CHAPTER III.
Meeting with the beautiful woman.
Nabokumar ordered the inn-keeper for another light. He had heard a deep sigh before another light was brought in. A few minutes later, a Mussulman in servant's livery made his appearance. At his sight, the foreigner burst out "Eh! What made you delay so much? Where are others gone?"
"The palanquin bearers were all drunk" meekly joined the servant "and as I had to collect them together, I lagged behind. Afterwards, the broken palanquin and your disappearance frightened us out of our wits. Some men are left on the spot and others conducting the search in different directions. I turned in in this quarter on a scent."
"Conduct them before me" rang out the silver voice of Moti.
The servant made a deep bow and retired. The fair stranger remained seated for sometime, resting the head on her hand. Nabokumar asked leave to withdraw and then Moti shook herself as if coming out of a reverie. Without relinquishing her previous pose, she asked "Where are you going to put up for the night?"
"The room next to this."
"I saw a palanquin there. Have you any companion with you?"
"My wife is with me."
It gave another opportunity of showing Moti's vein of humour.
"Is she the non-pareil beauty" asked Moti.
"When you see, you will guess it" replied Nabokumar.
"May these eyes see her?"
(In thoughtful air) "What harm is there?"
"Then be pleased to show me this favour. My curiosity to see this peerless beauty has been piqued to the extreme. I shall carry the tale to Agra—but it is not befitting the time—good-bye for the present. I shall send you information afterwards."
Nabokumar left the place. Soon after, a troop of retainers with a retinue of servants and servant-maids, with kits, and bags and baggages appeared on the scene. A palanquin, too, accompanied them with a chamber-maid inside it.
Later on, the news reached Nabokumar "The mistress has remembered you." Nabokumar reappeared before Moti. He saw a new departure this time. Moti changed and made a fresh toilet. She put on her embroidered garments splashed with gold and pearls and garnished her unadorned figure with ornaments. The enamel-works of diamonds, rubies and other precious stones on the gold ornaments worn on every available inch of space on the body—the side-locks, the braided knot, the brow, the temple, the ears, the neck, the bosom. the arms and the shoulders—glinted in ten thousand glittering points and dazzled the eyes of Nabokumar. Like the countless stars bespangling the sky, the innumerable gems setting off the exquisite charms and contours of the splendid figure heightened the effects which blended in a harmonising whole were thrown off into boldest relief.
"Sir, let me be conducted and introduced to your wife" said Moti to Nabokumar.
"There is no use wearing jewelleries like that" joined Nabokumar. "Of ornaments my wife has none at all."
"But what does it matter if I deck my person to display my jewellery? Women possessing jewelleries can not help making a show of them. Let us go now."
Nabokumar showed her the way. The woman who had ridden the palanquin also accompanied them. Her name was Peshman. Kapalkundala was seated alone on the wet ground of the shop-room. The faint glimmer of a lamp-light made the darkness visible only. Her rich mass of untied hair fell in a heap and darkened her back. At the first sight, the feeble ray of a faint smile glistened in the eyes and flickered on the lips of Moti. To get a closer view, did Moti hold aloft the light and bring it near Kapalkundala's face and then the flicker of the smile fled away. Moti's expressions hardened up in a rigid setting and she gazed on throbbing with admiration, holding her bated breath in aesthetic enjoyment. None spoke—Moti charmed and spell-bound and Kapalkundala touched with surprise. Afterwards Moti began to pull off the ornaments from her own person. She denuded her body of all the jewelleries and proceeded to place these one by one on Kapalkundala's person. Kapalkundala did not speak a word all this time.
"What you mean by all this?" exclaimed Nabokumar in wonder. But Moti made no rejoinder.
After finishing the work on hand, Moti said "You told me a perfect truth. Such a flower never blooms in a king's garden. The regret is I can not show this blooming beauty in the capital. These jewelleries are befitting such a frame-work. So I set these on her. You, too, I hope, will be-deck her person, at times, with these and remember this sharp-tongued stranger."
Nabokumar was amazed and said "How is it? These jewelleries are worth a king's ransom. How can I accept these?"
"Through Providence' kindness, I have more of these and I shall never have the occasion to miss them. If I feel any happines in embellishing her what on earth might be the reason of your objecting?"
With this, Moti left the place in company of her dressing maid. When they had reached some removed ground Peshman asked Moti "Dear Lady, who is he?"
"My dearest" answered the Mussalmani mistress.