Go; it is well nigh morning, and I would sleep."
But not for some time did the Rajah close his eyes; his brain was
busy with the schemes which he had long been maturing, but was only
now beginning to put into action.
"It must succeed," he said to himself; "all through India the
people will take up arms when the Sepoys give the signal by rising
against their officers. The whites are wholly unsuspicious; they
even believe that I, I whom they have robbed, am their friend.
Fools! I hold them in the hollow of my hand; they shall trust me
to the last, and then I will crush them. Not one shall escape me!
Would I were as certain of all the other stations in India as I am
of this. Oude, I know, will rise as one man; the Princes of Delhi
I have sounded; they will be the leaders, though the old King will
be the nominal head; but I shall pull the strings, and as Peishwa,
shall be an independent sovereign, and next in dignity to the Emperor.
Only nothing must be done until all is ready; not a movement must
be made until I feel sure that every native regiment from Calcutta
to the North is ready to rise."
And so, until the day had fully broken, the Rajah of Bithoor thought
over his plans--the man who had a few hours before so sumptuously
entertained the military and civilians of Cawnpore, and the man
who was universally regarded as the firm friend of the British and
one of the best fellows going.
The days and weeks passed on, messengers came and went, the storm
was slowing brewing; and yet to all men it seemed that India was
never more contented nor the outlook more tranquil and assured.
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