Page:The Slave Girl of Agra.djvu/311



"," spoke Hemlata, gently and softly, as the soldier was leaving the temple and walking out into the moonlight.

Norendra Nath stopped. He turned and looked at the figure in the shadow. His eyes remained fixed, and a tremor shook his frame. He saw the face he had seen in his boyhood at Birnagar, and had dreamt of in many lonely nights in many distant lands. He saw the figure now grown to the full bloom and beauty of womanhood. He saw the marble brow and those gentle, speaking eyes which he had never, never forgotten. One wild exclamation escaped his lips, and he stretched out his arms to her whose thoughts filled his life.

Hemlata stepped back a little. Noren remembered the place where he stood, and the gulf which divided him from her who stood before. He remained abashed and silent. Hemlata spoke gently and calmly.

"Noren, we meet to-night after many years. We were playmates as children and dreamt many dreams together, but serious life is before us now. Thy work as a soldier is ended, and thy duties as a Zemindar call thee to thy home. I am wedded to one of the truest and best of men, Heaven will help me to be a true and devoted wife."

What could Noren say in reply. The soft, gentle words of Hemlata cut like a knife into his heart. The