Page:Tales of Bengal (S. B. Banerjea).djvu/167

Rh brother according to his wont. After dinner he took bis betel box and adjourned to the parlour for rumination and a siesta. Nalini and his wife were surprised by Jadu Babu's behaviour. They dared not ask him why he had invited himself to eat with them, but waited anxiously for further developments.

Meanwhile the elder wife was eating her heart with vexation and forming resolutions to give her husband a curtain lecture. But he slept that night in the parlour and on the morrow took both meals with Nalini. When a woman fails to gain her object she is apt to take refuge in tears, which are generally enough to force a mere man to bend to her wishes. Jadu's wife watched for an opportunity of having it out with her husband. On finding him alone, she burst into lamentations, beating her heart and praying that God would put an end to her wretched life. He calmly asked what was the matter and, on receiving no reply, went to bed. Presently she asked, "What has induced you to put me to shame?" Jadu Babu pretended ignorance, and thus made her only the more angry.

"Oh, you Neka" (buffoon), she groaned, "didn't you swear to separate from Nalini, and have you not taken all your meals with him ever since? Is that the action of a truthful man?"