Is this love?"
Kamal Mani received another letter from Surja Mukhi. It concluded
thus: "Come, Kamal Mani, sister; except you I have no friend. Come to
me."
Kamal Mani was agitated; she could contain herself no longer. She
felt that she must consult her husband.
Srish Chandra, sitting in the inner apartments, was looking over the
office account-books. Beside him on the bed, Satish Chandra, a child
of a year old, was rejoicing in the possession of an English
newspaper. He had first tried to eat it; but, failing in that, had
spread it out and was now sitting upon it. Kamal Mani, approaching her
husband, brought the end of her _sari_ round her neck, threw herself
down, bending her forehead to the floor, and, folding her hands, said,
"I pay my devotions to you, O great king." Just before this time, a
play had been performed in the house, from whence she borrowed this
inflated speech.
Srish said, laughing, "Have the cucumbers been stolen again?"
"Neither cucumbers nor melons; this time a most valuable thing has
been stolen."
"Where is the robbery?" asked Srish.
"The robbery took place at Govindpur. My elder brother had a broken
shell in a golden box.
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