Page:The Wreck.djvu/160

THE WRECK

The lady of the house was taking a post-prandial nap behind closed doors and Sailaja went to Bipin. "You must give Ramesh Babu a message from Kamala," she said, "inviting him to her rocmi. Dad won't mind and mother won't know anything about it"

Bipin was a quiet, reserved youth and he did not relish an errand of this sort; however, he did not care to spoil his Sunday peace by demurring at his wife's instructions.

Ramesh was lying on a rug in the outer room, with one knee up and his other foot resting on it, reading the Pioneer, He had perused all the news of the day, and for want of something better to do had turned his attention to the advertisement pages when Bipin entered the room. Ramesh rose with alacrity. "Come along in, Bipin Babu, come along!" Though Bipin was not particularly companionable he was a distinct acquisition when it came to whiling away an afternoon in a strange place.

Instead of sitting down, however, Bipin merely stood and scratched his head. "She wants you to come inside," he said.

"Who? Kamala?'

"Yes."

Ramesh was taken aback. He had decided that for

the future Kamala must be his wife in fact as well as in name, but the present enforced separation had been in the nature of a reprieve and he had gladly relapsed into his old state of indecision. True, he had rap- turous visions of the happiness that would be his when Kamala became his true helpmate, but how was he to break the ice? It would be no simple matter suddenly to throw off the restraint which had marked his rela- tions with Kamala of late and he could not decide how to set about it. Consequently he had shown no par- ticular haste in negotiating for a house.

When he heard Bipin's announcement he assumed

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