"It was a great disappointment to me that
you were unable to accompany your uncle last night."
"I have been feeling the heat the last few days," Isobel said
quietly, "and, indeed, I do not care much about going out in such
hot weather as this. I have not been accustomed to much society
in England, and the crowd and the heat and the lights make my head
ache."
"You look the picture of health, Miss Hannay, but I know that it
is trying for Englishwomen when they first come into our climate;
it is always a great pleasure to me to receive English ladies at
Bithoor. I hope upon the next occasion you will be able to come."
"I am much obliged to your highness," she said, "but it would be
a truer kindness to let me stay quietly at home."
"But that is selfish of you, Miss Hannay. You should think a little
of the pleasure of others as well as your own."
"I am not conceited enough to suppose that it could make any
difference to other people's pleasure whether I am at a party or
not," Isobel said. "I suppose you mean that as a compliment, Rajah,
but I am not accustomed to compliments, and don't like them."
"You will have to learn to become accustomed to compliments, Miss
Hannay," the Rajah said, with a smile; and then turning to the
Doctor, began to tell him of a tiger that had been doing a great
deal of harm at a village some thirty miles away, and offered to
send some elephants over to organize a hunt for him if he liked,
an invitation that the Doctor promptly accepted.
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