But later on in the evening she found herself seated at one of those same tables that an hour before had seemed to her a bench of stern judges.  She formed one of a laughing, chattering group of Ida’s acquaintances.  More at ease now, the girl watched the people around her with interest.  For a year she had seen no larger gathering of her own race than the weekly meetings at the planters’ little club in the jungle, with the one exception of a durbar at Jalpaiguri.

Yet despite Ida’s company she was feeling lonely and a little depressed, a stranger in a crowd, when she saw Captain Charlesworth enter the rink, accompanied by another man.  Recent as had been their meeting, he seemed quite an old friend among all these unknown people about her, and she almost hoped that he would come and speak to her.  He sauntered through the hall, bowing casually to many ladies, some of whom, the girl noticed, made rather obvious efforts to detain him.  But he ignored them and looked around, as if in search of some particular person.  Suddenly his eyes met Noreen’s, and he promptly came straight to her table.  He shook hands with Mrs. Smith and bowed to the other ladies in the group, introduced his companion, a new arrival to his battalion, and, securing a chair beside Noreen, plunged into a light and animated conversation with her.  The girl could not help feeling a little pleased when she saw the looks of surprise and annoyance on the faces of some of the women at the other tables.  But Charlesworth was not allowed to have it all his own way with her.  Bain and an Indian Army officer named Melville also claimed her attention.  The knowledge that we are appreciated tends to make most of us appear at our best, and Noreen soon forgot her shyness and loneliness and became her usual natural, bright self.  Ida looked on indulgently and smiled at her patronisingly, as though Noreen’s little personal triumph were due to her.

Noreen slept soundly that night, and although she had meant to get up early and see Kinchinjunga and the snows when the sun rose, it was late when her hostess came to her room.  After breakfast Ida took her out shopping.  Only a woman can realise what a delight it was to the girl, after being divorced for a whole year from the sight of shops and the possibility of replenishing her wardrobe, or purchasing the thousand little necessities of the female toilet, to enter milliners’ and dressmakers’ shops where the latest, or very nearly the latest, modes of the day in hats and gowns were to be seen.

Charlesworth came to lunch in a smart riding-kit, looking particularly well-groomed and handsome.  The girl was quite excited about the gymkhana, and plied him with innumerable questions as to what she would have to do.  She learned that they were to enter for two affinity events.  In one of these the lady was to tilt with a billiard-cue at three suspended rings, while the man, carrying a spear and a sword, took a tent-peg with the former, threw the lance away, cut off a Turk’s head in wood with the sword, and then took another peg with the same weapon.  The other competition was named the Gretna Green Stakes, and in it the pair were to ride hand in hand over three hurdles, dismount and sign their names in a book, then mount again and return hand in hand over the jumps to the winning-post.