Kshemankari excused herself on the score of ascertaining how far advanced the preparations for the meal were. Her intention was to handover Hemamalini to Kamala so that she herself might have a private talk with the old gentleman.
She found the food ready cooked and simmering on a slow fire, while Kamala sat in a corner of the kitchen meditating. She sprang to her feet startled seeing the sudden appearance of Kshemankari, with an embarrassed smile.
"Well, dear, you seem very intent on your cooking," said the old lady.
"Every thing is ready, mother," replied Kamala.
"Well, why are you sitting alone quietly, dear ? Annada Babu is an old man and you needn't be shy of him. Hem is here and I think you might take her off to your room for a chat. I don't like to bore her by making her talk to an old lady like me."
Hemamalini's apparent coldness had only to intensify Kshemankari's affection for Kamala.
"But I shan't be able to talk to her," pleaded Kamala ; "she has learnt such a lot and I know nothing at all."
"What do you mean ?" said Kshemankari ; "you're as good as any one. Any one can learn things from books, but it's not given to many to be such a sweet little woman as you are. Come along now, dear. You'll have to dress first, though. I'll give you something nice to wear to-day."
Kshemankari was resolved to contrast Hemamalini's faded beauty with the fresh charm of this unlettered girl ; she wanted to lower the former's pride in every respect.
Unmindful of Kamala's objection, Kshemankari decked her out with a cunning hand. She made her don a cream-colored silk robe and she dressed her hair in the latest mode. She kept turning Kamala's face this way and that to study the effect. Finally she kissed her on the cheek and exclaimed in delight. "You're beautiful enough for a king's palace."
Kamala interjected from time to time ; "Mother, they're sitting all by themselves ; it's getting late."
"Never mind if it's late," was Kshemankari's rejoinder. "I shan't go till I've finished with you."
Kshemankari dragged Kamala with her saying, "come with me , dear ; you mustn't be shy. When that college-trained beauty sees you she'll be put to shame. You can hold up your head with any of them." Nalinaksha had arrived by this time and was chatting with them.
Seeing him, Kamala swung round and attempted to fly, but Kshemankari held her fast.
"There's nothing to be shy of, dear," she said, "we're all friends here."
Kshemankari prided herself on the girl's beauty and on the distinction with which she wore her borrowed feathers, and she wished to give the others a surprise. The other in her had been aroused by Hemamalini's supposed indifference to her Nalinaksha, and she plumed herself on the idea that he would draw comparisons unfavorable to his betrothed.
Kamala's appearance was indeed a surprise to the rest of the party. When Hemamalini met her at Kshemankari's bedside Kamala was wearing no finery ; she had crouched in the background, looking shy and insignificant, and had vanished before Hemamalini could take note of her appearance. Now after a moment of bewilderment she took the shrinking Kamala by the hand and seated her beside herself.
Kshemankari felt that victory was with her ; no one could see her charge without admitting in his heart of hearts that such beauty was a rare gift of the gods. She said to Kamala, "Take Hem to your room now, dear, and you can have a talk there. I'll attend to the breakfast-room."
Kamala wondered what Hemamalini would think of her, and it was a trying moment. She knew that Hemamalini would enter this house as Nalinaksha's bride at a distant date in the positdion of its mistress. She refused to entertain the thought that she herself was lady of the house by right and didn't want to harbor the slightest suspicion of jealousy and she would claim any rights whatever. Her limbs trembled and she left the room.
"I have heard all about you from mother," said Hemamalini gently. "You must look on me as a sister, dear. Have you any sisters of your own ?"
"None of my own, only a cousin ; daughter of my father's brother," answered Kamala, taking courage from the friendliness of Hemamalini's tone.
"I have no sister either, dear," said the other, "and my mother died when I was a child. Many a time I've thought, 'I've no mother ; if only I had a sister to confide in !' I have that longing both when I'm very happy and when I'm sad. Ever since I was quite small I've had to keep all my thoughts bottled up, and now it has become so habitual with me that I can't unburden myself to any one. People consider me very conceited, but I hope you won't think that, dear. It's just that I can't speak from the heart."
Kamala's reserve was now entirely broken down. "Is it possible that you could like me, didi ?" she asked. "I'm so stupid."
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