It seemed to her from a distance like one of the Greek islands her father had read about, a place of sun and sand, blue water and even bluer sky. On the rocky promontory at the south-west extremity of the island stood the fortified town, Galle, with hills rising behind it.One of the young officers was delighted to tell her about Galle and for once she let him talk, though she didn’t like the soulful way he looked at her. Making sheep’s eyes was a very good way to describe it, and who was interested in spending time with a sheep?The fort was quite large, apparently, overlooking the harbour and containing not only government buildings but an old church, a mosque and a hospital. He had to explain what a mosque was because she’d never even heard of such a place of worship.She didn’t accept the officer’s offer to show her round because she didn’t intend to give gossips any chance to blacken her name. It had been her salvation on the journey so far to have met Drue, who was like an unofficial chaperone, but her new friend was going on to Madras, so they would be parting company at Galle.Xanthe had thought life would be so easy if you had money and didn’t have to work for a living, but these people had so many rules and shibboleths she was finding it hugely difficult to fit in.
