At last Kamala withdrew from Saila's encircling arm, wiped her eyes, and began to laugh boisterously.
"Come, come, that's enough," said Saila ; "you're the most secretive girl I ever met ; but you needn't think I don't know what that's all about ; I'm not so green as that ! Shall I tell you what it is ? Since Ramesh Babu went to Allahabad he hasn't written you a single letter and you're vexed about it, though you are too proud to say so. But you must remember that he has a lot to do there and he'll be back in a couple of days. You must not mind if he doesn't find an opportunity to write when he's only away for that short time. Silly girl ! But do you know, dear, though I am giving you this good advice, had it happened to me I should have have done the same ! Women do cry over foolish things. Once you have had your cry out and start smiling again you'll forget about it."
She drew Kamala to her breast and went on : "You feel now that you'll never be able to forgive Ramesh Babu, don't you ? Tell me the truth now."
"Yes, that's the truth," said Kamala.
Saila tapped her on the cheek. "I thought so ; of course it was that ! All right, we'll see. Only don't take it to heart."
That very morning Saila dispatched a letter to her father in Allahabad. "Kamala is in great distress," she wrote, "because she has not heard from Ramesh Babu. One can well imagine what it must mean for the poor child when he brings her to a strange place and then goes off whenever he likes, leaving her behind and never writing to her. Can't he get his business in Allahabad over ? Plenty of people have business to do and yet find time for writing."
Uncle hunted up Ramesh, read him an extract from his daughter's letter, and then lectured him severely. Now the real truth was not that Kamala had been too little in Ramesh's thoughts but that the more he pondered the deeper his perplexity had grown. It was not indifference but indecision that had caused him to linger in Allahabad. Then on the top of his bewilderment came this extract from Saila's letter.
The wording of the letter clearly indicated that Kamala missed him sorely, though diffidence forbade her to write herself. Ramesh had come to the parting of the ways and he decided at once what course to take. Not his happiness alone but Kamala's love for him must be the guiding factor. Providence had not only linked their lives but had knit their hearts on that distant sandbank.
So he bestirred himself and composed the following letter to Kamala :
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