midday
The dropped lids did not deceive him . `` Then , what do you want here ? '' That question was sheer impudence . It is very well understood in Delhi that any native gentleman of rank may call on Yasmini between midday and midnight without offering a reason for his visit ; otherwise it would be impossible to hold a salon and be a power in politics , in a land where politics run deep , but where men do not admit openly to which party they belong . But Yasmini represents the spirit of the Old East , sweeter than a rose and twice as tempting -- with a poisoned thorn inside . And here was the New East , in the shape of a middle-aged Sikh officer taught by Young England . He annoyed her .