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162 still? Chanchal noticed my pensive mood and enquired,

"What are you thinking so earnestly?"

"Did your cousin really love him?" I asked Chancal. "My heart aches for her. Had I the power I would bring about the marriage."

"You? You pity my cousin? Would she waste so much sentiment on you? There is no need to pity my cousin, she has sufficient self-love and knows her own value too well, and perhaps she has reason on her side. She is beautiful and accomplished, and the man who marries her will get a princess and half a kingdom. There is no knowing how many men are sighing for her. If you want to pity, rather pity those disappointed suitors. If cousin Kusum really did receive a scar from this affair, rest assured it is healed by this time."

"You should not be so quick to judge. Do you not know that they remember longest who do not fall in love easily?"

"Yes, if my cousin had loved him in any high degree, but don't you fear that she has done that. The man is attractive, he creates a temporary impression on others by his conversation and manners, but I do