“NevermindhowIfeelitIwanttobeaPowerbeforeIdie。”
“BeaPowerthenYou’vewitsenoughforanything-andbeauty？”
MrsHauksbeepointedateaspoonstraightatherhostess“Polly，ifyouheapcomplimentsonmelikethis，I
shallceasetobelievethatyou’reawomanTellmehowIamtobeaPower。”
“InformTheMussuckthatheisthemostfascinatingandsllmmestmaninAsia，andhe’lltellyouanythingandeverythingyouplease。”
“BotherTheMussuck！ImeananintellectualPower~notagas-powerPolly，I’mgoingtostartasalon。”
MrsMalloweturnedlazilyonthesofaandrestedherheadonherhand“HearthewordsofthePreacher，thesonofBaruch。”shesaid。
“Willyoutalksensibly？”
“Iwill，dear，forIseethatyouaregoingtomakeamistake。”
“Inevermadeamistakeinmylifeatleast，neveronethatI
couldn’texplainawayafterward。”
“Goingtomakeamistake。”wentonMrsMallowe，composedly。
“ItisimThEEDUCATIONOFOTISYEERE
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possibletostartasaloninSimlaAbarwouldbemuchmoretothepoint。”
“Perhaps，butwhy？Itseemssoeasy“JustwhatmakesitsodifficultHowmanycleverwomenarethereinSimla？”
“Myselfandyourself。”saidMrsHauksbee，withoutamoment’shesitation。
“Modestwoman！MrsFeardonwouldthankyouforthatAndhowmanyclevermen？”
“Oh-er-hundreds。”saidMrsHauksbee，vaguely。
“Whatafatalblunder！NotoneTheyareallbespokeoftheGovernmentTakemyhusband，forinstanceJackwasacleverman，thoughIsaysowhoshouldn’t。
Governmenthaseatenhimup。
Allhisideasandpowersofconversation-hereallyusedtobeagoodtalker，eventohiswife，intheolddays-aretakenfromhimbythis-thiskitchen-sinkofaGovernmentThat’sthecasewitheverymanupherewhoisatworkI
don’tsupposeaRussianconvictundertheknoutisabletoamusetherestofhisgang；andallourmen-folkherearegildedconvicts。”
“Buttherearescores-“Iknowwhatyou’regoingtosay。
ScoresofidlemenuponleaveIadmitit，buttheyarealloftwoobjectionablesets，TheCivilianwho’dbede]ightfulifhehadthemilitaryman’sknowledgeoftheworldandstyle，andthemilitarymanwho’dbeadorableifliehadtheCivilian’sculture。”
“Detestableword！HaveCiviliansculehaw？Ineverstudiedthebreeddeeply。”
“Don’tmakefunofJack’sserviceYesThey’reliketheteapoysintheLakkaBazar-goodmaterialbutnotpolishedTheycan’thelpthemselves，poordearsACivilianonlybeginstobetolerableafterhehasknockedabouttheworldforfifteenyears。”
“Andamilitaryman？”
“WhenhehashadthesameamountofserviceTheyoungofbothspeciesarehorribleYouwouldhavescoresoftheminyoursalon。”
“Iwouldnotl“saidMrsHauksbee，fiercely“Iwouldtellthe’bearertodarwazabandthemI’dputtheirowncolonelsandcommissionersatthedoortoturnthemawayI’dgivethemtotheTopshamgirltoplaywith。”
“TheTopshamgirlwouldbegratefulforthegiftButtogobacktothesalonAllowingthatyouhadgatheredallyourmenandwomentogether，whatwouldyoudowiththem？Makethemtalk？TheywouldallwithoneaccordbegintoflirtYoursalonwouldbecomeaglorifiedPeliti’s-a’ScandalPoint’bylamplight。”
“There’sacertainamountofwisdominthatview。”
“There’sallthewisdomintheworldinitSurely，twelveSimlaseasonsoughttohavetaughtyouthatyoucan’tfocusanythinginIndia；andasalon，tobeanygoodatall，mustbepermanentIntwoseasonsyourroomfulwouldbescatteredalloverAsiaWeareonlylittlebitsofdirtonthehillsides-hereonedayandblowndownthekhudthenextWehavelosttheartoftalking-atleastourmenhaveWehavenocohesion“-“GeorgeEliotintheflesh。”
interpolatedMrsHauksbee，wickedly。
“Andcollectively，mydearscoffer，we，menandwomenalike，haveaoinfluence。
ComeintotheverandaandlookattheMall！”
Thetwolookeddownonthenowrapidlyfillingroad，forallSimlawasabroadtostealastrollbetweenashoweranda~og。
“Howdoyouproposetofixthatriver？Look！There’sTheMussuck-headofgoodnessknowswhatHeisapowerintheland，thoughhedoeseatlikeacostermongerThere’sColonelBlone，andGeneralGrucher，andSirDugaldDelane，andSirHenryHaughton，andMrJellalattyAllHeadsofDepartments，andallpowerful。”
“Andallmyferventadmirers。”saidMrsHauksbee，piously“SirHenryHaughtonravesaboutmeButgoon。”
“Onebyone，thesemenareworthsomethingCollectively，they’rejustamobofAnglo-Indians。
WhocaresforwhatAnglo-Indianssay？Yoursalonwon’tweldtheDepartmentstogetherandmakeyoumistressofIndia，dearAndthesecreatureswon’ttalkadministrative’shop’inacrowd-yoursalon-becausetheyaresoafraidofthemeninthelowerranksoverhearingitTheyhaveforgottenwhatofLiteratureandArttheyeverknew，andthewomen“-“Can’ttalkaboutanythingexceptthelastGymkhana，orthesinsoftheirlastnurseIwascallingonMrsDerwillsthismorning。”
“Youadmitthat？Theycantalktothesubalternsthough，andthesubalternscantalktothem。
Yoursalonwouldsuittheirviewsadmirably，ifyou~espectedthereligiousprejudicesofthecountryandprovidedplentyofkala’uggahs。”
“PlentyofkalajuggahsOhmypoorlittleidea！Kalajuggal’sinasalon！Butwhomadeyousoawfullyclever？”
“P“rhapsI’vetriedmyself；orperhapsIknowawomanwhohasI
havepreachedandexpoundedthewholematterandtheconclusionthereof“
“Youneedn’tgoon’IsVanity。’Polly，IthankyouThesevermin-MrsHauksbeewavedherhandfromtheverandatotwomeninthecrowdbelowwhohadraisedtheirhatstoher-“theseverminshallnotrejoiceinanewScandalPointoranextraPeliti’sIwillabandonthenotionofasalonItdidseemsotempting，thoughButwhatshallIdo？Imustdosomething。”
“Why？ArenotAbanaandPharphar“-“Jackhasmadeyounearlyasbadashimself！Iwantto，ofcourseI’mtiredofeverythingandeverybody，froinamoonlightpicnicatSeepeetotheblandishmentsofTheMussuck。”
“Yes-thatcomes，too，soonerorlater，Haveyounerveenoughtomakeyourbowyet？”
MrsHauksbee’smouthshutgrimlyThenshelaughed“IthinkI
seemyselfdoingitBigpinkplacardsontheMall：’MrsHauksbee！Positivelyherlastappearanceonanystage！Thisistogivenotice！’Nomoredances；nomorerides；nomoreluncheons；
nomoretheatricalswithsuppertofollow；nomoresparringwithone’sdearest，dearestfriend；nomorefencingwithaninconvenientmanwhohasn’twitenoughtoclothewhathe’spleasedtocallhissentimentsinpassablespeech；nomoreparadingofTheMussuckwhileMrs。
TarkasscallsallroundSimla，spreadinghorriblestoriesaboutme？NomoreThEEDUCATIONOFOTISVEERE
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ofanythingthatisthoroughlywearyin~，abominableanddetestable，but，allthesame，makeslifeworththehavingYes！Iseeitall！Don’tinterrupt，Polly，I’minspiredAmauveandwhitestriped’cloud’roundmyexcellentshoulders，aseatinthefifthrowoftheGaiety，andbothhorsessoldDelightfulvision！Acomfortablearmchair，situatedinthreedifferentdraughts，ateveryballroom；andnice，large，sensibleshoesforallthecouplestostumbleoverastheygointotheveranda！ThenatsupperCan’tyouimaginethescene？ThegreedymobgoneawayReluctantsubaltern，pinkalloverlikeanewly-powderedbaby，-theyreallyoughttotansubalternsbeforetheyareexported，？olly-sentbackbythehostesstodohisduty。
Slouchesuptomeacrosstheroom，tuggingataglovetwosizestoolargeforhim-Ihateamanwhowearsgloveslikeovercoats-andtryingtolookasifhe’dthoughtofitfromthefirst。
’MayIah-havethepleasure’oftakin’you’nt’supper？’ThenIgetupwithahungrysmileJustlikethis。”
“Lucy，howcanyoubesoabsurd？”
“AndsweepoutonhisarmSo！AftersupperIshallgoawayearly，youknow，becauseIshallbeafraidofcatchingcoldNoonewilllookforby’rickshawMine，sopleaseyou！Ishallstand，alwayswiththatmauveandwhite’cloud’overmyhead，whilethewet~oaksintomydear，old，venerablefeetandTomswearsandshoutsforthemem-sahib’sgharriThenhometobedathalf-pasteleven！Trulyexcellentlif~helpedoutbythevisitsofthel’adri，justfreshfromburyingsomebodydownbelowthere。”Shepointedthroughthepines，towardtheCemetery，andcontinuedwithvigorousdramaticgesture-“Listen！Iseeitall~own，downeventothestays！Suchstays！Six-eightapair，Polly，withredflannel-orlistisit？-thattheyputintothetopsofthosefearfulthingsIcandrawyouapictureofthem。”
“Lucy，forHeaven’ssake，don’tgowavingyourarmsaboutinthatidioticmanner！Recollect，everyonecanseeyoufromtheMall。”
“Letthemsee！They’llthinkIamrehearsingforTheFallenAngeL
Look！There’sTheMussuck。
HowbadlyheridesThere！”
SheblewakisstothevenerableIndianadministratorwithinfinitegrace。
“Now。”shecontinued，“he’llbechaffedaboutthatattheClubinthedelicatemannerthosebrutesofrnenaffect，andtheHawleyBoywilltellmeallaboutit-softeningthedetailsforfearofshockingmeThatboyistoogoodtolive，PollyI’veseriousthoughtsofrecommendinghimtothrowuphisCommissionandgointotheChurchInhispresentframeofmindhewouldobeymeHappy，happychild。”
“Neveragain。”saidMrsMallowe，withanaffectationofindignation，“shallyoutiffinhere！’Lucindy，yourbehaviorisscand’lus。’
“Allyourfault。”retortedMrsHauksbee，“forsuggestingsuchathingasmyabdicationNo！
Jamais-nevaire！Iwillact，dance，ride，frivol，talkscandal，dineout，andappropriatethelegitimatecaptivesofanywomanIchooseuntilId-r-r-roporabetterwomanthanIput~metoshamebeforeallSimla，-andit’sdustandashesinmymouthwhileI’mdoingit！”