The Keepers of the People

273Lady Hammersmith gasped; Lady Lisdor gazed at him amazed; Althea leaned back in her chair, and turned very curious eyes on him; Prince Melinsky chuckled; and Lord Lisdor waited to hear more.

274“Your father — had these — devoted — pure — earnest — men — executed?” said Lady Hammersmith with a slow, awful solemnity. “What does this mean? What new atrocity is this? Your father — an Englishman — had missionaries executed?”

275Ralph Falcon looked at Lady Lisdor; saw her serious, inquiring air; and said quietly, “They had the choice between death and silence. They chose death; or they chose silence, and broke faith. They are dead.”

276“Silence as to where your father’s estate is?” said Prince Melinsky suavely.

277“Silence about their religion,” said Ralph Falcon.

278Lady Hammersmith seemed too much taken aback to speak; she groaned.

279“Perhaps they were Roman Catholic missionaries,” said Althea, with happy brilliancy.

280“Ha! If they were spreading the Romish superstition, it would, of course, be a different thing,” said Lady Hammersmith. “But if they were Protestant missionaries, all I can say is, one of my family is a murderer.”

281“Gently, Amelia, you’re not on a platform,” said Lord Lisdor. “There were doubtless reasons.”

282“They might have disturbed the people,” said Ralph Falcon quietly, as though that settled the matter.

283“I suppose this didn’t happen lately?” said Lord Lisdor.

284“The last missionary came about twenty years ago. We hadn’t got the pass—” said Ralph Falcon, and stopped short.

285“Oh, twenty years ago,” said Lord Lisdor.

286The lapse of time seemed to relieve the strain of disapproval, and there was a pause. Then Lady Lisdor tried to turn the talk on politics. But Lady Hammersmith would not have it; and returned to the attack with the question, “And what is the religion of these unfortunate people on your estate?”

287“They worship Indra, and my father,” said Ralph Falcon.

288“Your father! Worship your father! This is worse — horrible — horrible beyond words!” cried Lady Hammersmith. “But it is always so: as soon as an Englishman gets among these races falsely called ‘lower,’ really far higher than he, with souls capable of a higher spiritual development, of an austerer purity, he loses all sense of decency, of humanity, and grows a demon — a demon!”

289“This is one form of the female relative,” said Lord Lisdor to Ralph Falcon.