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When Kunda saw Kamal Mani she thought that once more a star had risen in the sky. Since the flight of Surja Mukhi, Kamal's anger against Kunda had been inflexible; she had always refused to see her. But now, at the sight of Kunda's emaciated figure, Kamal's anger departed.

But I cannot resolve to stay at home. A month ago my Surja Mukhi left me, and I have had no news of her. I design to follow her; I will wander from place to place in search of her. If I find her I will bring her home, otherwise I shall not return. I cannot remain with Kunda Nandini; she has become a pain to my eyes. It is not her fault, it is mine, but I cannot endure to see her face.

Early the next morning Hira related to Surja Mukhi all that she had heard from Debendra his three years' passion, and his present attempt to play the lover to Kunda Nandini in the disguise of a Boisnavi. Then Surja Mukhi's blue eyes grew inflamed with anger, the crimson veins on her temples stood out. Kamal also heard it all. Surja Mukhi sent for Kunda Nandini, and when she came said to her

Nagendra, taking the bottle, read the inscription, and, hurling it away, struck a cat with it. The cat fled, her tail drenched with the physic. Surja Mukhi said: "If you will not take the medicine, at least tell me what is your complaint." Nagendra, annoyed, said, "What complaint have I?"

For a minute or two she searched hither and thither, finding no one. At last she saw a woman sitting near a window, her head bowed down. Kamal Mani could not see her face, but she knew it was Surja Mukhi, who, now hearing footsteps, arose and came forward. Not even yet could Kamal ask if the marriage had taken place.

I will go for a doctor." Surja Mukhi went on her errand, and Nagendra to Kunda's room alone. He found Kunda's face darkened, her eyes lustreless, her body relaxed. Kunda Nandini was seated on the floor, her head resting against the the bed-post. At sight of Nagendra the tears came into her eyes. As he stood beside her, Kunda, like a severed branch of a twining plant, laid her head at his feet.

Surja Mukhi had lost flesh; her figure, formerly straight as a pine, had become bent like a bow; her laughing eyes were sunk; her lily face had lost its roundness. Kamal Mani comprehended that the marriage was accomplished. She inquired, "When was it?" Surja Mukhi answered, "Yesterday." Then the two sat down together, neither speaking. Surja Mukhi hid her face in the other's lap, and wept.

The moment she set foot in the house Kamal took in hand the dressing of her sister-in-law's hair, for Surja Mukhi had neglected herself lately. Kamal said, "Shall I put in a flower or two?" Surja Mukhi pinched her cheek, and forbade it. So Kamal Mani did it slily. When people came in she said, "Do you see the old woman wearing flowers in her hair?"

In the depth of night, when all were sleeping, Kunda Nandini opened the door of her chamber and went forth. With but one dress, the seventeen-year-old girl left the house of Surja Mukhi, and leaped alone into the ocean of the world. Kunda had never set foot outside the house; she could not tell in which direction to go. The dark body of the large house loomed against the sky.

When, at evening, Nagendra Natha left Madhupur in his palanquin, he said to himself "Now I have lost all. What is lost happiness? that was lost on the day when Surja Mukhi left home. Then what is lost now hope? So long as hope remains to man all is not lost; when hope dies, all dies."