Page:Indira and Other Stories.pdf/102

 only saw her once—if indeed I can rightly say I saw her at all, so dark and stormy was the night. Eight years have elapsed, and yet I know I am not mistaken. It is my Radharani!"

The girl said, in a graver tone, "Well, sir, suppose it be your Radharani, what then?"

Rukmini continued, "It was with the fainted hope that it might be my little friend of so long ago that I asked Kamakhya Babu's eldest son, 'who is this Radharani?' For some reason or other, my friend seemed unwilling to enter into particulars. He merely said evasively, 'She is the daughter of an old friend of the family.' Seeing his reticence, I thought it improper to press him. I ventured to ask, however, why Radharani had made search for Rukmini Kumar. I told him that I thought I might be able to give some information on the subject if necessary. He replied that he himself knew nothing about the matter. His late father had regarded it as a confidential business. But his sister was in the secret, and since I knew something of the mysterious stranger he would