Taking and Liberating of Penelope Ch. 03

When Penelope regained consciousness, it was slowly and with a sense of disorientation. Firstly she noticed that the surface she was lying on was somewhat softer than the cot she remembered being laid on. Secondly, she became aware of a difference in smell: instead of the odor of dust and heat that she recalled from the room in which she had been, she now detected traces of spices and... was that mint? As she managed to get her eyes to open, she immediately saw that apparently evening had descended, for while the whitewashed room had been excessively bright, her current surrounding were dim and -- could it be? -- lit by an oil lamp. Finally, she noticed that the featureless walls had been replaced by tasteful decorations and that there was now carpet on the floor. The servant girl she had seen before was at first kneeling beside her, but as soon as Penelope's eyes opened fully and focused, the girl jumped up and left the room, to return in a few moments with "Buddy" and a bowl of liquid (which she placed on the floor before resuming her kneeling position).

"Buddy" spoke. "Miss Smythe-Worthington, you will probably have noticed a change in your surroundings. I could not in good conscience leave you in that room in the constabulary, and so, while you were unconscious with exhaustion -- after first taking steps to protect your modesty" [Penelope suddenly became aware of light, slightly damp cloth covering her lower regions] "I had you carried here to the guest room of my own home. Now, Pradeep, here will do what she can to ease your suffering by applying the lotion she has by her side. It is composed, in part, of arnica and aloe vera, and while it will not remove your pain entirely, it should relieve it enough for you to at least move about by morning. After she has done that, she will fetch a light meal and, as you will no doubt be unwilling or unable to sit to eat it, she will assist you.... feeding you by hand, if needed. She does not speak English, but if you need anything during the night that you cannot convey to her with gestures, simply call out to her and she will fetch me. Now rest as well as you might, and I will see you in the morning."

As soon as he had left, the servant girl, with great gentleness, applied the cool liquid to the still-burning skin of Penelope's posterior. On the rare occasion when even this gentle touch proved too much for the English girl keep from gasping in pain, the other stopped and made gestures asking forgiveness before resuming. When she had finished her ministrations, Pradeep left and returned with a selection of sweet fruits, soft cheeses, and some cool, refreshing juice of some sort. After she had assisted Penelope to consume this repast, the servant turned down the lamp and left the room.

An undetermined time later, Penelope awoke to sunlight and the sound of birds singing. Finding a trunk full of her clothes, she donned a dressing gown (being still too sore to put on anything heavier) and went in search of her host. In what appeared to be a dining room, she found him and was about to speak when she took sight of Pradeep kneeling in front of him, performing an obscene act on the indecently exposed front of his anatomy.

"So this is how you treat your servants in this benighted country!" she fumed. "As an Oxford man, I might have expected better from you."

"Buddy" gave her a startled look, then turned away to adjust his clothing before turning back to address her. "I don't think you understand, Miss..."

"I understand perfectly, sir. I thought you civilized, but no civilized man would ever force a woman to do.... THAT to him!"

"No, you do NOT understand, Miss," the recipient of her ire replied, himself starting to

look cross. "I did not force her to do anything. In fact, considering how she feels about me, she willingly offered me this service, and considering how I feel about her, I gladly accepted."

Penelope advanced on her host and his servant, the latter of whom was now standing. "You expect me to believe that, do you? No self-respecting woman would ever do that, especially where anyone might see her. And no gentleman would ever allow her to do so." She turned to the darker girl and said, "Fetch me a glass of water."

The girl turned with a confused expression on her face and looked to "Buddy" and asked something that sounded like "gurulidh," but before anything else might happen, Penelope spoke again. "Pradeep, is it? I said, fetch me a glass of water... now!" And with that, she slapped the other girl in the face.

Pradeep stepped back with a look of shock, then letting loose a wordless cry she attacked Penelope with such force that the blond-haired woman fell onto the floor, further injuring her still-painful backside.

"PRADEEP!!" The man's voice erupted in a furious roar. The immediate effect was to have the servant run to him and stand at a spot in front of him to which he was pointing angrily. No sooner had she taken this position, than he grabbed her by the shoulder and delivered a slap of his own, using enough force to leave a red mark on her face. He then proceeded to give her a very stern lecture in her own language, which ended with her standing with head bowed in obvious contrition.

The man then walked over to Penelope and assisted her to stand, to which she responded, "Thank you. It appears that instruction in how a servant behaves towards her betters is a trifle overdue."

With barely concealed anger, he replied, "I simply informed her that for now, you are my guest, and as such she should not have attacked you, no matter the provocation." He looked toward the girl in question, whereupon that woman turned to face Penelope and. placing her hands together at chest level, bowed at the waist toward her. "As for lessons in proper manners: who do you imagine yourself to be, to make demands to MY servant in what I will remind you is MY household?" Penelope blushed. "Furthermore, what leads you to believe that you are one of her betters?"

"Why, she is a servant woman, while my family's estate is..."

"Is far away from here and not applicable to the people of this culture."

"Well, my uncle is the Earl of..."

"And I would have you know that her aunt is the wife of the rajah of this district, making her the ranee, the queen of this land, if you will."

"But... I don't understand. If she is the niece of the queen, why is she a servant in this household? Should she not be -- if not at the palace, at least on her own estate with servants of her own?"

"She is here because her aunt has forbidden her to marry me. Until she reaches her 22nd birthday, she is to remain unmarried and her virginity is to remain intact. And so, because she may not marry me, she has chosen... of her own free will... to act as my servant, so as to be in my presence as much as possible, and to provide me -- and herself -- as much pleasure as may be permissible. And so I say to you again, that I did NOT force her to do anything, nor would I ever attempt to do so. Not only would I risk displeasing her aunt, I would risk displeasing the woman I love."

Understanding and shame descended on Penelope, that she should let her own cultural prejudices lead to intrude on what should have been a private moment of affection. A look of dawning shameful horror appeared on her face as she looked upon her host.

"Buddy" was not yet finished with her. "And now, in justice..." With that he slapped the English woman's face, just as he had slapped that of the other girl.

Penelope bowed her head. "I'm sorry... I didn't understand."

"Don't tell me, tell her."

And with that, Penelope returned the bowing gesture the Indian girl had given to her, and returned to her room.

A few hours later, "Buddy" knocked on her door and she admitted both him and Mr. Krishnamurtmi. The former said, "Miss Smythe-Worthington, I've just come from the talks I have concluded with Mr. Prawanahol and his wife. He is the other individual you injured in your altercation, and because of the nature of that injury, his wife claims an interest in compensation as well."

"I can understand his claim against me, but..."

"You see Miss, They have been married only 4 or 5 months, and she feels that the loss of his attentions make sufficient grounds for her complaint, and according to our laws and customs, she is correct. She also maintains that her chances of bearing a child are reduced by half, and while that may be of questionable validity, her claim does carry great weight in the popular mind. Negotiations have not gone as well as I had hoped, and... Let me ask: are you quite certain that you have no access to other funds? I can delay final sentencing until such time as you are able to send and receive communication with either your estate manager in England or with your uncle, the Earl. But if you cannot arrange financial support, I have grave concerns for your future well-being."

"What sort of funding are you referring to?"

"The best I could manage was to reduce the claim to 150,000 rupees, or around 5,000 Pounds in British currency."

Penelope paled. "That much!?"

"Mr. Prawanahol is a solicitor, and knowing both your circumstances and the fact that you believed yourself under attack, he would have settled for far less. His wife, on the other hand, while not excessively greedy, is adamant that her life has been adversely affected to a very large degree, and demands restitution. So I repeat, if you have any sort of funds available, or think they might be available if you can contact those in England who might help, it would be greatly to your advantage."

"I am certainly willing to try, but I fear such a sum may well be beyond the means of my family to pay. Is there no alternative?

"Buddy" hesitated for a moment. "There is, Miss, but I would not like to see things come to that. You should understand that, by local law, if one cannot pay the legal fines and damages assessed, one may have their freedom... well, not exactly 'sold,' but hired out to the damaged party. Were it up to Mr. Prawanahol himself, that would be a short period -- perhaps as little as 6 months -- acting as a household servant. Mrs. Prawanahol, however, could rightfully claim as much as 5 years service, and I fear those years would be extremely unpleasant for you. There is another option, but... no, I must say nothing more on that. Please, I implore you, compose what messages you can to those concerned and I will pay to have them telegraphed at the soonest opportunity."

The administrator left the room, but Mr. Krishnamurtmi remained seated for a time. This personage looked at Penelope and spoke in the accents and rhythms one might expect in the region saying, "He would not want me to be telling you, Miss, but Mr. Bhuwalliiput is in a severe ethical quandary. All that he is saying is accurate, but he is not saying all that is true. First of all, the solicitor's wife is known as being a very vindictive woman. They have 2 servants already, a man and a woman, and she is being very cruel to the woman because she fears her husband may come to find her attractive. And because you are being English and fair-haired, this fear she is having would be increased. Also, the woman is receiving great pressure by her husband's family to be producing heirs, and her efforts so far are not finding great fortune. And because of the extreme pain her husband received at your.. well, not quite at your 'hand'... she has said that she would be seeking revenge on his behalf."

"I can certainly appreciate that your... that "Buddy"... might want to strive to keep me out of that situation. But what of this alternative that he would not speak of?"

"That is the very nature of his conflict, Miss. According to the law and tradition, Mr. Bhuwalliput might intervene on your behalf, accepting your service to him rather than the Prawanahol couple, and offering the monetary value of that service to them in exchange."

"Could he even afford to do that?"

"Oh yes, Miss! Mr. Bhuwalliput is quite wealthy and could easily produce the funding."

"That would be an excellent alternative, and I could in time repay him if he..."

"No, Miss, you are not understanding. If Mr. Bhuwalliput were to pay the money in your stead, you would be having to work as his servant and must be seen to be working as his servant... and that is the nature of his quandary. I have been his secretary for enough years to know that in his thinking, you would see that offer as an attempt to take advantage of you."

"You mean, he would use me as he does his current servant?"

"Not in exactly the same way, Miss, I am certain. As I believe his is telling you, his relationship with Miss Pradeep is very deep and rather unusual. But he is almost certainly feeling that you would think that was his objective, and would respond... positively or negatively... to that thinking. It is obvious to me... although not likely to anyone else... that he is becoming very fond and very attracted to you. But because of the bond that he is having with Miss Pradeep, he would be very reluctant to act on that fondness or attraction. Please do not be telling him I have spoken on this matter, but you may be wishing to include what I am telling you in whatever decision you make."

With that, Mr. Krishnamurtmi left the room, leaving her to ponder the implications of all that she had learned.

***************

The next day, Penelope eagerly followed "Buddy's" suggestion that she compose messages asking for funds, sending word to her family's estate manager, to her uncle's secretary, and to her father's superiors in the church. A return telegram from the church was received late the same day, denying her any funds not sent with her father. The next day, however, messages from Mr. Harrington, the estate manager, and from Mr. Beddlow, secretary to her uncle the Earl, gave her more hope, as they asked her for further details concerning her especial need for such a large sum.

In response, she spent the whole day writing a detailed account of how her father had died, leaving her in such straits: how his sin of sloth had kept him from properly researching what he would need on his mission (leading him to only improve his knowledge of one language, and that not the language of the area he was entering); of his sin of greed had led him to keep the funds that, according to the excellent advice given him by the ship's captain, should have been used to hire a native guide; how his sin of pride had prevented him from delaying his departure from the ship long enough to seek the captain's advice on when and how to proceed to his destination, thus resulting in setting off from the wrong river port; how his sin of wrath had led him to verbally -- then physically -- attack a man, a POLICEMAN it should be noted, who only wanted to prevent the probable loss of horse, cart and people.

Compounding that, how his cowardice when facing that policeman's ire, led to the murder of two innocents and the severe injury of a third person, as well as inspiring her own belief that her life was in danger, causing her to inflict grievous harm to two persons who were trying to assist her. All of this she used to explain how she came to be stranded in a foreign country, bereft of father and friends, and unable to pay the fines that had been levied against her by the local courts (which had been ratified by Her Majesty's Chief Magistrate). She did not speak of the sentence that had already been carried out against her person and her dignity, but she did speak of the unbearable consequences should the funds not be made available, and made mention of her inability to return to England unless passage on a ship could be arranged. These letters she sent off with the next available post, and persuaded "Buddy" to delay reaching a final verdict until a return post of one or both could be received.

This boon, she knew, meant a respite of several weeks for the packet boat to take her letters to England, for the correspondence to be read, and for word to be sent back. However, by the second day after posting her letters, she began to worry that... just perhaps... the funds might NOT be available. What then would she do? She would have to serve in a household where she would be beaten and humiliated for every small infraction. Further, inability carry out her orders... or even to understand those orders... would not likely be taken as an excuse to withhold punishment, and this realization caused her a mounting anxiety.

On the third day, she consulted Mr. Krishnamurtmi (not wanting to disturb "Buddy" with her fears or betray that the secretary had spoken to her contrary to his employer's probable wishes), asking who she might ask help her to learn both the local language and the skills she would need to perform in the solicitor's household. Mr. Krishnamurtmi suggested that she -- or rather he, on her behalf -- speak with Pradeep, the servant. Penelope hesitantly accepted, but pointed out that Pradeep might bear her some resentment, owing to the altercation the two had had earlier. It was explained that the secretary already knew of the incident, but that Pradeep had a very generous spirit and that if the Englishwoman showed a sincere contrition, help would likely be offered in return.

"Thank you,Mr. Krishnamurtmi, I am very grateful for your assistance. Do you know if Pradeep is about the house?"

"I believe I am seeing her in the dining room moments ago, Miss. Would you wish to join me in searching for her?"

Upon arriving in the dining room, Penelope found Pradeep dusting off the furniture, and approached the woman. Making the same bow she had used before with folded hands, she asked Mr. Krishnamurtmi to translate for her. "Please tell Pradeep that I am deeply sorry for my actions earlier. My upbringing and understanding led me to expect certain things, and I know now that I was wrong in what i did. I hope to make amends by helping you in your work, if I may."

Mr. Krishnamurtmi spent a few moments speaking the local language to the serving girl, after which she replied in a few brief sentences. The secretary turned back to the Englishwoman, saying "Miss Pradeep is also apologizing, as she ought not to have struck you. If you will forgive her, she will do the same. She also asks why you would help her in her work. Surely this is not work for an Englishwoman."

"Please tell her that a week ago, I might have agreed with her, but circumstances are now altered. If I cannot procure funds from England, I will be sent to the house of the injured solicitor, Mr. Pra... I'm sorry, I can't remember the name... Prawa -something?"

"Mr. Prawanahol, yes Miss."

"Thank you. To the house of Mr. Pra..wa..na..hol, there to serve as you are doing here. If that is to be my station, I must learn how to carry out those duties."

Mr. Krishnamurtmi explained this to Pradeep, whereupon the latter gasped and covered her mouth in shock. Then she spoke rapidly in a shocked tone, and gave Penelope a look that seemed full of pity. The secretary answered her, then heard her say something which he translated for the young blond.

"She says that she has heard stories about Mrs. Prawanahol, and if you go there, you will not likely be returning unmarked or with your spirit intact. She asks how she may be helping you."

"Thank her, and tell her that, if she will show me how to do all of her household tasks and teach me to do them as she does, I will be eternally grateful. In addition, if she will teach me to speak your language, so that i might be better able to serve in that household, anything that I have that she might value, I will gladly give to her."

After a further exchange between the two darker-skinned people, Mr. Krishnamurtmi told her, "Miss Pradeep says that she will gladly be teaching you, as that will lessen her own labor. And she says that, if you will in turn teach her to speak English, no further payment will be necessary. She says that she has long wished to use the English tongue, but as there are so few who know it, and as she does not wish to bother Mr. Bhuwalliput or myself, she would be most grateful for the instruction."