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old lady.
    ell me what made you do it,she said. hat made you steal the fan?
    I explained that Fabian was a great Roman and that Lavinia and I were his slaves. He was testing us and giving us difficult tasks. Mine was to bring a peacock fan to him, and I knew there was one in that room, so I came and took it.
    o Fabian is involved in this. There are two of you. But you were the one who took it and that means that for a while it was in your possession yours. That will be remembered.
    ho will remember?
    ate, my dear child. I am sorry you took the fan. Anything else you might have taken for your game and no harm done, but there is something about a peacock feathers something mystic and menacing.
    I shivered and looked around me. re they unlucky?I asked.
    She looked mournful. ou are a nice little girl and I am sorry you touched it. You will have to be on your guard now.
    hy?I asked excitedly.
    ecause that fan brings tragedy.
    ow can it?
    do not know how. I only know it does.
    f you think that, why do you keep it?
    ecause I have paid for my possession.
    ow do you pay?
    paid with my life happiness.
    houldn you throw the fan away?
    She shook her head. o. One must never do that. To do so is to pass on the curse.
    he curse!This was getting more and more fantastic. It seemed even wilder than my father version of the maiden being turned into a white cow.
    hy?I asked.
    ecause it is written.
    ho wrote it?
    She shook her head and I went on, ow can a feather fan be unlucky? It is, after all, only a fan, and who could harm the one who had it? The peacock whose feathers it was must be dead a long time ago.
    ou have not been in India, my child. Strange things happen there. I have seen men in bazaars charm poisonous snakes and make them docile. I have seen what is called the Rope Trick when a seer will make a rope stand on end without support and a little boy climb it. If you were in India you would believe these things. Here people are too materialistic; they are not in tune with the mystic. If I had never had that fan I should be a happy wife and mother.
    hy do you watch me? Why do you send for me and tell me all this?
    ecause you have had the fan in your possession. You have been its owner. The ill luck could touch you. I want you to take care.
    never thought for an instant that it was mine. I just took it for a while because Fabian commanded me to take it. That was all. It was just a game.
    I thought: She is mad. How can a fan be evil? How could someone turn a woman into a white cow? My father seemed to believe this though, which was extraordinary. At least he talked as though he believed it. But then the Greeks were more real to him than his own household.
    ow can you be sure that the fan is unlucky?I asked.
    ecause of what happened to me.She turned to me and fixed her tragic eyes on me, but they seemed to be staring past me as though she were seeing something which was not in this room.
    was so happy,she said. erhaps it is a mistake to be so happy. It is tempting the fates. Gerald was wonderful. I met him in Delhi. Our families have interests there. They thought it would be good for me to go out for a while. There is a good social life among the English and the members of the Company that is, the East India Company, and we were involved in that. So were Gerald and his family. That was why he was out there. He was so handsome and so charming there could never have been anyone like him. We were in love with each other from the first day we met.
    She turned to smile at me. ou are too young to understand, my child. It was perfect. His family were pleased so were mine. There was no reason why we should not be married. Everyone was delighted when we announced our engagement. My family gave a ball to celebrate the occasion. It was really glittering. I wish I could describe India to you, my dear. It was a wonderful life we had. Who would have guessed that there was a tragedy waiting to spring up on us? It came suddenly like a thief in the night, as