Akshay called on Chakrabartti in the course of the day, but nothing was said to him about Kamala's return, for Uncle knew by this time that Ramesh had no particular love for Akshay.
None of the household asked why Kamala had taken to flight or where she had gone, and in fact every one behaved as though she had accompanied the family on its visit to Benares.
Sailaja made Kamala sleep well with her that night. She put one arm round Kamala's neck, drew her to her breast, and stroked her softly with the other hand. The caressing touch was a mute invitation to Kamala to relate her sorrowful secret.
"What did you all think, didi ?" asked Kamala ; "weren't you angry with me ?"
"We were not so foolish to be angry with you," retorted Saila. "We knew that you would never do such a dreadful thing so long as any other course was open to you. It was only the thought of the awful trouble Heaven had brought upon you that made us sad. To think that the punishment should fall on one who could never conceivably have been the sinner !"
"Would you like to hear the whole story, didi ?" asked Kamala.
"Of course I should, dear," said Saila tenderly.
"I don't know why I couldn't tell it you before ; I had no time then to think things out. It came as such a sudden shock that I felt I could never look any of you in the face again. I have no mother or sister, didi, but you are both mother and sister to me and that's why I'm ready to tell you the story ; otherwise I should never tell it to a soul."
They both sat up ; Kamala related the whole tale of her life from her marriage onward. When Kamala mentioned that neither before her marriage nor on her wedding-night had she set eyes on the bridegroom, Sailaja interrupted :
"Such a silly girl as you I've never seen ! I was younger than you when I was married. You needn't think I was too shy to look at my husband at all !"
"It was not shyness, didi," Kamala went on. "You see, I was almost past the marrying age, then all of a sudden a marriage was arranged for me and the other girls teased me dreadfully. So just to show that I didn't consider myself extraordinarily lucky in getting a husband at my age I never even glanced at him. I actually went the length of thinking it immodest and unbecoming to take the least interest in him, even in my thoughts. I'm paying the penalty for that now."
Kamala was silent for a few minutes, then she continued : "I've told you before how we were saved when the boats were swamped after the wedding ; but at the time when I told you I didn't know that the man who had rescued me, the man into whose hands I had fallen supposing to be my husband, was not my husband at all !"
Sailaja started up in amazement ; she went at once to Kamala's side and put her arm round her neck, "Oh, you poor thing ; to think of it ! Now I understand it all. What an awful thing to happen !"
"Yes, didi," said Kamala, "it was dreadful ! and to think that I might have been drowned and escaped it all !"
"Didn't Ramesh Babu find out the truth either ?" asked Sailaja.
"One day, some time after the marriage," Kamala went on, "he called me 'Susila', and I said to him, 'Why do you call me Susila when my name is Kamala ?' I now know that he must have realized his mistake then ; but I can't look any one in the face when I even think of those days, didi," ; and Kamala again relapsed into silence.
Bit by bit Sailaja extracted the whole story from her.
"It's terrible for you, dear, but I can't help thinking that you were fortunate in falling into Ramesh Babu's hands and no one else's. Say what you like, I'm sorry for that poor Ramesh Babu ! Now it's very late and you must sleep. You've been lying awake and crying so many nights that you look quite ill. To-morrow we'll decide what is to be done."
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