Page:Cradle Tales of Hinduism .djvu/317

Rh At last the great day dawned, and Sanjogata made ready for the bridal choice. Very sad at heart was she, for she knew not what the day might bring forth, only she was sure that of her own free will she would marry none but Prithi Rai, and he had not even been asked to the ceremony.

The insult thus done to the knight of whom she dreamed, burned like fire in the heart of the Princess, and she wondered contemp- tuously which of the princes whom she would meet in the hall of choice, could dare to stand before the absent King of Delhi on the field of battle. And something of her father's own pride and courage rose in her against her father himself, as the hour drew near for the swayamvara to open. Yet behind all this lay the dull misery of the question. What could she possibly do to announce her silent choice in the absence of the hero ? A princess might choose amongst those present, but to speak the name of one who was absent would be a fall unheard of from the royal dignity ! How the brow of the Rajput maiden throbbed as they bound on it the gold fillets of her marriage-day ! How the wrists burned, on which they fastened the bridal ornaments I And the feet and ankles, loaded with their tiny golden bells, which would tinkle as their owner walked, like "running water" in the bed of the streamlet, how glad they would have been to carry Sanjogata away into seclusion,