Page:The Slave Girl of Agra.djvu/213

 one convulsive sob broke from the proud, suffering woman as she retired to her rooms.

A week after she brought the keys of the house and handed them to Hemlata.

"Daughter," she said, "thou art of age to manage the household now. Tend thy father well, do thy duty towards thy husband, be kind and loving to all relations and dependants. I have done my life's work, and not many years are left to me on earth. Leave me, daughter, to my devotions, which suit my declining years. May the Great Bhagavan make thee happy, and bestow on thee sons and daughters, and every blessing on earth."

The tears and entreaties of the gentle Hemlata were in vain. Her mother was almost a religious devotee from that date, spending mornings and evenings in the adjoining temple, and telling her beads in a silent corner of the house most part of the day.