“Why couldn’t you remember all these things before?”
“I could remember, but my ideas got confused, I couldn’t arrange them.”
“Why?”
“On account of my madness.”
“Are you really mad or only shamming?"
“I am really mad, there is no sham about it.”
“What are you now? Are you still mad?”
“Now it is all a dream. I have recovered my faculties through your kindness.”
“Then will you speak the truth?”
“Yes, I will.”
“Why did you go away with Foster?”
“For Protap.”
Chandrashekhar shuddered. He began to see past events in the clearest light and continued,
“Is Protap your lover?”
“Oh, for shame, what a question!”
“Then what is he?”
“We were two flowers on one stock. We bloomed in the same wilderness. Why did you tear us asunder?”
Chandrashekhar fetched a profound sigh. Nothing escaped his deep penetration. He went on,
“Do you remember the day when Protap fled from the Englishman’s boat and you two swam in the Ganges?”
“Yes, I do.”
“What conversation took place then?”
Shaibalini described everything from the beginning to the end. Protap went up very high in Chandrashekhar’s estimation. He again went on,
“Then why did you abide in Foster’s company?”
“It was company in name. I did so in the hope of meeting Protap if I went to Purandarpore.”
