THE SLAVE GIRL OF AGRA
and kind to the fair stranger from the East; they took her to see all the sights of Agra. Sher Afghan's sister took her to the Naoraz Bazaar, as the reader is already aware.
News arrived at last that the mission to Mewar had done its work, and peace had been concluded between Mewar and Agra. Noren's return now was a question of days, and Sirish became more and more anxious to meet the long-lost friend of his boyhood. Hemlata spoke not, but her heart was filled with eager expectation, and her soul owned a thrill of intense if silent joy.
Preparations were also made for the return journey to Bengal, and the time was nigh when mother and daughter must part. Hemlata's tears and entreaties to persuade her mother to return were vain, as Hemlata knew they would be vain. And yet, as the day of departure came nearer, the daughter felt the pain of separation as she had never thought she would feel.
"What is home to me," asked the weeping Hemlata, "when father is dead and gone, and mother lives far off? What is wealth or rank to me if I am alone and miserable?"
"Alone thou art not, child, and the All-Merciful will not make thee miserable. Serve thy husband with affection and love, be the Griha-Lakshmi of the House of Debipur, make thy home pleasant and cheerful, let not the poor go away hungry from thy gates. This is the duty which our religion imposes on women. And when thou art the happy mother of grown-up sons the time may come when thou mayst choose the path of contemplation pre-
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