the past and the present were blended and the singer himself became identified with one I had known of old, until I felt as if I were walking in a trance.
Nor was the spell broken by his departure; I often remained in a partial stupor during the entire night. Waking or sleeping I could not banish that song from my heart. In a day or two, however, I usually managed to master myself, and when I met him again after a week or, perhaps, sooner, I was perfectly self-controlled. Still I was shy on receiving him, because I remembered the spell his music exercised over me. My condition became an enigma to me. As the sky assumes different colours before and after sunset, so did my whole nature change with the coming and disappearance of the effect that that song had over me.
Gradually, however, this condition became permanent, and I began to realise the thoughts of others. There was but one opinion, one influence around me—this man was to be my husband, and to the thoughts of those surrounding me I yielded as every maiden of Bengal would yield.
No Westerner can realise what a powerful influence matrimony has upon the life of a
