The air in Simla was thinner than Lahore's—not only in altitude, but in patience.
The Viceroy's study was arranged the way imperial authority preferred to arrange itself: polished wood, disciplined silence, maps of India spread not for beauty but for division. The mountains outside the tall windows looked eternal; the Empire inside believed itself the same.
Jinnah did not sit immediately.
The Viceroy gestured toward the chair opposite him. "Please."
Jinnah inclined his head, then took his seat with the same restraint he carried into courtrooms. Not as a supplicant. Not as an equal. As a negotiator.
"I have considered Your Excellency's proposal," Jinnah began.
The Viceroy folded his hands. "And?"
"I am prepared," Jinnah said calmly, "to work with the Unionist Party."
The word with was deliberate.
The Viceroy's gaze sharpened slightly. "That is encouraging."
"But," Jinnah continued, voice steady, "if I join them, I do not join as an ornament."
Silence.
"I cannot be absorbed as a provincial advocate," Jinnah said. "If I align with the Unionists, the alignment must operate at a national scale."
The Viceroy's fingers tapped once against the desk.
"Explain."
Jinnah did not rush.
"The Unionists are strong in Punjab because they command land and influence. But influence without structure collapses under national pressure."
He leaned slightly forward.
"If I bring my organization—my administrative models, my legal network, my communications discipline—into the Unionist fold, then it is not merely a Punjab arrangement."
The Viceroy's voice lowered. "You are suggesting expansion."
"I am suggesting leverage," Jinnah replied evenly.
The Viceroy did not interrupt.
"If I lend my credibility to the Unionists," Jinnah said, "it must not confine me. It must extend both of us."
He allowed the meaning to settle.
"A provincial alliance," Jinnah continued, "does not interest me. A national balancing force does."
The Viceroy's expression shifted—not alarmed, but calculating.
"You would transform them."
"I would professionalize them," Jinnah corrected.
"And in return?" the Viceroy asked.
"In return," Jinnah said, "I expect administrative autonomy in rural reform. Village unions. Legal oversight at the grassroots. Structured policing. Communication networks scaled beyond Sandalbar."
The Viceroy studied him for a long moment.
"You do not ask small things."
"I do not build small systems," Jinnah replied.
Lahore – Reaction
News of the conversation did not travel as rumor. It traveled as tremor.
In Lahore, inside a private drawing room where Unionist leadership gathered, the reaction was not applause—it was discomfort.
"He wants national leverage?" one of the senior landholders muttered. "We are not a national party."
"Not yet," another said quietly.
The Premier sat back in his chair, thoughtful.
"He is bargaining from strength," the Premier observed. "You invited him."
"He is useful in Punjab," another protested. "Why inflate him?"
The Premier's reply was sharp.
"Because he is already inflated."
Silence again.
"He brings order," the Premier continued. "He brings communication. He brings legal structure. And now he brings prestige."
"And if he overshadows us?" a younger member asked.
The Premier's eyes narrowed.
"Then we do what politicians have always done," he said. "We adapt."
Another voice cut in, uneasy.
"If he joins at national scale, the Muslim League block follows him."
"Yes," the Premier said.
"And then?"
"Then we are no longer a provincial bargaining party," the Premier answered. "We become indispensable."
That word shifted the room.
Indispensable.
One of the older landlords exhaled slowly.
"You think the Crown prefers him."
The Premier did not deny it.
"The Crown prefers stability," he said. "Right now, he produces it."
Simla – Closing Exchange
Back in Simla, the Viceroy rose and walked toward the window.
"You are asking me," he said without turning, "to reshape a party."
"I am asking you," Jinnah corrected, "to stabilize a province—and prevent a vacuum."
The Viceroy turned back slowly.
"And if we refuse?"
Jinnah's voice remained calm.
"Then I remain independent," he said. "And independent leverage is far less predictable."
The statement was not a threat. It was arithmetic.
The Viceroy regarded him for several long seconds.
"You understand," he said at last, "that if you step onto the national stage through Unionist alignment, you become more visible."
"I already am," Jinnah replied.
A faint smile touched the Viceroy's face.
"Yes," he said. "You are."
He returned to his desk.
"Very well. We will explore the framework."
Jinnah inclined his head once.
As he exited the room, the mountain air struck colder than before—but clearer.
Behind him, the Viceroy stood still for a moment longer.
"He negotiates like a barrister," he murmured quietly to himself.
But even as he said it, he understood something else:
Jinnah was no longer negotiating cases.
He was negotiating architecture.