Instead, I seated myself next to Jhalkari and wrote two letters, one to Father, the other to Anu. I wrote the letter to Father first, since that was far easier. For Anu, I wanted to be careful not to seem too pleased with myself.
Certainly, it’s beautiful here. But I have trouble enjoying the sights and sounds without you. When I passed by the elephants’ stables for the first time, and saw the hardworking mahouts tending to these giant, gentle beasts, I immediately thought of you; how much you would enjoy watching them interact with one another, the sound of their trumpeting clear for miles around. I miss you so much, Anu. But every week I am earning money, and soon—very soon—there will be a dowry fortune for you. Then our dreams of seeing you as a wife and a mother will come to pass.
I reread what I had written, then sealed the two letters with the rani’s wax. Anu would be so excited to receive a letter from the Palace of Jhansi. But then I noticed that Jhalkari had kept hers unsealed and asked why.
She glanced at Gopal, who had entered and seated himself next to Kahini. “I pay a private courtier to deliver my letters. Consider doing that yourself. The Master of the Letters is in charge of correspondence, and any letter entering or leaving the palace is read by him.”
I didn’t have anything to hide. Still, if Jhalkari didn’t trust Gopal, perhaps I shouldn’t either. “How much is a private courtier?”
“Three annas,” Jhalkari said.
It was the price of a cheap bangle. But I was saving for Anu’s dowry fortune, and I needed to buy at least two angarkhas soon. Plus, I’m ashamed to admit that the thought of the bookshop in town, with its blue and gold sign, crossed my mind as well. Even if Gopal did read my letters, what information would he gain?
“Perhaps another time,” I decided.
Jhalkari frowned but didn’t say anything.
Then I took my letters and placed them in Gopal’s open cloth bag. “So you’ll deliver these?” I asked him.
“Personally?” He peered down his nose at me. “No. But I will see that they get to their destination.”
“Is he always so grumpy?” I asked Jhalkari when we went back to the Durgavas.
She sat on my bed. “He thinks he was a raja in his past life.” She laughed. “Sort of like Kahini.”
“Maybe that’s my grandmother’s problem,” I joked.
“You don’t get along?”
I didn’t intend for it to, but my voice grew quiet and cautious, as if Grandmother were in the room with me. “No! I think she suggested opium when I was born.”
Jhalkari nodded. “Mine too. She didn’t want a girl. My father didn’t mind though.”
I smiled. “Mine neither.”
“And your father had two girls. Is your sister like you?”
“Not at all. She’s sweet and pretty and well behaved. She’ll make a good wife someday. That’s why I’m here.”
“That’s really kind of you.”
“It’s not entirely selfless. It was this or a temple.”
Jhalkari nodded. “It was this or a temple for nearly everyone here.”
Chapter Nine
During my third week as a Durgavasi, in the beginning of July, Sundari woke us early to say that we wouldn’t be practicing on the maidan.Apparently the rani was presiding over a ladies’ durbar that afternoon.
Immediately, the other women were on their feet, sorting through their baskets of clothing and passing around one another’s jewelry. I sat on the edge of my bed. I only had one angarkha—the one Jhalkari had given me the first day I’d arrived. I couldn’t afford anything else. Not yet. Not if I wanted to save for Anu.
“You can’t wear the same angarkha you’ve been wearing for the past two weeks,” Jhalkari said, sitting down next to me. In the early morning light, her resemblance to the rani was uncanny. “This is a durbar. It only happens once a year. I’ll go with you to the shops right now, and you can buy something.”
“But there will be no time to fit it.”
Jhalkari curled her lip, and I realized she was imitating Kahini. “I don’t know what you people do in the village, but here in the city, we buy things that have already been sewn.”
I laughed, despite the fact that across the room, Kahini could hear us both.
We stopped at the treasury, where the rupees we were paid each week were kept, and I withdrew an amount that Jhalkari assured me was sufficient to buy a silk angarkha and a simple necklace. Then we walked together through the heavy monsoon rain and headed to the shops at the base of the fortress.