Page:The Wreck.djvu/53

THE WRECK

the disclosure would seem to be a triumph for Akshay, and that was too humiliating to contemplate.

He reflected that Akshay must suppose that Kam- ala's husband was some one else of the name of Ramesh, for otherwise he would not have remained quiet so long, confining himself to covert allusions, but would have proclaimed his discovery on the house- tops. All these considerations led Ramesh to seek some means of staving off trouble for the present in- stead of taking the straight course.

At this point the post brought him another letter. Ramesh opened it and found that it was from the headmistress of the girls' school. She wrote to say that Kamala had taken so terribly to heart the prospect of being kept at school during the holidays that the management must decline to l)e responsible for her; school would break up on Saturday, and Ramesh must be prepared to receive her at home that day.

Kainala was to come home on Saturday and his wedding was to take place on Sunday !

"Ramesh Babu, you really must forgive me!" It was Akshay who broke in upon him at this crisis in his affairs. "If I had thought that you would take offence at such an everyday piece of foolery I should have kept quiet. People resent a joke if there's some truth in it, but in this case there was no foundation at all, so I don't know why you lost your temper in company. Annada Babu has been scolding me ever since and Hemnalini won't speak to me. I went to see them this morning and she walked out of the room. Why are you all so offended with me?"

"I am not at liberty to tell you at present. I must ask you to excuse me now ; I'm rather busy."

"Oh, preparations for the wedding! The bandsmen want something in advance, I suppose, and you don't want to waste time here. Well, I shan't keep you any longer. Good-bye."

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