Not even yet could Kamal ask if the marriage
had taken place. Surja Mukhi had lost flesh; her figure, formerly
straight as a pine, had become bent like a bow; her laughing eyes were
sunk; her lily face had lost its roundness.
Kamal Mani comprehended that the marriage was accomplished. She
inquired, "When was it?"
Surja Mukhi answered, "Yesterday."
Then the two sat down together, neither speaking. Surja Mukhi hid her
face in the other's lap, and wept. Kamal Mani's tears fell on Surja
Mukhi's unbound hair.
Of what was Nagendra thinking at that time as he sat in the _boita
khana_? His thoughts said: "Kunda Nandini! Kunda is mine; Kunda is my
wife! Kunda! Kunda! she is mine!"
Srish Chandra sat down beside him, but Nagendra could say little; he
could think only, "Surja Mukhi herself hastened to give Kunda to me in
marriage; who then can object to my enjoying this happiness?"
CHAPTER XXI.
SURJA MUKHI AND KAMAL MANI.
When, in the evening, the two gained self-control to talk together,
Surja Mukhi related the affair of the marriage from beginning to end.
Astonished, Kamal Mani said--
"This marriage has been brought about by your exertions! Why have you
thus sacrificed yourself?"
Surja Mukhi smiled, a faint smile indeed, like the pale flashes of
lightning after rain; then answered--
"What am I? Look upon your brother's face, radiant with happiness,
then you will know what joy is his.
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