Page:Indira and Other Stories.pdf/126

 neither of you shall wear the ring I now give you for five years from this day. Today is the fifth day of the waxing moon of the month Asharh, and the eleventh hour. It is forbidden to you to wear your rings till the corresponding date and hour of the fifth year from to-day. If you disobey this solemn injunction, terrible misfortunes will befall you."

After this admonition, Ananda Swami took his leave. Dhana Das removed the cloth from his daughter's eyes. Looking round her, Hiranmayi saw that there was no one in the room except her father and the officiating priest. Her husband had disappeared. She spent her wedding night alone.

  After the wedding, Dhana Das returned home with his wife and daughter. Four more years elapsed. Purandar was still absent. After all, what did it matter to Hiranmayi now, if he did return?

Hiranmayi felt vaguely depressed at the