Certainly Mrs.
Townley could find no fault with the woman as an Indian.

She had taste, carried her clothes well, and was superbly fresh in appearance, though her hair still bore very slight traces of the grease which even the most aristocratic Indians use.
But Lali would not talk.

Mrs.Townley was anxious that the girl should be dressed in European costume, and offered to lend and rearrange dresses of her own, but she came in collision with Mr.Armour's instructions.

So she had to assume a merely kind and comforting attitude.

The wife had not the slightest idea where she was going, and even when Mackenzie, at Mrs.Townley's oft-repeated request, explained very briefly and unpicturesquely, she only looked incredulous or unconcerned.