"Alas! Suki's mother, she cannot go to her sister even," responded Kanak, Matangini silently eyeing the ground from shame and confusion. "She has quarrelled with her sister because Madhav Babu did not invite her husband at the late shradh[1]. I could indeed give her shelter, but we are poor, Suki's mother, and I cannot take her there to starve."
"My death; but what a simple-hearted woman is she," replied Suki's mother. "She quarrelled with her sister on behalf of such a husband! The man does not deserve such a wife. Were he my son-in-law, I would have scolded not only him but his mother and his father too; but come, mother," said she, turning to the silent and confused Matangini, "come with me and live with my mistress as long as you choose; the elder Thakurani likes you so much that she will be overjoyed to see you. There, when your husband forgets his anger, and entreats you to go,—for soon he will—you can return to your own house. But do not listen to him too soon; first see that tears flow from his eyes—and that he takes the straw between his teeth."
"Ah! yes, yes!" exclaimed Kanak joyfully, "you have spoken well, Suki's mother. She will go with you now; what say you, sister? Will it not be the best thing to go with Suki's mother? The elder Thakurani, I am sure, loves you; you must be quite welcome to her. Why do you not speak?" Matangini frowned, but without heed-
- ↑ Funeral dinner.
