Page:Rajmohan's Wife.djvu/16

10 Radhaganj. You love Radhaganj. I have spent my life in the stench of Calcutta. I love Calcutta."

Mathur. "Stench only? The filth of the drains with rotten rats and cats thrown in. Surely a feast for the gods!"

Madhav smiled and said, "It is not for these that I go to Calcutta. I have business, too."

Mathur. "Business indeed! New horses, new carriages, visiting all the sharks of the town, throwing away money, burning the oil, drinks for anglicized friends, and pleasures. What are you staring at that way? Have you never seen Kanak? Or has the girl with her just dropped from the sky? Ah, Yes! Who is it with her?"

Madhav flushed, but immediately changed the subject and said, "What a girl Kanak is! She can laugh with so much sorrow eating into her heart."

Mathur. "Yes. But who is it she's got with her."

Madhav. "How can I say? I cannot see through clothes. You see she is veiled."

It was in fact Kanak and her companion who were returning with their pitchers. Everybody knew Kanak. But such indescribable beauty radiated from every movement of the other woman that it charmed the eyes first of Madhav and then of Mathur. Their looks remained fixed on her and they were as fascinated by the sight as a deer is by the sound of the flute.

When the words last recorded came out of the mouth of Madhav, a sudden gust of wind passed over the heads of the women. The