HARDINGE: (Caught in the excitement.) Yes, yes. What was it now?
ELLIOT: ‘Peccavi!’
HARDINGE: Peck what?
CURRIE: Latin, sir. ‘I have sinned.’
HARDINGE: Ho, Ho. ‘I have Sind.’ That’s good. ‘I have sinned.’ It’s funny. Ho, ho! (Others join in laughter.)
Ho, ho.
(Lawrence has quietly entered from stage right. He is wearing his white chogah. He listens to the three Empire-builders, absorbed with Napier’s victories in the Sind.)
LAWRENCE: (Quietly.) That was a sin!
(All three simultaneously turn around, taken by surprise.)
HARDINGE: (Recovering.) What the devil! Who are you?
ELLIOT: (Recognizing.) It’s Mr Lawrence, I think.
LAWRENCE: I believe you asked for me, sir.
HARDINGE: Good God man, what are you up to? Where did you get these silly robes? Still haven’t learnt to be a soldier, have you?
CURRIE: Still cheeky, Mr Lawrence?
(Hardinge turns round to face the map again. The other two follow suit.
Lawrence is left staring at their backs.)
HARDINGE: What about the Sind strategy for the hills? (Pointing to Kashmir on the map.)
Kashmir! I want Kashmir—lovely place, I hear.
ELLIOT: That would be difficult, sir. What with Gulab Singh having just paid a million sterling for the gaddi, as agreed during the Lahore treaty negotiations …
HARDINGE: We should be able to manage some sort of arrangement with him.
ELLIOT: It’s a delicate matter.
HARDINGE: I know it’s a delicate matter. India’s a delicate matter. Don’t forget gentlemen, we’re the greatest power on this earth today. Everything we do is a delicate matter.
CURRIE: For the hills, we can adopt the same diplomatic initiative that Napier did in the Sind.
LAWRENCE: (Interrupting.) Napier is a bounder!
(All three turn round in amazement.)
HARDINGE: What, what, what!
LAWRENCE: Napier is a bounder!
HARDINGE: Quite, quite. Can’t stand the man myself.
LAWRENCE: The annexation of Sind is a scandal unequalled in modern history.
CURRIE: Mr Lawrence, your advice will be sought when necessary. Kindly wait outside till we are done.
LAWRENCE: I have been asked in here by the Governor-General.
HARDINGE: (Feeling uncomfortable.) Quite, quite. This bloody heat!
ELLIOT: That’s India, sir. Will you have a drink?
HARDINGE: Yes, yes, Elliot. A drink, good idea.
(Elliot fetches it from stage left.)
Now what were you saying, Currie?
CURRIE: I can’t say very much, sir, while that man stands there …
HARDINGE: Come on, Lawrence. We’re discussing something important. Yes, Currie.
(They turn to face the map again.)
CURRIE: I was saying in summary that our policy towards the hills should be as bold as Napier’s was in Sind. As soon as the Punjab is annexed we should plan a Punjab-based campaign in the hills. If all goes well, by January next year you should be able to present Her Majesty with the Western Himalayas.
LAWRENCE: Acquired through deceit and treachery.
(They turn round again.)
HARDINGE: Quite. Come on, Lawrence. Quit making a nuisance of yourself. (Moves to stage left and sits down on a chair. The other two follow suit. Lawrence remains standing at stage right. The room assumes a strange, sinister appearance—a mock court, as it were.)
Why has Lawrence been called back to Calcutta?
CURRIE: The list of charges is rather long, sir.
LAWRENCE: Charges?
CURRIE: (Smiling.) Charges.
HARDINGE: What are the charges?
CURRIE: (Reading.) First, the unauthorized and unnecessary arrest of our most faithful allies and friends in the Punjab kingdom—the Wazir, Lal Singh, and the Army Commander, Tej Singh.
HARDINGE: (Shaking his head.) Serious matter!
CURRIE: Two, the unsanctioned release of one month’s revenue of Lahore district, and abdicating his revenue responsibilities for the entire Punjab.
HARDINGE: Next.
CURRIE: Three, behaving in a manner not becoming the dignity of the Governor-General’s Agent in the incident known as the ‘cow row.’
HARDINGE: Hmpf!
CURRIE: Four, pre-emptory dismissal of one of the best officers of the company.
HARDINGE: Next.
CURRIE: Five, employing and favouring a native officer.
HARDINGE: Anything else?
CURRIE: Six, accepting valuable gifts without informing his superiors.
HARDINGE: Is that all?
CURRIE: Yes sir.
(Pause. The three look at each other in a meaningful way.)
HARDINGE: (Generously.) Do you have anything to say for yourself, Lawrence?
LAWRENCE: Have I been called fifteen hundred miles to answer these ridiculous questions?
CURRIE: You’re speaking to the Governor-General, sir.
LAWRENCE: Yes, sir.
HARDINGE: (Impatiently.) What do you have to say, sir?
LAWRENCE: Nothing, sir.
ALL THREE: (Astonished.) Nothing?
LAWRENCE: Nothing, sir.
(Uneasy pause.)
HARDINGE: Come on man, you must have something to say.
(Silence.)
CURRIE: (Triumphantly.) Well, if he has nothing to say, then he’s obviously guilty.
LAWRENCE: (Calmly.) May I be excused, sir?
(Long, uneasy pause. Hardinge, perplexed at the unexpected outcome, finally gets up and goes to Lawrence.)
HARDINGE: (Appeasing.) Come on Lawrence, you must have some answer to these charges.
LAWRENCE: (Correcting him.) These questions. (Coolly.)
The traitors Lal Singh and Tej Singh are subverting the Raj of His Highness, and they deserve …
CURRIE: They’re our friends.
LAWRENCE: They’re traitors.
HARDINGE: They may be useful to us one day. Release them. Apologize to the Wazir and make the other one a Raja on the day of honours. This is politics, Lawrence. Next?
CURRIE: The revenue problem, sir.
HARDINGE: Lawrence, we’ve been concerned by the lack of revenue the Punjab is yielding.
CURRIE: (Correcting.) By the lack of revenue Mr Lawrence is collecting, sir.
LAWRENCE: We’re still making a just settlement. It will take us a few more months before we can start the collection process.
HARDINGE: In the meantime, the Punjab is costing us money, young man. You must get on with it. I have to answer to impatient Directors.
LAWRENCE: But our revenue settlement should be just, shouldn’t it?
HARDINGE: I’m afraid the Directors are far more concerned with the balance sheet than justice.
LAWRENCE: In the long run, I believe, it is our just dealings with the people that will make us respected.
CURRIE: It isn’t respect that we desire, Mr Lawrence. It is revenue and the natives will have to accept that.
LAWRENCE: In the end, a contented people will give far greater returns. History shows that arbitrary governments never last for very long.
CURRIE: In the end, our interest is to annex the Punjab.
LAWRENCE: They’ve just begun to have confidence in themselves, and now we want to take away their honour. It’s hardly fair, is it?
HARDINGE: Mr Lawrence, political affairs are not conducted on
