That trouble was gone and her courage with it. She thought, "Why should I die? If I do not, he may cast me off if he likes to do so. Well, let him. I can never forget him; but is that a reason why I should die? That I shall think of him, that in poverty I shall remember him, shall recall these delights in Prasâdpur, that is in itself a joy, in itself a hope. Why should I die?" So she said, "I will not die. Do not kill me. If you will not keep me, give me leave to depart."
"I give you leave." And raising the pistol, Gobind Lâl aimed it at Rohini's brow.
"Don't kill me! Don't fire! I am young, and happiness is new to me. I will never come near you, never cross your path. I am going at once. Do not kill me!"
The click of the pistol was heard, then a loud sound, and all became dark. Rohini fell, lifeless, to the ground. Gobind Lâl, flinging down the pistol, fled from the house.
At the sound of the pistol, Rupo and the other servants came to see what had happened. They found the dead body of Rohini cast on the floor like a lotus snapped by the fingers of a boy. And Gobind Lâl nowhere to be seen.
