XII
Mahendra in his annoyance said one day to his mother: "Is this proper? Why take on ourselves the responsibility of a young widow belonging to another family? I, for one, don't like it—who knows what might happen one of these days."
"She’s my Bipin's widow," said Rajlakshmi. "I don't look upon her as a stranger."
"No mother," insisted Mahendra, "I can't agree with you. She ought not to be kept here."
Rajlakshmi knew well that it was no easy thing to go against Mahendra's wishes, so she sent for Vihari and said: "Look here, Vihari, do explain matters to Mahin, there's a good soul. I'm getting a little rest in my old age by Bipin's widow being here. She may not belong to our family, but when did I ever get such care and attention from anyone in the house?"
Vihari without replying to Rajlakshmi went straight to Mahendra. "Dada," said he, "are you giving any thought to the question of Binodini?"
"Thought!" laughed Mahendra, "I can't sleep of nights for thinking! Ask your sister Asha whether the thought of Binodini has not driven all other thoughts from my mind."
Asha from behind her veil shook a warning finger at Mahendra.
"Chuni is now pining," Mahendra went on, "to have her sent away."
Asha's eyes again flashed reproof through her veil.
"Sending her away won't do," said Vihari. "What's to prevent her coming back! Get her married—that's the only way to get rid of the fangs!"
"To be serious," he continued, "I'm rather concerned about Binodini. She can't remain with you for ever; that's certain. Then again to consign her for life to the wilderness which I've just visited would be too rough on the poor girl."
Binodini had not yet appeared[1] before Mahendra. But Vihari had seen her. It was clear to him that she was not the sort of girl to throw away on a deserted village; at the same time he had his misgivings that the flame which could serve to light the lamp might also set fire to the house.
Mahendra chaffed Vihari about his concern for the fair widow; but he also inwardly arrived at the conviction that she was neither to be despised nor played with.
Rajlakshmi thought she ought to warn Binodini. "Look here, my child," she said, "don't be monopolising Mahin's wife in this way. You've been leading a simple village life and don't know the ways of the world these days. You're a clever girl, keep your eyes open and take care of yourself."
Binodini began to make a great show of keeping Asha at arm's length. "Who am I after all?" she would say. "People in my condition ought to know their own position—they must be prepared for anything that may happen next."
Asha begged and prayed and wept bitterly, but Binodini would not relent. Asha grew full to overflowing with her untold confidences, but Binodini would have none of them.
Meanwhile Mahendra's ardour was slackening, his passionate gaze getting shaded over with a trace of weariness. The absence of regularity and order which used to seem so amusing was gradually beginning to irritate him. Instances of Asha's deficiencies would annoy him, but he would say nothing.
But, in spite of his reticence, Asha's heart told her that their too constant intercourse had affected the dignity of their love. It was partly an element of insincerity and partly an element of self-delusion that went to make Mahendra's love ring false.
In such cases the only safety is in running away; the only remedy in separation; and with a woman's true instinct Asha sought to keep more aloof. But where else could she find refuge except with Binodini?
Mahendra aroused from love's dream, found his waking thoughts slowly turning back to his studies and his social duties. He rescued his books one by one from the most impossible places, and prepared to air and dust his college suit.
- ↑ It is possible in a big Hindu household for a girl to be staying there for years and yet remain practically unseen by the male members of the family.