CHAPTER III
a bridegroom at last
boat was passing close to the spot where Pratap sank to drown himself. Some one in the boat saw Pratap going down, and jumped into the water to his rescue. The man in the boat was Chandra Shekhar Sharma.
Chandra Shekhar taking hold of Pratap, swam back to the boat, and got him on it. He took his boat to the Ghat, landed with Pratap, and took him to his house. Chandra Shekhar was detained there by Pratap's mother. She fell at his feet and prevailed on him to be her guest that day. Chandra Shekhar, however, remained ignorant of the secrets of Pratap's attempt at suicide.
Shaibalini could not think of appearing before Pratap again. But Chandra Shekhar saw her and was charmed. Chandra Shekhar was not in easy circumstances at the time. He had passed his thirty-second year. He had domestic concerns but had no attraction for this world. He was still a bachelor, and knowing the changes that marriage brings in to be unfavourable to the ac-
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