Treachery in Tibet Read Free

earned him a reputation as an orator of supreme confidence and style.
    ‘I see that you are growing your tea in Northern Assam, very much up in the hills, by the look of it. I was surprised to hear that, after Fonthill’s distinguished war against the Boers, he had taken up this most pastoral of occupations. The two of you have shown such great energy and enterprise in all your activities on the periphery of Empire that I might imagine that tea growing in Assam would be perhaps … what shall I say … perhaps a little boring?
N’est-ce pas?’
    Alice sipped her tea. ‘Yes, I’m afraid it is, rather, although the work is proving rather hard and we have had a few problems with the Naga tribesmen, who live in the hills just east of our patch.’
    ‘Ah yes. I have had some reports of that. You must tell me if things get worse. I know that Kitchener would be happy to despatch a troop of Gurkhas down from Darjeeling to sort them out.’
    ‘Thank you, but I think Simon can handle it. Lord Kitchener, of course. He has more or less recently joined you as commander-in-chief, I believe. Neither Simon nor I knew him in the Sudan on the Gordon mission – he was only a major in intelligence then, if I remember rightly – but Simon, in particular, got to know him very well in South Africa. A most brilliant soldier, of course …?’
    It was hardly put as a question but Alice had heard that, after a honeymoon period, the great soldier and the great imperialist were no longer on equable terms and she was not above a little probing into the matter.
    Curzon did not rise to the bait. ‘Oh, yes, of course. We are lucky to have him. Now, I am sorry that I did not know of your arrival in Assam. I would certainly have sent you both an invitation to dine at Government House. You must forgive me. How long have you been there?’
    Alice waved aside the apology languidly. ‘Not so very long. In fact, little more than a year. After the Boer armistice, we hurried back to our small estate in Norfolk to oversee our farming activities there. But,’ she shrugged her shoulders, ‘I’m afraid neither of us are cut out to spend our lives peacefully in the English countryside. I was anxious to resume writing again for the
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– there is little to write about in dear old Norfolk – and Simon was itching to trysomething new. So’ – she sighed – ‘we bought this small tea estate in Assam, which had been allowed to run down, and Simon has had his hands full there ever since.’
    She raised the cup to her lips again. ‘Perhaps I have been the happier of the two because there has been plenty to write about in India—’
    ‘Ah,’ he interrupted, ‘you must forgive me. My duties here have meant that I have not been quite so assiduous a follower of your work as I was in London. And the
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arrives here so dashed late, you know, that the pot has boiled long before I get to take the lid off, so to speak.’
    ‘Of course. You are forgiven, sir. But I am detaining you far too long with tittle-tattle about the Fonthills. If I may, Lord Curzon, I would like to discuss this Tibetan affair with you and seek your guidance in terms of analysing what is going on there and how the matter could develop.’
    Curzon’s face tightened for a moment. Then he raised an elegant eyebrow and smiled coldly. ‘Having noticed over the years how your … er … rather radical views of matters concerning the Empire have been presented with great skill within the more traditional Tory editorial policies followed by the
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, I doubt whether I myself will be influential at all in helping you to report on the Tibetan problem. But, be assured that I shall try. Now do fire away.’ He leant back in his chair, crossed one white silk-stockinged leg over the other – it seemed he always wore ceremonial dress during the day – and waved for her to begin.
    Alice fumbled in her small bag and produced pencil and notebook. ‘Thank you, Viceroy. But please be assured that my