Page:The Wreck.djvu/257

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CHAPTER L

KsHEMANKARi had in the meantime sent for Nalin- aksha and informed him that she had made a proposal on his behalf and that it had been accepted.

Nalinaksha smiled. "Have you arranged it definitely already ?" he asked ; "you've been very quick about it

Kshemankari. "Of course I have. I shan't live for ever, you know. You see, I've taken a great fancy to Hemnalini. She's quite an exceptional girl. Of course, as far as looks go — her complexion is not very good, but-"

Nalinaksha, "Spare me, mother ! I wasn't thinking of her complexion but of the impossibility of my mar- rying iiemnalini. I really can't do it."

Kshemankari, "Don't talk nonsense 1 I see no rea- son against it.**

It was not easy for Nalinaksha to formulate his objections but his unspoken thought was this : Here was Hemnalini, a girl towards whom he had definitely assumed the role of father-confessor; to turn round suddenly and propose marriage to her seemed almost an outrage.

Taking Nalinaksha's silence for acquiescence, his mother resumed : "I won't listen to any objections this time. You seem determined to renounce the world and become a regular Benares hermit for my sake. It's absurd at your age and I decline to put up with it any longer. Now mind and don't let this oppor- tunity slip. The first auspicious day that comes along you must bring it off."

It was some time before Nalinaksha could command his voice.

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