The Serpent's Shadow

her own doorstep! Not a little peck—and not, thank heavens, the kind of nasty, slobbering thing that Parkening had forced on her—

It was wonderful. She had never put any credence in silly romantic novels, but nothing in her life had prepared her for that experience. No wonder even the poorest, most wretched girl of the slums could cling to her man and forget her surroundings for a moment.

She had invited him inside for a last cup of tea in her conservatory, but he had smilingly declined. 'I have an appointment at the Exeter Club that will keep me well past midnight,' he had said, regret in his voice. 'Much as I enjoy the peace of your haven.' But he had accepted an invitation to dinner tomorrow, which would be the first time he had ever accepted an invitation to a meal in her home.

Surely this was significant!

Of course it is! You felt that kiss—you saw his eyes!

She laughed out loud, right there in the hallway, and twirled in place for the sheer pleasure of it. She couldn't possibly feel any more giddy than that kiss had made her!

But she stopped in mid-twirl; Gupta needed to know that she would have a guest for dinner, so that he had plenty of time to prepare. Never mind how many times he had been here before; tomorrow night she wanted to impress him!

She paused in the dusk-filled hall and listened carefully; there was definitely someone moving about in the kitchen. She followed the sounds, to discover Gupta himself puttering about in the kitchen, putting freshly risen bread into the oven.

'Gupta!' she said as he straightened. He turned and saluted her, smiling slightly. 'Master Scott will be taking dinner with us tomorrow night. Do you think you can accommodate a guest?'

Gupta met her eyes, and smiled broadly as she colored up.

'So, the Captain Sahib has at last begun courting you!' he said, as proudly as if he himself had been responsible for it. 'Good! And after my meal, he will make the proposition!'

'Proposal!' she corrected, laughing and blushing at the same time. Although a less honorable man might well have made a proposition before this! 'Really, Gupta, you can't expect the poor man to propose marriage just on the strength of a single dinner!'

'He is a bachelor, yes? He eats in his club, or out of stalls, terrible English food, boiled to tasteless, fried in pools of grease, covered under gravy that is full of lumps and grease and tasteless! He will eat a fine dinner, he will have a fine whiskey as the punkah-tan makes a breeze, and he will think about going home to his little, little room, which is hot and smells of boiled cabbage, and he will make the proposal. Besides,' Gupta added thoughtfully, 'there are certain spices—'

'Which I very much doubt will be needed!' she said hastily. 'Just have Gopal make us a good dinner, please, Gupta. I'm sure you are right about that—'

'Of course, mem sahib,' Gupta chuckled. 'And there will be a dinner of the sort that Sahib Doctor your father gave to his important visitors. Besides, you would not care to think later that the proposal was due to spices.'

Nor to anything else except how well the two of us are in accord, she reflected, as she thanked him smilingly and turned back to her office.

Although, as a whole, the girls of the street were not good at making and keeping appointments, they were anxious enough about the things that Maya could offer them that they were at least prepared to try.

As soon as the lamp in her office came on, she heard the bell ring. Gupta came from the kitchen to answer it, and her office door opened immediately.

'Well, Norrey!' she said in surprise as her 'pet pickpocket' slipped in past Gupta and flopped wearily down into the chair. 'What brings you here?'

Norrey was in a state of dress that most would likely consider to be 'half naked.' She wore nothing but a thin camisole or corset cover over nothing at all in the way of underthings, a dingy pink petticoat showing a pair of bare ankles and feet in stained green satin slippers, and incongruously enough, her treasured hat. Maya frankly envied her as Norrey's chosen wardrobe looked very much cooler than Maya's.

'Cough,' Norrey said gloomily, and followed it by a demonstration, which unlike her performance when she had first come to Maya, sounded quite genuine. 'Can't sleep, an' it's cruel 'ard on a gurl what needs t'be quiet in 'er work.'

'Let's have a look at you, then,' Maya said, making no comment on the 'work.' She brought Norrey into the surgery and gave her a thorough going over, but she feared the worst.

And her fears were justified. 'Norrey, you have tuberculosis,' she said flatly. 'White lung.'