A Division Of The Spoils (Raj Quartet 4) by Paul Scott

so you remember my little anecdote. By the way you know Mr Perron of the Education Corps?’
    ‘Yes,’ came her voice, ‘we introduced ourselves in the hall.’
    Perron offered the box to Ahmed Kasim but he declined. Bronowsky moved across to Miss Layton and Major Merrick, Perron put the box down, retrieved his drink and set about trying to make conversation with the young Indian.
    ‘Your father must be the Congress statesman, MAK. ’
    Kasim nodded, then reapplied himself to his glass of whisky. So far as Perron knew it was the first time he had spoken to an Indian whose father had been imprisoned by the
raj.
He did not know quite what to say to him. He could hardly apologize. He would have liked to ask what truth there had been in newspaper reports that Mr Kasim senior was realigning himself politically, abandoning Congress in favour of the League and Jinnah’s mad, divisive dream of a separate state for Muslims: Pakistan; but that was a tricky subject too. He wondered what on earth a son of a politician like MAK was doing acting as secretary to the Chief Minister to the Nawab of Mirat. There was generally no love lost between Congress and the autocratic rulers of the Princely states. But he could not ask that question either. He fell back on small talk.
    ‘Are you in Bombay for long?’
    ‘A few days.’
    ‘It must be interesting working for a Nawab’s Chief Minister.’
    Ahmed Kasim nodded, but his attention was elsewhere. Hearing voices Perron glanced round. A group of English officers had come in, but they were obviously not the object of Mr Kasim’s study. A stunningly attractive Eurasian girl and two pretty Indian girls had come in too and were talking excitedly to Aneila. Two more bearers joined the one already in the room. After a few seconds Perron turned back to Kasim.
    ‘Is Mirat in relationship with the Crown through a Resident or through a provincial government?’
    ‘A Resident. Except that he isn’t.’
    ‘A non-resident Resident.’
    ‘It used to be through the provincial government but all that was altered some time ago.’
    ‘Generally, or just in Mirat’s case?’
    ‘I think generally. Something to do with the federal scheme. But that’s fallen through. Things do in this country.’
    ‘Where does the non-resident Resident reside?’
    ‘In Gopalakand.’
    ‘Is that far from Mirat?’
    ‘Far enough.’
    ‘Is that a good thing, then?’
    Mr Kasim looked into his glass.
    ‘I’m sorry,’ Perron said. ‘Undiplomatic question. Is Count Bronowsky what we used to call a White Russian? A member of the emigration from the revolution?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘A soldier?’
    ‘No, I don’t think so.’
    ‘I wondered about his loss of an eye.’
    ‘He says his carriage was blown up by a revolutionary when he was on his way to the Winter Palace in St Petersburg. He’s lame in the left leg for the same reason.’
    ‘He mentioned being in Mirat for twenty-five years. Was he Chief Minister from the beginning?’
    ‘Not officially. Not until the Political Department was mollified.’
    ‘How was it mollified?’
    ‘I believe when they saw he was a good influence on the Nawab. Then they allowed the appointment. Dmitri says that nowadays some of the senior members of the Political Department behave as if they invented him themselves. Before he came the state was quite feudal.’
    ‘Does Miss Layton have any connection with Mirat? She and the Count seem quite old friends.’
    ‘She visited once. Her sister got married there. They stayed at the Palace guest house’.
    ‘She lives in Bombay?’
    ‘No, in Pankot.’
    ‘Pankot?’
    ‘You know it?’
    ‘Of it. Anyway, of its regiment, the Pankot Rifles.’
    ‘Her father was co of the 1st battalion. She’s in Bombay to meet him. He’s been a prisoner-of-war in Germany.’
    Perron moved so that he could see her. Her back was to him. She stood in a group consisting of Count Bronowsky, two of the English officers, and Merrick. Merrick was watching