susan's husband,
Teddie Bingham, had it, so did the fictional Capt. Purvis and thousands of other Brits, even Paul Scott himself.

For the moment, then,we continue with Perron, quartered with medical personnel with whom he has no connection. Euphoric he is free from Merrick, Operation Bunberry very much in the pipeline. Antsy may be a good word to describe Perron's feelings.

We are now in the special "phase" (Perron's word) between August 14 and 16 of 1945. At last the war is over.

Merrick leaves Pankot on the morning of V-J day. Perron had not expected the Red Shadow to report to him - but there he is in full splendor, reeking of garlic, and offering Perron access to all kinds of earthly and some not so unearthly unimaginable sexual delights and pleasures -- until Perron explodes with a barrage of expletives he didn't know were in his vocabulary and chases the Read Shadow away, admonishing the brand new soldier at the guardhouse in the strongest, most explicit terms not to admit Suleiman ever again.
Is that the end?No.

To be continued

Tki be cotinued.

Frybabe · « **Reply #87 on:** April 15, 2009, 11:23:50 PM »

Here is a link to the book. I thought I saw a version dated 1956 so that would mean Scott wrote it before the Quartet.

http://www.amazon.com/Six-Days-Marapore-Paul-Scott/dp/0226743195/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1239851617&sr=1-1

Here is what Wikipedia says about Scott. I didn't see Six Days in Mayapore mentioned. I think I ran across a Paul Scott website some time back. I will look that up when I have time. (Like after I get home in about an hour)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Mark_Scott

Frybabe · « **Reply #88 on:** April 16, 2009, 01:07:05 AM »

NO WONDER I can't find info on "Mayapore". It is "Six Days in Marapore". Copyrighted in 1953, so it is a precursor to the Raj Quartet. I've been spelling it wrong all this time. Nevertheless, it isn't mentioned in the lists of books by Scott that I looked at. I could be remembering wrong on the dedicated Paul Scott website too. I could have swore (pardon) I saw one months ago, but can't locate it now.

Something else I came across. Mayapore is used as a name place in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. The author of the article speculated that they picked up the name from Jewel in the Crown.

Gumtree · « **Reply #89 on:** April 16, 2009, 09:01:58 AM »

I just did a quick Google and see thatSix Days in Marapore is currently available at your Amazon and Barnes & Noble. I'll to look for it closer to home....my home.

straudetwo · « **Reply #90 on:** April 16, 2009, 12:02:59 PM »

Thanks so much for yhour posts, Frybabe and Gum.
Exactly my experience, Frybabe. I distinctly remember seeing "Six Days in Mayapore" mentioned somewhere, and next time I looked it was no longer there.

Listed in my copy of "A Division of the Spoils" are these
Novels byPaul Scott

Johnnie Sahib
The Alien Sky
A Male Child
The Mark of the Warrior
The Chinese Love Pavilion
The Birds of Paradise
The Bender
The Corrida at San Felíu
The Raj Quartet
The Jewel in the Crown
The Day of the Scorpion
The Towers of Silence
A Division of the Spoils
Staying On
--------------------------------
Ergo, Six Days in Mayapore. was left out. Arrrrrg

Thank you for the links, Frybabe.
From the material published since, these are the apparently undisputed facts:

⁋ Paul Scott served in India. Once there, he was given a commission. He worked in intelligence. He drank. He smoked.Both to excess we're told.
⁋ Like the majority of the British, he longed to go home where the war was already over. Most of all, he wanted to be done with India.
⁋ Once home, and afflicted with amoebic dysentery, he found he couldn't let go of India. He began to write. The reception to what was published was lukewarm.
⁋ Years later he went back to India. That visit sparked the writing of the 'Raj Quartet'. 'Staying On' finally brought him the coveted Booker Prize.
By that time it was too late for him. He was too ill to attend the award ceremony and died not long after.
But his work endures. That is what counts.

Let me take this opportunity to say that - contrary to erroneous web information which I had repeated in good faith - a biography WAS WRITTEN of Paul Scott by a fellow Britain, a woman. I'll be happy to talk about it further when the time comes.

Many thanks.

straudetwo · « **Reply #91 on:** April 22, 2009, 10:19:15 PM »

This is vacation week in Massachusetts and, to my pleasure, my grandchildren have come by every day. Today my grandson came to spend the night, accompanied by his dog Brady, an exuberant black Labrador who forgets that he is no longer a
puppy

I have not forgotten Perron, of course, how could I? As soon as I have regained my "groove" tomorrow, I'll pick up the story.

My apologies for this involuntary delay.

Gumtree · « **Reply #92 on:** April 23, 2009, 01:18:30 AM »

Traude How lovely for you to have your grandchildren so close. - I'm not so sure about the dog

Enjoy -

straudetwo · « **Reply #93 on:** April 24, 2009, 08:34:28 PM »

Thank you sincerely for your understanding and patience. We have embarked on an ambitious journey; I have enjoyed every step of the way in your cyber company.

Much of the action in the Raj Quartet takes place in the northeast of the Indian subcontinent and specifically in what is now Pakistan. As we read and hear in the daily news, that part of the world is still embroiled in unrest and fierce fighting. Kashmir, a former princely state, a place of legendary beauty, and bordered by Pakistan, India and China, is tense. India is now voting, a process that will take a month to complete.

Now back to Guy Lancelot Percival Perron.
After angrily shooing off Suleiman, Merrick's Red Shadow, Perron spent the rest of the morning and afternoon in the meeting room at the depot. Nigel Rowanlooked in on him and invited Perron to come stay with him in the guest house of the Summer Residence. Welcome relief for Perron.

In late afternoon Perron returned to his quarters in the compound on the grounds of the hospital to pack his gear, settle the accounts and hand the various servants their bhaksheesh. His unit, like the others in the barrack-like "hutment" had its own bath house. He had a key to padlock the front door from the outside and also unlock the back door from the inside. Several servants were already waiting by the back door. Perron told the bearer that he was leaving and called the bhishti for a bath.

It was not to be the leisurely soak he had anticipated. For in the midst of splashing and humming he had the distinct feeling of a soundless presence in his room just beyond the bath house door. He had
the sensation of being watched, and the vibrating sense of intrusion was so strong that he imagined actually seeing the Red Shadow's kohl-rimmed eye pressed to a crack in the wooden door. Just beyond he door was the uniform with Perron's wallet and the open kitbag with the bottles. Perron was outraged.

The bath towel was too skimpy to wrap around for the surprise operation Perron was planning but his underpants were within reach. Continuing to scoop water, splash and hum, he hooked the pants with his toe, then maneuvered himself out of the tub, into the pants, then pushed open the
door, roaring for the bearer.

Promptly, Perron's wallet disappeared back into his uniform jacket; a ten-rupee note stuck to the Red Shadow's fingers and disappeared into his belt.
"Sahib ...", he stuttered, showing his now empty hands, and backing away.

Perron lifted the ten rupee note from the Red Shadow's belt and pronounced anathema with a stream of expletives. With each one he pushed, shoved, prodded the Red Shadow through the door, across the verandah and, with a final kick, dispatched him over its edge. The Red Shadow fell heavily on the gravel and lay there, winded or pretending to be.

There had been witnesses, the bearer, the sweeper, the bhishti - and Sergeant Potter, the sergeant in charge of the bar in the NCOs' mess hut.

Perron called out, "Just the man I wanted. Will this cover everything? I'm leaving."
"So I gather", said Potter ignoring the ten rupee note and looking down at the Red Shadow. "But presumably not together?"

Sudden cut-off.
Will return momentarily

straudetwo · « **Reply #94 on:** April 24, 2009, 09:34:51 PM »

Continuing.

When Potter returned a while later Perron was dressed and packed. They settled the bar chits.
Perron bore no ill-will toward Potter because he realized that the sudden change in the NCOs' attitude was due solely to having been seen with a man they had cause to dislike.
But what cause?

"We thought he'd had the nerve to plant you on us", said Potter and asked whether 'that fellow' could make trouble for Perron with Colonel Merrick. Perron answered that since Colonel Merrick had gone to Ceylon and that he, Perron, expected to be repatriated almost any day, he would probably be back in England before Merrick knew what hit him, or rather what had hit Suleiman.

Potter didn't need much more persuasion to spill the beans. The story Potter recounts involves Merrick. IHMO it is essential for us to hear about it because it not only confirms his ruthlessness and manipulativeness, but shines a strong light on Merrick's (and Paul Scott's) sexual ambiguity.
There is a victim in the story and his name is Lance Corporal Pinker, Pinky for short. That is next.
Thank you for being here.

Frybabe · « **Reply #95 on:** April 24, 2009, 09:54:28 PM »

I have to tell you, Traude, that your account of the interrupted bath is much more lively than I remember of what Scott wrote. I had to laugh. I don't remember that reaction when I originally read it.

straudetwo · « **Reply #96 on:** April 25, 2009, 09:53:04 AM »

Frybabe

straudetwo · « **Reply #97 on:** April 25, 2009, 05:08:11 PM »

Continuing
Pinker's story and Miss Khyber Pass 1935

Pinker was not his real name, of course.
When Sergeant Potter and Corporal 'Sophie' Dixon returned from Burma with the retreating, of the Pinky had been in India for a few months, spent mostly in Pankot, and had never seen field service. He was a reserved young man, studious, friendly, hard-working and conscientious. He had lived an institutional life with other men in uniform without ever arousing the suspicion that he was what has been called abnormal.

At that time Pinky was working on the wards. His transfer to the office of Captain Richardson, the pschiatrist, came later. Pinky and Sophie worked on the same officers' ward when Colonel (then Major) Merrick turned up for periodic treatments of his artificial arm. On one such occasion Merrick was admitted briefly because the chafing of his harness had caused an inflammation and there was the possibility of infection.

At this point in the story Potter filled Perron in on Sophie's record in the field. His compassion for the sick and wounded sprang from Dixon's feminine side. He never left anyone in doubt about his physical preferences, but these were made entirely acceptable to the men because it was his care and dignified ministration to a sick man's needs that they were made to feel, never the other thing.

The irony was that originally Dixon had liked the officer with the burned face and artificial arm. And so did Pinky. Potter remembered Dixon telling him "Sometimes I wonder about the Major. When I give him the bedpan this morning he looked at me ever so thoughtful. I nearly come out in one of me hot flushes. Watch it, Dixon, I says to meself. Hands off the tiller and leave it to the Navy!"

It would have been a good idea not only to watch "it" but Pinky who was heading for trouble. But by then Pinky was off the wards and working in the office of the psychiatrist, who had succeeded Captain Samuelson, Susan's former doctor. When Merrick next came to the hospital for treatment he said to Sophie, "I see your old colleague's working for Captain Richardson. Isn't that a waste of nursing skills?" Dixon was not surprised that Merrick had seen Captain Richardson. A visit to the psychiatrist was not remarkable, given the nature of Merrick's wounds.

Six weeks later Merrick came back to Pankot and the hospital. This time he as accompanied by the Red Shadow. Dixon saw them together and at once nicknamed Suleiman "Miss Khyber Pass of 1935." The nickname stuck.

A few days after Merrick had returned to Delhi taking the Red Shadow with him, Dixon found Pinky crying and packing his kit.
It took him a while to find out why.

More later

straudetwo · « **Reply #98 on:** April 25, 2009, 10:20:47 PM »

Entrapment

Pinky's job in Captain Richardson's office was clerical and confidential. Psychiatry was still a bit of a joke in Pankot but it had become vaguely fashionable in the army. Just as potential officer-cadets
in England had a routine chat with a psychiatrist at the war office selection boards, so, in Pankot's military wing, convalescent men had chats with Richardson. The doctor had few patients and lots of time on his hands. Pinky discovered that Richardson kept sets of separate and confidential files for personal reference in his future civilian career.
Richardson told an eager Pinky that psychiatry was a very inexact science and that there were judgments which had better not be officially recorded because the army would not understand the complexity of a man's emotional life, and it was grossly unfair to penalize someone by recording a professional but far from conclusive opinion that might be interpreted wrongly later on and block a man's promotion.
When Richardson saw Pinky's genuine interest in psychiatric method he sometimes lent him "closed files" of men who had been discharged and, when there was time for it, discussed them with Pinky.
The open files and the separate private files were kept under lock and key. If Pinky was lent a file, it had to be returned before Richardson left the office.

Intensely curious, Pinky stole the key from the drawer in Richardson's desk, had a copy made at the bazaar and returned the original. Thereafter night after night he poured over the confidential files, totally absorbed and oblivious of the risk. The files changed his entire attitude about himself. He went to the canteen or the Chinese restaurant with a new confidence and looked openly around.

It was during this first extrovert period that Merrick came back into his life late one evening after Richardson had left. Pinky was at the open filing cabinet, selecting the evening's reading, and did not hear Merrick enter. Merrick spoke to him in a friendly tone and an appointment was made for him to see Richardson the next day.

When Merrick came Pinky sent him right in. A short time later he too was called in. Richardson handed him the key and asked for a particular file. Without thinking, probably because he had become so used to handling the files, Pinky took out both the buff official file and the green private one.
Richardson handed back the green file and Pinky put it away. When Merrick had gone Pinky asked whether he should open a file for Merrick and was told Merrick was not a client.
Pinky had seen both files before, but they did not interest him: they bore the name of a woman.

To be continued

Merrick

straudetwo · « **Reply #99 on:** April 26, 2009, 07:37:51 PM »

Riding for the Fall
Some weeks passed. Pinky sought contact but was too shy to initiate it. He went to the Chinese restaurant several times a week and took to wandering through the bazaar, pausing to look into shop windows, waiting for someone to join him.
One night, in front of a store that sold clocks and watches, somebody did: an Indian boy dressed in western style. He looked clean.
The next night Pinky returned to the same spot, and so did the Indian. Through the store window they looked at each other's reflection. No word was spoken. Pinky's mouth was dry. Coming out of nowhere, an Indian man suddenly touched his arm and said, "Sahib, you want woman?" Pinky shook his head.
The man bent closer. "Sahib, you want boy? That boy looking at watches? That boy very good boy. Like English soldier very much. He like you. He is telling me. Sahib wait here. Boy come."

The man walked away quickly - a turbaned white-clothed figure wearing an embroidered waistcoat and baggy pants. To Pinky, this man whom he had never seen before looked vigorous and virile. East of Suez no shame attached to wanting boys. The man understood and casually accepted his needs.
Pinky slowly walked on looking into store windows. Coming to an alley he stopped and looked back. The boy came toward him briskly and smiled at him as he passed, going up the alley. The alley was dark. For a moment Pinky was afraid. Alleys like this were sometimes patrolled by military police - but he followed, his heart pounding.

It was no good. Pinky had been overexcited. The Indian told him next time everything would be all right.
"Come back tomorrow at half past nine."
Pinky said nothing could stop him.
"Leave me a token then," said the Indian. "Lend me your wristwatch." Pinky took it off and told him to keep it. The Indian had already refused money. He led Pinky back down the rickety stairs into the alley and went with him until the light from the bazaar lit Pinky's way.

To be continued

straudetwo · « **Reply #100 on:** May 04, 2009, 09:32:46 PM »

It is time to turn our attention back on Pinky. It's been many days since my last post, and I am sorry but it could not be helped. At first I thought my discomfort was caused by a spontaneous rise in temperature one day and the equally abrupt thirty-odd degree drop the next day. It was not the only cause. A nasty, tenacious bug had landed on me which proved to be resistant to my usually effective, homeopathic remedies and lingered. This is the best day in more than a week.

Back to Pinky. In late afternoon of the next day, Pinky was ready to lock up Richardson's office when in walked Col. Merrick, there to see Richardson, who had left. Exactly like the last time weeks earlier, Merrick asked for an appointment, and Pinky went to get the appointment book from Richardson's office. When he came out Merrick was sitting down, holding the green private file Pinky had been reading before and was unable to return to the cabinet. Pinky was nervous for a moment. But Merrick was studying the cover but did not open the file. An appointment was made for the next day. Then Merrick adjusted his artificial arm and suddenly held out the gloved artefact to Pinky and pried open the fingers. In the palm of the glove lay Pinky's watch.
Merrick said, "I think this is yours."

Pinky did not remember with any clarity what happened next, only that Merrick reprimanded him for
reading a green file because all of them were locked away safely at all times, none available to anyone when Richardson was not in the office.
Then he said, "I see you managed to get a key to the cabinet."
Pinky nodded.
"You would be wise to hand it over."
Pinky did.
Then Merrick asked whether the phone was connected to the hospital or the civil exhange. Pinky answered "to the hospital", which would get any number.
Then Merrick sent him outside and said, "You'll be wise to wait and do nothing foolish."

Pinky found himself on the verandah not knowing how he had got there. Shock had affected his ability to coordinate what he did and saw: a figure leaning against a pillar. It was a figure, not a figment of his imagination, it looked like the man who had procured the Indian for him the night before.

After an untold period of time filled with anxiety Pinky heard Merrick closing the office door and got unsteadily to his feet. Nothing of what Pinky had imagined would happen actually did. Wordlessly Merrick walked away, followed by the procurer, The Red Shadow himself, who had kept watch on Pinky while Merrick read the filer HE was after.

To be continued

Frybabe · « **Reply #101 on:** May 05, 2009, 12:35:51 AM »

Traude, I am happy to hear that you are starting to feel better. George and I both got some kind of bug last week, he worse than me.

These days, I think we call Merrick's maneuver entrapment. I am not clear on whether Merrick new beforehand that Pinky was sneaking looks at the files, or whether Pinky just made it easier for Merrick to blackmail him for the info he wanted. Ah hah, not only does he have Pinky's watch, but caught him red-handed invading patient privacy.

Gumtree · « **Reply #102 on:** May 05, 2009, 03:39:56 AM »

Traude Sorry to know that you've been under the weather. Some of these bugs can be the very devil to shake off. Take good care of yourself.

Over the past few weeks I have been watching the BBC TV series 'Story of India' presented by well known historian/presenter Michael Wood. It was excellent and traced the history of India from prehistory times to the present. Wood uses historical evidence and archeological remains to show the influence differing cultures and religions of the past have had on India's present and of course the political intrigues and wars that have continued through the long centuries. The last two episodes dealt with the rise of the Moghuls as well as focussing on the Sufi and Muslim influences and then the British Raj.

Each episode shed some light on the India of today and naturally on that depicted in Paul Scott's great novel and certainly amplified my appreciation of what Scott actually achieved in his portrayal of the period. The presenter, Michael Wood does not gloss over the primary interest or failings of the British in controlling India nor their inadequacy and perhaps unseemly haste at the time of partition. The Massacre of Amritsar and the infamous General Dyer was referred to on two separate occasions - once early in the series, and the second time more fully in the last episode where it was dramatised making it all the more realistic.

As I type this I realise that it is more than likely you have seen this series yourself - I plan to find it on DVD so that I can view it again.

straudetwo · « **Reply #103 on:** May 05, 2009, 09:39:39 PM »

Frybabe and Gum, thank you both.
I really wasn't so much concerned about myself as afraid to pass the bug on. Ergo, no hugs for the grands last Sunday

Frankly, I also worried whether I'd be able to give a promised talk at the high school from which my son graduated and where my grandson is in the 7th grade and my granddaughter in the 4th. Tomorrow's the day, deo volente. No rest for the wicked:)

Yes, Gum, this special series about India was shown here not long ago on PBS at a time slot a little inconvenient for me. Before long regular programming was supplanted temporarily by fund-raising which, though essential, was an unwelcome interruption.
The Moghuls left a rich heritage. Our present chapter is titled "The Moghul Room" and we are winding our way towards it, slowly but surely.

Frybabe, the episode involving Corporal Pinker is first told to Sergeant Potter by "Sophie" Dixon, then by Potter to Guy Perron, who will share it with Nigel Rowan. The episode is
essential for us to know about IMHO and could not possibly be omitted. In the interest of time my rendition is shorter.

Weeks earlier Merrick had come to Richardson's office at an early evening hour when Pinky was standing by the open file cabinet. He asked for and was given an appointment for the next day. As soon as he arrived Pinky showed him in. Shortly he was called in himself and asked for a specific patient file. Pinky made the mistake of taking both the official tan file and the private green file back to Richardson, who handed the green one back.
Pinky remembered the file, he had held it in his hand but put it back unread: the patient was a woman.

Merrick's visit may have taken Richardson by surprise and, like any psychiatrist, he would have been reluctant to share with Merrick more than what the ordinary file contained. But during that visit Merrick realized that there was more than one file, specifically a green one, and by shrewd deductive powers guessed at the truth. In short order the trap snapped.

After Merrick left trailed by the Red Shadow there was silence.
No MP arrived.
Pinky was sick.
Then he began to run.
Lights in surrounding huts were being turned on.
Pinky ran back to the office.
The green file he had held when Merrick entered was still on the desk.
He felt for his key.
There was no key.
Anywhere.
Pinky remembered the wristwatch.
No watch.
The cabinet was locked.
Merrick had the key and the watch.
He had the rogue file.
H hid it in his own desk.
Closed the windows and locked the door.

In the morning Pinky reported sick. The MO found nothing wrong with him. But he looked awful and the MO sent him to sick bay for observation. An Indian orderly brought him tea. He drank it gratefully. It did not stay down. Nothing did. Curled up in the embryonic position he fell asleep.

When we woke in late afternoon, Richardson was sitting on his bed.
He asked, gently,
"My green file on the ordnance officer, Captain Moberly, can you tell me where I can find it?
I have an interview with him this evening."

"Yes, sir", Pinky said, feeling calm. "It's in the bottom left-hand drawer of my desk."
"Thank you, Pinker," Richardson said, and stayed where he was.

Eventually he said, "All things considered, Pinker, I think you'd better remain here for a day or two
even though there's nothing physically wrong with you. I don't mean you are malingering. I mean that your illness is psychosomatic. I take it you yourself are in no doubt of hat?"

Pinker nodded. There was nothing Richardson could do for him, but Pinky felt he understood. Richardson's face was the last friendly face he was likely to see until he came out of prison. But he did not think he would ever come out. He hoped he would die of terror and humiliation. How could he ever face his parents again if he survived to be sent home? Two years. In an Indian prison. For a crime he had not committed and had never intended to commit. He had only wanted a bit of love.

Next morning he felt purged. The nursing sister said she was pleased with him. He had expected that by now everyone would have heard about him and he had steeled himself to bear their contempt. He guessed whatever Richardson was doing was being done as discreetly as possible. Allowed up, he sat on the verandah of the sick bay and opened his mind slowly to his own "case".

Tomorrow A Good Man

straudetwo · « **Reply #104 on:** May 06, 2009, 11:02:54 PM »

A Good Man

After two more days in sick bay Pinky reported for duty at Richardson's office. A new NCO was at his desk. Richardson told him that since he was up he might as well show the new lance corporal some of the routine. A spark of hope was kindled. Pinky spent the morning and afternoon helping his successor. Richardson came and went. He was neither friendly nor unfriendly. About 5 o'clock he asked Pinky to come in.

When the door was shut Richardson handed him a piece of paper. Pinky read it. Read it again.It was a posting order to a Field Ambulance in a division that was preparing for something
called Operation Zipper . When Pinky finally understood what this meant he sat down without permission and cried. He cried from relief and out of gratitude. It didn't last long and wasn't noisy. The lance corporal in the other room could not have heard it. Richardson handed him a glass of water.
When Pinky had qieted down he stood up, ready to leave. He said that he wanted to apologize for having abused Captain Richardson's confidence in the matter of the files. He knew it was very wrong and he was sorry. He could not bring himself to mention the other thing that Richardson had referred to obliquely - so obliquely that is was almost as if he hadn't referred to it at all.

Richardson said, "Yes, I think it was an abuse. Between us we might have overlooked it. But under the circumstances I decided you would have to go. If it's any comfort to you, Pinker, although I suppose I ought not to say this, I think you were extremely unfortunate to come up against this particular officer. But there it is."

Then he added, "Also, from observation I'd say that you'll actually be much happier in the field than in a place like this. Your conduct sheet is clean. There's no reason why it shouldn' stay like that, is there?"
Richardson offered his hand. Pinky took it.
Then Richardson asked, "Tell me, how long was Major Merrick trying to get me on the phone the other evening?"
"Get you on the phone, sir?"

"He said he tried to ring me so that I could come over and deal with -- the problem."
"He sent me outside, sir."

"I see. How long were yout outside?"
"I honestly don't know, sir."

"Quite. Well, never mind, but I was in my quarters the whole evening. You didn't try to pass him off with a dud number?"
"He didn't ask for a number, sir. Just whether the phone was on hospital or civil exchange.

"Well, I wondered because my phone never rang. It might be just as well. These things are much better discussed in the light of day, wouldn't you say?"
Pinky nodded.
"Good bye, Pinker, and good luck."

Just before Pinky reached the door, Richardson said:
"Oh, Pinker, I nearly forgot. This is yours, isn't it?"
He was holding Pinky's watch.
"I think it must need a new strap otherwise you'll lose it again."

Slowly, Pinky took the watch. His face was burning. He mumbled something like thank you, sir, goodbye, sir, and remembered to come to attention. He was still at attention when Richardson said:
"If it's of any interest to you, I found it in the Ms. I suppose it slipped off your wrist when you helped yourself to Captain Moberly's file."

In the midst of his packing later in the evening Pinky sat down and looked at the watch : the gift of his parents when he joined up. He threw the watch don the floor and stepped on it with his boot until it was all in pieces. That was what he had done with his life so far. After that he resumed packing, pausing every so often to wipe is eyes and cheeks.
That's when Sophie found him.

Next: Dinner at the Laytons

straudetwo · « **Reply #105 on:** May 09, 2009, 10:46:02 PM »

Continuing
Dinner at the Layton's

Perron had interrupted Sergeant Potter's telling of Pinky's story with one question.
What was the name of Richardson's former patient? he asked.
'Bingham', Potter answered. The name meant nothing to Potter, Dixon, or Pinky. But it registered with Perron.

Perron apologized profusely for arriving late at the Summer Residence guest house, where Nigel Rowan had been the only guest. He waved aside the apologies. The obligatory drinks were served. Here then was the chance for Rown and Perron to fill in he ten years during which they had not seen each other, and for the author to engage in elaborating on background information.

Rowan remembered Perron's Aunt Charlotte and his eccentric uncles but could not fully believe Perron had set his Operation Bunbury in motion and expected orders for repatriation any day. Now Perron confirmed that he had done so.

Perron in turn remembered Laura, Rowans beautiful fiancée (who was not included in the cast of characters in the Television series). He now learned that Laura had visited Rowan in Burma but had married somebody else.

Rowan and Perron had things in common:
(i) both had known Hari Kumar as Harry Coomer;
(ii) both fancied Sarah;
(iii) both were fixated on Merrick. Perron's experience was more recent, and Merrick had told him only that he had been best man at Sarah's sister's wedding.

"Who is Mrs. Bingham?" was the first question.
"Tell me about Merrick and Kumar", came next.

First Rowan resisted, then he revealed the connection to the Laytons; Capt. Bingham's death in a foray against Japanese infiltrators in which Merrick was gravely injured trying to save Teddie Bingham; Susan's one-year-old son who had taken to Merrick more than to anyone else in the household.
He added, "She is going to marry him, you know. It was announed at dinner the other evening."

Rowan said he had an invitation to dinner with the Laytons that evening and, when Mrs. Layton learned that Perron was to join Rowan at the guest house, extended the invitation to include Perron.
"When Mrs.Bikingham asks you tonight how you like working with Colonel Merrick, you better tell her
a lie and say you find it extraordinarily interesting."
Though Perron wanted to beg off he went along.

The house - no longer called Rose Cottage - and its tasteful decor pleased his trained aesthetic eyes.
in the book now follows a detailed description of the dinner, Perron's impression of the two family members he had not met yet: a spot-on analysis of Susan and her mother, bits of the conversation. Perron pronounced himself taken with Mrs. Layton(!), which I found surprising. Susan paid little attention to conversation. She momentarily brightened only when Perron congratulated her on her upcoming wedding." Yes, we will be very happy", she said, then lapsed back into silence. Sarah looked distracted and also said little. After dinner Colonel Layton asked Perron (again) what he thought would come of the interviews with the Indian returnees. "Very little", said Perron. Colonel Layton nodded in agreement.

A long conversation between Rowan and Perron followed in the guest house. It is Rowan's take of Kumar, a reiteration of the interrogation at the prison, with little that is new for the reader.
For that reason I'll continue with the last part of this chapter and the last days/hours before the saving telegram arrived, and the visit of the Moghul Room.

Frybabe · « **Reply #106 on:** May 10, 2009, 01:47:58 PM »

While I should have more to comment on, the only thing that pops out at me is "Oh yes, they did change the cottage names to street numbers".

I remember a sense of discomfiture and puzzlement regarding Merrick wanting to marry Susan. It is not clear to me if he feels some responsibility for Teddys' death and wants to make some kind of amends by doing so. Genuine feelings for Susan are out, I think, but the boy is another story. He is untainted by the stories/hearsay/innuendo surrounding the Kumar affair. He alone seems to like Merrick without reserve. Merrick, if inwardly starving for affection and acceptance, would certainly respond to that. Of course, it could be that Merrick was just looking for a way to advance himself and gain some respectability.

Merrick is complex. At times I am appalled at his behavior and think him evil. Sometimes I feel sorry for him. But always, I distrust him.

straudetwo · « **Reply #107 on:** May 11, 2009, 10:46:05 PM »

Frybabe, thank you for your thoughtful comments.

I agree, it's all about Merrick and about Hari and of course the Raj, and what both are meant to represent, respectively.
No matter on what I page I open any of the volumes there's always another thought, an additional aha moment, if I my call it that. When we've completed the discussion of volume 4, and before delving into the much shorter sequel "Staying On", I plan to l treat myself to the uninterrupted viewing of the video. From my first viewing years ago I do not recall any direct or even indirect homosexual hints n the TV program. Pinky's story is omitted. But that angle IS in the book and Merrick is associated with it. The Count spotted it at the reception after Susan's wedding; in the circumstances this is hardly a surprise. It takes one to know one.

Reviewers have referred to it more and more and made comparisons with the author's own sexual ambiguity, or possibly duality. On one occasion, when Merrick tells Sarah about his upbringing in England in one of his many monologues, he mentions a young teacher, a man, who recognized Merrick's ability and drive and became his mentor. Was that an initiation in other ways as well?

Merrick had drive, a quick wit and a good mind; there was no stopping him. Even so he would never have succeeded in England as he did in India. In England he would have been as invisible as Hari became in India. Hari was just another brown face.

"What has your English education done for you?" Merrick asked Hari during his extraordinarily sadistic interrogations both before and during Hari's caning. Merrick was relentless in his verbal attacks and efforts to convince Hari that he should confess his guilt - the premeditated gang rape of Daphne. His case had holes. The evidence of the bicycle was manufactured.

Merrick sought out victims; he "adopted" them; he felt he "owned" them and could manipulate them as we wished: Hari, Pinky, the Havildar (of whose gilt there was no proof), the Laytons, including Colonel Layton, whom Merrick effectively kept away from the Havildar. He considered them all "weak". Daphne and Safrah escaped the net. And so did Perron.

Merrick was cut out for his police job but his aims were much higher. And he was the right sort for intelligence work. The fortunes of war had turned against England - in Europe, in North Africa, and last in the East. There was a desperate shortage of personnel (no more "top drawer" officers, hence the modified rules for access to the English club in the first volume, "The Jewel in the Crown"). The war was good for Merrick. He was in the right place at the right time.

Yes, it is more than uncomfortable to think about Susan at the hands, as it were, of this man.
A man who had made Hari stand nude and shivering for a long period of time in an air-conditioned room, even touching him inappropriately while sneering that "she was no virgin, was she?"

The Laytons had reservations, Rowan also voiced concern in conversation with Perron because, for one thing, he knew that the Hindus were not likely to forget the Bibighar Gardens, that they had struck at Merrick before and would do iso again, and that Susan might be affected as a result.

I tend to believe that Susan was a means to an end, nothing more. He wanted more power. And he was good and patient with young Edward, clearly a difficult, even strange, child of an unstable, self-absorbed mother. We're pointedly told that Merrick was the only adult of either sex Edward would listen to.

We have no idea how Susan herself felt about Merrick. Nor do we know how Dr. Samuelson was able to get through to Susan, bring her back from the temporary insanity after she had tried to burn the baby, and got her to function again - - even though perhaps not fully. Susan had also seen Captain Richardson, Dr. Samuelson's successor. The secret lay in the private file in Richardson's file cabinet.
When Merrick had formulated his plan to marry Susan, he went to see Richardson but was told only general things. Due Pinky's mistake in bringing in not one file, but two, Merrick discovered that the details could be contained in the file which Richardson had handed back to Pinky.
Having spotted Pinky's latent inclinations, he conceived of the devilish plan that was executed with the aiding and abetting of the utterly repulsive Suleiman, the Red Shadow.
Then he let Pinky stew in his wretched misery.

What kind of a man hatches and carries out such a sadistic plan only to walk from the devastating effects?
Did he suddenly lose interest because he had gotten the information he was after?
We don't know what Richardson did or said to Merrick. Whatever it was, Pinky's record remained unblemished.

More tomorrow.

straudetwo · « **Reply #108 on:** May 12, 2009, 09:03:45 PM »

Continuing

The initially talkative Rowan became more and more quiet in the course of the evening. Sarah seemed listless and did not have much to say. Perron saw no glances passing between Sarah and Rowan. When the two men took their leave, he heard Rowan making an appointment with Mrs. Layton for a tennis game the next day.

Back in the guest house the men went out to the verandah again. When a round of fresh drinks had been ordered, Rowan said he would be leaving the next morning. Surprised, Perron wondered when he made that decision. "A little while ago", answered Rowan.

And suddenly Perron understood. Rowan had not declared himself to Sarah, and probably never would because he could not live in close proximity to Merrick and having to conceal what he knew about him. They sat in silence for some time. Perron could almost feel the presence of Hari out in the darkness beyond the verandah.

Slowly Rowan opened up: How he learned about Hari Kumar whom he had known briefly as the boy Harry Coomer; read the relevant documents about the alleged crime in Mayapore; Merrick's part in the prolonged interrogations of Hari in prison; Merrick's banishment to a back-water garrison.

Rowan admitted that he was initially convinced of Hari's guilt, and that only Mr. Gopal's
line of questioning eventually led to the discovery of the truth. That piece of vital information transpired while the recording secretary was out of the room, and it was not repeated nor recorded when the secretary came back in.

Afterwords Rowan and Mr. Gopal prepared two versions of the official report, one without the piece of vital information, the other the full transcript WITH the detail in it. In actual fact the information contained in the official version was strong enough to establish that Hari was not guilty as charged, which made his immediate release possible.

Rowan realized that everything Hari had said was true. As for Colin Lindsay, Rowan checked his record and found that Colin was in Mayapore at the time Hari saw him and that he had put in for a a transfer after a few days.
It is not hard to imagine that Colin had been in India long enough to know of the existing taboo, of the impossibility of contact between a British officer and an Indian. But one wonders, might it not have been possible to somehow convey a shimmer of recognition, a fleeting half-smile? Some kind of familiar gesture?

Rowan's parting gift for Perron came in a large manila envelope.
"It's a carbon copy of the full typescript", he said. "I thought you might like it. Take it home with you. To the groves of academe. Officially it does not exist. His Excellency told me to lose the copies of the full record. I destroyed the top and the shorthand book. I kept the carbons. I still have one."

At the door Rowan stopped and said, "You'd better destroy it if you find Operation Bunburry snarled up and you're still stuck with Merrick. I mean on account of his light-fingered servant. By the way
you've not told me why you asked who Mrs. Bingham was."

"It's a long story," answered Perron.

"But connected in some way?"

Perron: "Where Merrick's connected everything's connected."
Rowan: "Yes, I suopose it is."

Tomorrow Last Hours in Pankot

straudetwo · « **Reply #109 on:** May 14, 2009, 01:13:23 AM »

Perron's Last Hours in Pankot

Rowan left early the following morning. He left a note for Perron with the address of a bank in Delhi for future correspondence, and the name of the officer at Area Headquarters who would be the first to see the telegram Perron expected.

At the Pankot Rifles Depot Perron was told that the interviews of the Indian returnees had been suspended. Before going back to the guest house he went to the telegraph office and introduced himself to the signal sergeant, leaving his telephone number. He remained at the guest house all day, afraid to go out, just in case a miracle would speed Operation Bunburry up. No call came.

On waking next morning, Sunday = the first Sunday of Peace, Perron could not stand being cooped up any longer. Among the notices at the guest house he had seen one from St. John's Church (Church of England) and decided to attend the second service at 10 a.m. The church was packed. He saw only white faces from the back pew where he sat among the soldiers. Were there no Indian Christians in Pankot? he wondered. No Eurasians on this Sunday of all Sundays? he began to feel oppressed and agitated. Way ahead the chaplain was reading a lesson. When the congregation stood up to sing he nex hymn, Perron got up and slipped out.

Outside on the road tongas and their drivers waited in the shade. Perron flashed a two-rupee note and hailed one. At the telegraph office the sergeant handed him a telegram. Bunburry! Were had he been, the sergeant wondered. He had just called the guest house and no one answered. The telegram ordered Sergeant Perron to proceed immediatel to Deolali for onward transmission too UK for demobilization.

The sergeant clerk set to work at once outlining the steps and procedures that needed to be taken. Then he took Perron to the Duty Officer. A girl om a WAC uniform was at the file cabinet. She turned around. It was Sarah. "The duty officer has gone off somewhere," she said to the sergeant who had brought Perron. "But I'll cope. Leave Sergeant Perron to me." And she did. She made phone calls, complete all arrangements, secured all signatures. When all was done she said: "I envy you, Guy. But I'm glad for ou. And I'm not at all sure you don't deserve a medal. Ronald Merrick is going to be furious!"

Perron expressed his gratitude for everything she had done and asked whether he could take her to lunch. And when Sarah said she had to go to a lunch party at the club, he asked whether she could make tea time. Perhaps not, she replied, but she assured him she would see him some time in the afternoon. At the guest house Perron studied the precious papers and then composed himself to rest. He instructed the lone remaining server to attend to the phone and wake him at four o'clock.

Something was going wrong with Operation Zipper. He dreamed of speeding towards the beaches on the landing craft that had come under fire by Japanese - and woke with a start. His watch read ten minutes to five. The server did not answer the bel. Furious, he got up shouting the man's name.
Sarah was sitting on the verandah, a pot of tea in front of her. "How long have you been here?", he asked. "About an hour", she said. "You may not have a very comfortable trip, if you decide to go tonight. The best we could do is the back of a fifteen hundred weight that's leading the convoy down. But it'll take you right to the station in Ranpur."
She handed Perron a slip of paper with a name, Sub-Conductor Pearson, and a telephone number.

"Joe Baker at the signal station has received another telegram from a Major Foster who's arriving on the morning train. I suppose it's Ronald's replacement. I'd settle for the discomfort if I were you. The convoy leaves at ten. Call Sub-Conductor Pearson just before seven and he'll tell you where to go to meet it."
Their hands touched briefly when Sarah handed him the slip of paper. For a moment Perron thought
he didn't really want to leave, but he said instead, "Yes, I've met Major Foster. He is the replacement. I'll settle for a night's discomfort."

The servant brought out the drinks trolley. The sun was just coming out. From base to roof, the Summer Residence rose out of the shadow of a fast-moving cloud.
"You have seen the house, I suppose", Sarah said, "I epected Nigel has shown it to you."

"But isn't it shut?" he asked.
"The servants will always let you in," she answered.
"There seems to be only one servant left", he said.

"They live in the main quarters.T hey come down only if there are people in the guest house.
The Residence was built in 1890. It's mostly in plain Anglo-Indian style. But there's a Moghul suite where they used to put pet princes. The throne room is very ordinary, the ballroom is quite small. But they danced on the terrace too. There used to be colored lights in the trees.."
After a while they lapsed into silence. Eventually he said, "I never thanked you for Emerson", Barbie's heavily annotated book,

and the passage
he world rolls: the circumstances vary every hour. All the angels that inhabit this temple of the body appear at the windows, and all the gnomes and vices also. By all the virtue they are united. If there be virtue, all the vices are known as such; they confess and flee.

They walked over the damp grass to the Residence.

A

straudetwo · « **Reply #110 on:** May 14, 2009, 10:16:48 AM »

Good morning.

When I finished the previous post in the wee hours of the morning it was even longer.

But try
as I might to post it, I did not succeed.
Crestfallen, I went to bed. But before that I made a copy

.

Only now in the clear light of a fresh day did I discover that part of the post was transmitted. The sentence "They walked over ... through the wet grass." was NOT the end of it! There was to be more, clearly. My apologies for being technically challenged.

This involuntary break in the post gives me the chance, though, to add that the interlude in the Summer Residence is described beautifully and with admirable restraint. Without further ado, here is the summing up.

They walked to the Residence through the wet grass. Stairs, corridors; doors opened with keys obtained earlier for a consideration from the ancient chaudikar who was lost below in a dream of opium and the vanished splendor of which he was the guardian. They moved through the maze of imperial history; they stopped in the Moghul suite. The light of the setting sun filtered through one unshuttered window on to the tiled floor where the chappals lay, temporarily set aside.

A smell of old incense permeated the fabric of the covers and cushions of an immense divan such as might have been used by court musicians. Dust seemed to rise from it, gently enveloping them in a dry benevolent mist in which hung minute particles of the leaves and petals of garlands of flowers:
jasmine, roses, frangipani, marigolds and all the names of Allah. Are you afraid, he asked. No, she said, I am not afraid.
...
She said she would not stay for supper.
"Then let me take you."

"No, you've too much to do. I'll wait while you pack and change. Then I must go and you must eat."

Handing her a wrapped package he said, "I've bought a few things for people at home. I've nothing else to offer." She took the package and said "Whatever it is I shall like it."

"Another drink?"

She shook her head. There wasn't time. She must leave now. She didn't need a tonga. It was only a short walk up the hill. He went with her to the front of the guest house. The light was almost gone - how could he let her go home alone?

"I shall be perfectly all right. It's what I'd prefer. Honestly. Goodbye, Guy."
She turned and set off on the narrow drive. He called after her ,she glanced around and waved the package. He began to follow her - then stopped, understanding her wish to go now and go alone.
In a moment a curve in the drive had taken her away.

He went back to finish packing his kit-bag. As he shoved the typescript well in to make room for his slacks, shirt and chappals, he remembered the particular li e We haven't een each other since the night we visited the temple ...

He sat on the verandah staring out into the dangerous Indian night, drinking the last of the brandy, and waited until it was time to take a tonga for the rendezvous with Sub-Conductor Pearson's convoy on the first leg of the journey back to the source, to another world entirely.

Next Chapter The Dark Bungalow

Frybabe · « **Reply #111 on:** May 14, 2009, 12:27:54 PM »

It is very difficult for Sarah to let her guard down, isn't it? The one time she actually did, it turned into a disaster (her pregnancy and abortion). I can feel the awkward tension between the two as they say their goodbye.

Traude, I am lamenting the fact that very few people are posting here. Too bad for them.

straudetwo · « **Reply #112 on:** May 14, 2009, 09:57:45 PM »

Frybabe,
Thank you for the post and thank you for being here. I'm grateful for the company and glad to be able to carry on. I feel the Raj Quartet is eminently worth the investment of time. There are so many verities. And there is proof - if any were needed - that, sadly, we do not learn from history but make the same mistakes over and over again. Signposts are set in the first volume, The Jewel in the Crown, and reappear in other volumes (the massacre at Amritsar in 1919 for one). Each thread in the complicated epic is woven seamlessly into the fabric of the story. The author's psychological insight into his characters is astounding. He had a keen sense of observation and must have been a good listener, a quality that's rather care these days.

The Dark Bungalow is a first-person narrative by Sarah and relatively short (46 pages). It will not take long to summarize.
Tomorrow.

Thank you.

straudetwo · « **Reply #113 on:** May 19, 2009, 11:04:22 PM »

As much as I try to correct typos when I see them, sometimes I notice them after the fact.

Case in point : the title of the new chapter. It is The DAK House, not "dark house".
The British built dak bungalows in the hills as postal stations accessible only with horses. A dak bungalow could also serve as a rest station for travelers. A destination, an end, is inherent in the Hindi word "dak".My apologies for not spotting my typing error sooner.

This chapter is told in Sarah's voice and gives her perspective of the days already described in the preceding chapter.
Sarah began to realize that only her father's absence had kept the family together and his return showed how deeply they were divided. Colonel Layton tried to come to terms with each of the family members separately: he made time for his wife, there was a time for Susan and Edward, a time for Sarah; a different time for the ervants, for Pankot, for the regiment.

Sarah's time was before breakfast when she and her father went for a ride. The ride home varied, the routine was the same. Colonel Layton would rein in his horse at the same stopping point and gaze down at the same village in the misty distance. It was, Sarah discovered on a map, the village of the Havildar Karim Muzzafir Kahn, who survived imprisonment in Germany but not the shame of being held in prison in Delhi on suspicion of treason and chose death by his own hand. In the long tradition of Man-Bap (I am your father and your mother) Colonel Layton, as commander of Indian troops, knew himself to be responsible to look after them in every way.

One morning Sarah overheard her mother saying, "So, why don't you go down?" , adding that after all it is what she had done: accompanied by Captain Kevin Coley, she rode over long distances to visit the wives of the men "when you all went into the bag" , and talked patiently with the wives who came to see her in Pankot. But Colonel Layton could not find the inspiration. Also, under the weight of the dishonor, the Havildar's wife had since left the village and returned to her own.

Sarah studied her parents and wondered. She had initially dismissed Barbie's feverish mutterings in the hospital about her mother and Captain Coley as singularly unlikely, but the circle of conjecture made her ponder the possibility again and again.

On the Friday of that week Major Smalley in the office told Sarah that Barbie had died at the Samaritan Hospital in Ranpur. Sarah called the Reverend Mother who told her in vague but rather urgent tones that Barbie had left papers for her that should be retrieved. That is when Sarah contacted Nigel Rowan and asked him to go to the hospital in her stead to pick up whatever tems were there. We know from the previous chapter that Rowan did as asked and promised Sarah she would receive the package te next morning in the official pouch.
But on the same evening the Governor ordered Rowan to go up to Ranpur on the governor's train with Indian lawyer Gopal on a special mission. Rowan took the package with him to deliver it in person.

(Sarah and Rowan had met on the station in Ranpur when Sarah, waiting for the Ranpur-Pankot connection, spotted the Nawab's special train and was invited in by Count Bronowski. They had met again just days earlier in Delhi where Sarah was waiting for her father's homecoming.)

To be continued

straudetwo · « **Reply #114 on:** May 20, 2009, 11:22:24 PM »

There is a caesura in the books's narrative at this juncture which must be included here also because of the information it conveys.

On the evening of the day when Sarah contacted Rowan the Laytons attended a dinner party at the Trehearnes at the Commandant's House. It was Col. Layton's first dinner out. He had not quite fully adjusted to being home, his hands still trembled, on occasion he still covered bread on his plate as if trying to save it, as he must have done as POW; sudden noises startled him. At their arrival Maisie Trehearne said Kevin Coley's servant had just called to say the adjutant Sahib had gone to bed with a temperature. "I have been worried about him", said Maisie. "He's been so restless lately. After all these years of resisting all attempts to move and promote him he's acting as though ts time to do something about him."

"Watch out for the dogs", Mildred had told her husband. For once the Trehearnes' dogs were sequestered. Unused to such treatment they started howling in protest. Visibly disturbed, Col. Layton stopped eating.
After dinner when Sarah and Mildred repaired their makeup in Maisie's bedroom Maisie brought up Barbie's death. Asked whether she knew, Mildred said she had heard the news from Lucy Smalley who said the Bishop Barnard people had written to Arthur Peplow because she rectory had been "the woman's" last address. Then she added:

"I expect the Mission wanted to be sure she's left nothing here that they ought to have and I'm sure their solicitors will be already on to ours making a fuss about the annuity Mabel willed her. I suppose the estate will have to cough up what she'd have received if we'd ever got round to buying it. Thank God I had the presence of mind at the time to tell our own solicitors in London to drag their feet and thank God she went off her head as soon as she did because that gave them a good excuse to rag their feet even harder. Mabel must have been off [i[her[/i] head making that sort of provision fr an elderly spinster."

"I really never understood about annuities", said Maisie.

"You buy the damn things to provide an income for life which is all right if the person the annuity's bought for lives a long time. The catch is that once it's bought the capital sum has gone forever. Even if you die the next day.
I must say it would amuse me if the Bishop Barnard people think they've got several thousand rupees coming to them. They have complete control of her estate, apparently, for what it is worth."

"Poor Miss Batchelor," said Maisie. "I sometimes I think she had a sad life."

Mildred: "I don't think you'd feel so sympathetiv, Maisie, if you'd had to watch her encouraging Mabel's eccentricities and anti-social instincts and at the same time be pretty sure she was feathering her own nest ...
and then making all that macabre fuss about where Mabel should have been buried. I had Mabel's funeral and Susan's premature labor to cope with, Sarah was in Calcutta ... And of course John tells me he never heard Mabel say a single thing about where she wanted to be put. I took him to see the grave this morning. He thought it very suitable."

The subject was dropped when Susan came in the room. "How pretty you look", said Maisie.
It was still a thing Susan needed to hear but it was no longer said in spontaneous admiration but rather out of the obligation people felt to encourage Susan back to life and happiness. Under Mildred's ever watchful eyes Susan had learned to function on the surface at least, and barely. Only Sarah knew how precarious Susan's emotional state was. Sarah heard her crying at night in the bedroom they shared and tried to comfort her.

So here we have the definitive answer to one of the questions we have been pondering

There's more to come.

straudetwo · « **Reply #115 on:** May 26, 2009, 12:10:07 AM »

Col. Layton was late joining Sarah the next morning. He led off as usual but forced a variation.

Without any more warning than a look behind he turned on to a road up the hill that narrowed to a track to the old dak house. Sarah remembered it from years ago. They had never been inside. Two boys were moving about on the verandah. It was her father's surprise for Sarah, breakfast just for the two of them with bacon sandwiches, tea. He had arranged it and it had made him late.

One of the boys was Fariqua, the mali's son. Sarah asked about Fariqua's friend.
Col. Layton said, "I caught sight of him the other day when I went round to the servants' quarters. Thought he was just visiting because he dodged out of the way. But this morning I found him and Fariqua curled up in the goatshed."

"Doesn't he have a home?" Sarah asked.

"Probably several. None permanent. Orphan. Ambitious boy, though. Tells me he's going to Rajputana one day to become a mahout, ride an elephant for a maharajah. Meanwhile he scrapes a living running errands in the bazaar ..."
(Here the reader recognizes the same eager boy who, only a year or so earlier, had run errands for Barbie in the bazaar and confided to her his dream of becoming an elephant driver. And Barbie had become fond of him.)

But the mali had no need for two boys to help him now, said Col. Layton. What would her father talk about, Saraha wondered, Mabel, the roses, the grave? It hardly mattered they were all connected.

He began with the tennis court: it shouldn't be difficult to get a foursome together, Susan and the new subaltern, and surely Sarah herself had a friend. "What about this Nigel Rowan?" he asked.
"Nigel is in Ranpur", she answered. He pressed on. Was there anyone in particular? Had there ever been someone particular, someone she wanted to marry? Sarah shook her head.
"Tell me," he said with some urgency, "what are your feelings towards Ronald Merrick?"

Sarah stared at him. He went on : Aunt Fenny had given him to understand that Sarah held Merrick in high regard ... She protested. He did not believe her and said "Mother said you were holding him in high regard..."
Sarah insisted it was not true, that she didn't even like Ronald and that he knew it.

"But Ronald was Teddie's friend," Col. Layton isaid.
"He was not Teddie's friend," she said forcefully. Of course all he knew was what her mother had told him.

"What was Teddie like?" he wanted to know. A little like the new subaltern at the station, she answered.
Then he asked why she didn't like Merrick and she said she couldn't explain.
Her father replied, "He isn't quite our class, of course ..."

And proceeded to recite what he knew of Merrick's humble background, father small shop in North London, newspaper agent, tabacconist, parents killed in motor accident,
Ronald mentored by assistant head master of good grammar school, socially a leg up,
the best he could expect in England would be insurance or accountancy;
decided to come to India, made his way with drive and ambition with Indian police,
a commissioned officer, decorated,hat
made good in India.

"But why has Merrick volunteered these details?"
"Because he wants to marry Susan", her father said. "I was afraid it wold hurt you to know."

"It doesn't hurt me, it appals me. You've got to stop it. She's not fit to marry anyone, let alone Ronald Merrick."

"The psychiatrist apparently says she is."
"Who told you that?"
"Ronald. He saw the fellow a few weeks ago."
"With Susan's approval?"
"No. He saw him before he spoke to Susan."
"The bloody nerve of the man!"

That was the news. She knew Susan would not ask for her opinion. Sarah would say nothing, simply stand by and be available, as she had done all these months. She said that as long as Susan is interested and prepares for the wedding, making plans, she'd be all right. She would watch.
But, Sarah added, she had plans of her own, of going home to England and finding a job.

"But not yet", said her father. "I've just come back myself and I want to enjoy my family."

And suddenly Sarah felt the strong urge to confess to her father right then and there what had happened to her in Calcutta. She had rehearsed a confession many times. "Look," she began. "I have something to tell you ..."

but her father said, "No", sharply, and then again, more gently. He took her hand. "No, Nothing to tell me. Better be off." He let got of he hand and hugged her briefly, without looking at her.

She walked down the rickety stairs. The boys brought the horses. Ashok helped her to mount. They rode back in silence.
He knows, she thought. He knows about the pregnancy and the abortion. Aunt Fenny or mother had told him.
He knows ...

To be ciontinued

straudetwo · « **Reply #116 on:** May 27, 2009, 11:27:00 PM »

Nothing for Sarah had been in the overnight pouch from Ranpur, said Sergeant Baker when she arrived at the daftar. She set to work. The phone rang, Nigel.

"There was nothing in the bag; is that why you are calling?" "Partly", he answered and explained he had come on the overnight and had the package with him. And that Merrick, with Sgt. Perron in tow, had also traveled up because a havildar from Col. Layton's regiment had committed suicide in prison. Fearing the news would upset Col. Layton, Merrick wanted to deliver it himself.

"He's been promoted to Lieutenant Colonel", Nigel added,"did you know?"

"No, I did not, Nigel", she answered. "But my father told me this morning that Ronald might become my brother-in-law because he wants to marry Susan. And Susan wants to marry him."
She asked how long Rowan would stay in Pankot and how soon could they could discuss this unsettling news further?

Rowan wasn't sure how long it would take him to handle the task for the Governor, and that he had said the same thing to Sarah's mother when she invited him to dinner at Rose Cottage that evening. He expected to be free the following evening. Hearing the urgency in Sarah's voice, he invited her for lunch at the guest house.

She almost didn't recognize him in mufti. It disguised the thinness that his uniform accentuated.
Over drinks he asked, "When did all this happen?" Sarah told him.

Nigel: "Does your father approve?"
Sarah: "Let's say he doesn't know Ronald well enough not to."
Nigel: "So you have the impression it's more or less fixed?"
Sarah: "If it is, I want to unfix it. I hoped you might help me. I would be most grateful."

He didn't answer at once.
Then he said it was difficult to see on what grounds he could. He didn't know Susan at all. He and Sarah had talked about Merrick only in generalities.
"One's instinct isn't much to go on if it comes to interfering," he said.

"Is it only instinct, Nigel?"
He thought for a moment, then allowed that Merrick's professional future was uncertain, and there might possibly be other incidents of "persecution" by people unknown, factors that could affect Susan.
Suddenly Sarah realized what he might think of her own attempts to interfere.

"I am sorry, Nigel", she said. "I shouldn't try to involve you. It's not your problem. I'll ring mother and tell her I won't be nome for lunch. Then I'll go through this stuff of poor Barbie's."
He showed her to the phone in his bedroom.
It rang. Her mother was at the other end, emphasizing the importance of the dinner and the guests.

"I don't want just a family dinner", Mildred said. "I want Captain Rowan here too."
Sarah: "He'll come when he can."
"I want you to make sure he does. I must have nother man at the table."
Sarah: "Nigel isn't definitely free. If you want to make sure, better invite someone else. There's always Edgar Drew."
"I said a man, not a boy. And a man of our own sort."
Sarah: "Then ask Ronald to bring Guy Perron."
"You can hardly ask a colonel to bring his sergeant along, even if there was a chance of his agreeing to it. I want Captain Rowan.

"I can't promise", Sarah said.
"I'm saying that it is the least you can do for me to guarantee he WILL be her," Mildred said.
"The least?"
Mildred: "The least. He sounds to me like the most presentable man you've ever bothered to get to know. In the circumstances, in all the circumstances, I should prefer it if you brought him into the open and
remember that this isn't Calcutta. but Pankot."

Very quietly Sarah said, "Why do you want that, mother? So that Susan can take one look at him and decide he's for her? I suppose that would solve everything from your point of view."
"Not quite everything", Mildred said and hung up.

To be continued

Frybabe · « **Reply #117 on:** May 28, 2009, 01:38:04 AM »

The conversation between Mildred and Sarah was a very "palpable" one. You can feel the viciousness of the woman. Sarah is not doing too badly standing up to her.

straudetwo · « **Reply #118 on:** May 28, 2009, 11:04:14 PM »

Thank you for your post, Frybabe.
How very true.

Only Scott's dialogue, or parts of it, can convey Mildred's malice, cruelty and connivance. A summation of the essence and nuances of this family dynamic isn't possible, IMHO. But I am trying to condense what we need to know - which isn't all that much - before we go on to the next chapter.
And since we are at an important juncture in the plot of this story, I'll take the liberty of adding a few comments of my own.

Two chapters are left in this volume: The Circuit House and Pandora's Box.

Thank you for being here.

kidsal · « **Reply #119 on:** May 29, 2009, 06:28:43 AM »

Sorry to have been away for awhile. Am starting at about your Apr 15 comments about Merrick and Perron going separate ways and the Red Shadow (can't remember who this is??) So guess I have a lot of reading to do!

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Author Topic: Raj Quartet by Paul Scott -- Division of the Spoils (Read 69960 times)