noons
The ardent woman listened with glowing eyes , as Hawke proudly referred to the wonderful sweep of the sword of Clive , which conquered an unrifled treasure vault of ages , annexed a giant Empire , and set with Golconda 's diamonds the scepter of distant England . The year 1756 was hailed by the renegade as the epoch when England 's rule of the sea became her one vitalizing policy -- her first and last national necessity -- for the Empire of the waves followed the pitiful beginning in Madras . Temples , groves , and mosques peopled with the alien and warring races were conjured up , the splendid viceregal circle , the pompous headquarter military , the fast set , staid luxury-loving civilians , and all the fierce eddies and undercurrents of the graded social life , in which the cold English heart learns to burn as madly under `` dew of the lawn '' muslin as ever Lesbian coryphe'e or Tzigane pleasure lover . The burning noons , the sweltering Zones of Death , the cool hills , the Vanity Fair of Simla , the shaded luxury of bungalow life , and the mad undercurrent of intrigue , the tragedy element of the Race for Wealth , the Struggle for Place , and the Chase for Fame . Major Alan Hawke was gracefully reminiscent , and in describing the social functions , the habits of those in the swim , the inner core of Indian life under its canting social and official husk , he brought an amused smile to the mobile face of his beautiful listener . He did not note the passage of time . He could now hear the music floating up from the Casino below .