LAWRENCE: He’s afraid that his charming guest may be the Queen of Lahore. He is afraid that the Queen may have got it into her beautiful head that English Residents are expendable. And he’s afraid to dirty this clean spot of Punjab earth with good English blood.
RANI: (Lifting her veil.) The Resident is right and wrong. I am Jindan Kaur, the Regent of the Punjab. But I don’t think that Residents are expendable. And I haven’t come to murder anyone.
LAWRENCE: (Getting up.) The Honourable East India Company’s agent is pleased to re-welcome his distinguished guest.
(Pause.)
May one ask why one is being honoured so?
RANI: Must there be a reason?
LAWRENCE: No.
RANI: (Seductively.) Then one has come because one fancies it.
(Lawrence smiles. Pause.)
Is the Resident Sahib happy with the police arrangements at the Shah’ alami Gate and around the Residency?
LAWRENCE: Yes, thank you. The efficiency of the Rani Sahiba is admirable.
(She smiles.)
RANI: Does the Resident insist on making a public apology?
LAWRENCE: Yes. Why?
RANI: Because it is not safe.
(Pause.)
Can one also request the Resident to postpone the Council meetings?
LAWRENCE: Why?
RANI: For the same reason.
LAWRENCE: But surely the wise councillors would not …
RANI: (Interrupting.) One can’t tell. Brahmins like Diwan Dina Nath may be tempted. Brahmins are especially sensitive about the cow.
LAWRENCE: We are most impressed by the Rani’s concern for our safety.
May one ask why the Rani …
RANI: (Disarmed.) The Resident is pig-headed! Doesn’t he understand if a certain person chooses to come at this hour, against all protocol, she may be concerned for someone’s safety.
(Uncomfortable pause.)
Things are not well in the Darbar, Larins.
LAWRENCE: (Concerned.) What is it?
RANI: You know what happened at Sobraon and Ferozshahr.
LAWRENCE: (Embarrassed.) You mean the … the treachery of your officers?
RANI: Yes, the Sardars are not content with betraying the Khalsa. Now they want bigger things.
LAWRENCE: What?
RANI: What do you think?
LAWRENCE: The throne?
(Rani nods.)
RANI: They are jealous of Dalip and me. Perhaps they find him too independent.
LAWRENCE: (Smiling.) You mean they find you too independent.
RANI: (Trying to smile.) Well, both of us.
LAWRENCE: And Lal Singh?
RANI: What about him.
LAWRENCE: Is he mixed up in this?
(No answer.)
You won’t tell me that anyway.
RANI: (With dignity.) No, I won’t tell you that.
(Pause.)
I think that was a vulgar remark.
LAWRENCE: I’m sorry.
(Pause.)
Are the circumstances of the English victory public?
RANI: I don’t think so.
LAWRENCE: It’s important that they remain a secret.
RANI: That’s just it. They want to open up the whole thing.
LAWRENCE: And crucify themselves in the process.
RANI: No—discredit Dalip and me.
LAWRENCE: How?
RANI: Because all commands were issued under Dalip’s and my name. The treacherous message bore my signature.
(Embarrassed.)
Larins, I don’t know anything about wars. I used to sign whatever they wanted me to.
LAWRENCE: (Uncomfortably.) Rani Sahiba, please let’s not go into this …
RANI: (Hurt.) Do you think I’m a traitor?
LAWRENCE: Not you.
(Pause.)
I’m just disappointed with my countrymen.
RANI: We wouldn’t have lost in a fair fight, would we?
LAWRENCE: (Obviously uncomfortable.) No.
(Long pause.)
RANI: You see, Larins. They want to make the betrayal public and pin the whole thing on me. Once Ranjit Singh’s house is discredited they’ve a chance at the throne.
(Pause.)
But they’re fools. They don’t realize that the future of the Punjab is in British hands?
LAWRENCE: Not necessarily.
RANI: You’re modest, Larins. You know as well as I, you’re not just a Resident.
LAWRENCE: There’s one thing you forget. It’s not an easy thing to destroy fifty years of great work.
RANI: People have short memories.
LAWRENCE: (Animated.) Not for one who creates a nation. What are they compared to the Lion of Punjab? When I was doing revenue work on the border in ’36, 1 used to hear of him.
(Suddenly.)
Rani Sahiba, tell me, what was he like?
RANI: (Suddenly absorbed.) Oh, he looked mean. He was small, one-eyed, and worn out by hard living and debauchery.
(Giggles.)
Do you know Larins, he was totally illiterate?
LAWRENCE: Was he a good man?
RANI: He was good to me.
(Looking at his intense face.)
Larins, why are you so concerned with my late husband? I don’t understand. You’re suddenly so different when you talk of him. I noticed it before. Why?
LAWRENCE: (Embarrassed.) I don’t know.
RANI: It’s very strange.
LAWRENCE: (Persisting.) Was he a good man?
RANI: No conqueror is a good man.
LAWRENCE: He forgot his friends quickly, didn’t he?
RANI: Each man has his ways. He used to say ‘a dog in sight is better than a brother out of sight.’
LAWRENCE: In his own way, I suppose, he was even just.
RANI: Justice is what suits oneself, isn’t it?
LAWRENCE: No, said the judge, justice is forever.
RANI: Justice is what the people consider just, said the fool.
(Pause.)
Do you know the story of the old woman and her daughter-in-law?
LAWRENCE: No, but I’ll tell you a better story—the story of an uncle and his niece. The cruel uncle passed a law that the body of the girl’s brother was to be left unburied on the field, because he had conspired against him. She disobeyed the law and secretly buried her brother. She was arrested, and this is what she said in her defence: ‘Your laws are unjust. I obey natural law—law ordained by Heaven and known to every man’s conscience. Burying one’s brother is natural justice, which is not of today or yesterday but eternal.’
RANI: Oh, let’s not talk of eternities.
(Pause.)
I betrayed my own soldiers! Maybe ruling a kingdom isn’t a woman’s work.
LAWRENCE: You’re a Queen.
RANI: What’s the use? The back of the Sikh soldier is broken.
LAWRENCE: (Genuinely moved.) You’re a great Queen, Rani Sahiba. You’ll always be a Queen. Your husband was the Lion of Punjab. He was the Lion of Victory and he left a great unified nation to his people. You must
