Annapurna left the room thoroughly vexed. Asha was about to follow her, but Mahendra placed himself across the door, and paid no heed to the tearful pleading in her eyes. "Wait a bit," said he, "if I have· wasted my time in sleep, I must make up for it now."
As the days went by Annapurna had to say to Asha, "The sort of progress you are making with your lessons is clear enough, but are you also going to prevent Mahendra from getting through his medical examination?"
At this Asha determined to be absolutely firm, and said to Mahendra, "You aren't reading for your examination at all—so from to-day I'm going to stay downstairs in Kaki's room." . "As you please," said Mahendra; "let's stay in Kaki's room by all means, but then she'll have to come upstairs and stay in ours!"
A bantering reply to such a serious proposition touching so grave a matter made Asha highly indignant. But Mahendra went on, "Hadn't you better keep an eye on me, day and night, to see for yourself that I really do cram for my examination?"
The decision to adopt the latter course was arrived at with remarkable ease. It is needless to describe in detail in what manner the eyes appointed to keep this strict and constant watch performed their functions. Suffice it to say that Mahendra did not pass his examination that year, and that Asha's ignorance of the life-history of the Centipede did not suffer the least abatement, in spite of the exhaustive information on the subject furnished by her reading-book.
At the news of Mahendra's failure Rajlakshmi blazed up like a summer conflagration; but the brunt of all its heat and fury had to be borne by Annapurna. She could neither eat nor sleep.
VII
One evening resonant with the newly-set-in seasonal rain, Mahendra, with scented muslin scarf and a garland of white jasmine round his neck, jauntily came to his room, creeping up tiptoe, with the idea of surprising Asha. Peeping through the door he found the rain streaming in, with the gusts of wind, through the open east window; the lamp had got blown out; and Asha, lying on the bed on the floor, was shaking with suppressed sobs.
Mahendra bounded to her side and asked, "What is the matter?"
The girl burst into another fit of sobbing, and it was some time before he succeeded in finding out from her that their aunt, unable to bear it any longer, had left the house and gone off to stay with a cousin.
"If she had to go," thought Mahendra irritably, "why need she have spoilt for me this lovely rainy evening!"
In the end all his irritation got focussed on to his mother, she was the root of all the trouble!
"Where Kaki has gone, let us go too," said he; "then we'll see with whom mother can pick a quarrel:" with which he began to pack up his things with a lot of needless noise, and to shout for porters.
Rajlakshmi understood. She slowly went up to Mahendra and mildly asked, "Where are you going?"
Mahendra at first gave her no reply, but after the question had been repeated several times he answered "We're going to Kaki."
"You needn't go anywhere at all," said Rajlakshmi; "I'll bring you your Kaki here."
She at once sent for a palanquin and went off to Annapurna's lodgings. . With the end of her sari[1] round her neck, and palms joined in an attitude of abject humility, she said, "Be merciful, Mistress Aunt, and pardon me."
Annapurna, terribly exercised, bent low and took the dust of Rajlakshmi's feet. "Why make me guilty of impropriety[2], Sister," she wailed, "am I not yours to command?"
The mortified Rajlakshmi sobbed back in her exasperation, "My son and his wife want to leave the house because you have come away."
The sisters-in-law came back home together.
It was still raining. By the time Annapurna reached Mahendra's room, Asha's fit of crying had been soothed and Mahendra was trying to make her laugh with his sallies. Judging by appearances, the rainy evening could not have been so hopelessly wasted after all!
"Chuni!" said Annapurna, "Isn't it enough to make it impossible for me to stay in
