His disgruntled face set Behari’s nerves on edge and he burst forth, ‘Mahin da, you are free to court disaster for yourself—it’s something you have always done. But please don’t ruin the simple, pious woman who has sought refuge with you. I beg of you, don’t ruin her life.’ Behari choked on the last words.

Mahendra shouted in righteous anger, ‘Behari, I don’t understand what you are saying. Don’ t speak in riddles; clearly say what you want to.’

Behari said, ‘I’ll do that then. Binodini is leading you astray on purpose and you are stepping on to the forbidden path like a fool.

Mahendra roared, ‘Lies! If you dare to make such false accusations about a lady from a respected family, you should be barred from the inner chambers.’

At this point Binodini walked in with a plate of sweets and smiling, placed it before Behari. He said, ‘What’s all this? I am not hungry.’

Binodini said, ‘Well, that’s how it is. You cannot go without eating some of this.’

Behari laughed, ‘Does this mean that my application has been accepted and my “spoiling” has begun?’

Binodini smiled coyly and said, ‘Since you are a younger brother-in-law, you have a right; why beg where you can demand?You may choose to seize affection if you wish, isn’t that so, Mahendrababu?’

Mahendra was lost for words.

Binodini said, ‘Beharibabu, is it modesty or anger that makes you refrain from touching the sweets? Must I call someone else here?’

Behari said, ‘There’s no need for that; what I have here is more than enough.’

Binodini said, ‘Mockery? You are incorrigible. Even sweets cannot silence you.’

That night Asha condemned Behari to Mahendra and he supported her unconditionally, unlike other days when he would laugh and brush aside her complaints against his friend.

The next morning Mahendra visited Behari and said, ‘Behari, all said and done, Binodini is not really a member of the family and in your presence she seems to feel a bit uncomfortable.’

Behari said, ‘Is that so? That’s a pity. Well, if it bothers her I guess I should stay away.’

Mahendra was relieved. He hadn’t expected this unpleasant task to be accomplished so easily. He was a little scared of Behari.

The same day Behari strolled into Mahendra’s inner chambers and said, ‘Binod-bouthan, I beg your pardon.’

Binodini asked, ‘But why?’

Behari said, ‘I heard from Mahin da that my presence in the inner chambers offends you. So I shall beg your pardon and take my leave.’

Binodini said, ‘Oh, that’s not right, Beharibabu; I am here today and gone tomorrow. Why should you leave on my account? Had I known there would be such trouble I would never have come here.’ Binodini’s face fell and she looked as though she was holding back her tears as she walked away.

In that instant Behari felt, ‘My suspicions were wrong—I have wrongly accused Binodini.’

That evening Rajlakshmi came to Mahendra in despair and said, ‘Mahin, Bipin’s wife is determined to leave us.’

Mahendra asked, ‘Why Mother, what’s troubling her here?’

Rajlakshmi said, ‘Nothing. But she says if a young widow like her stays on in another’s house for too long, tongues will wag.’

Mahendra was angry. ‘This is not exactly “another’s house”, is it!’

Behari was sitting there and Mahendra threw him an incensed look.

Repentant, Behari mused silently, ‘Yesterday I was perhaps too critical of Binodini and she’s upset about it.’

Both husband and wife felt offended with Binodini.

One said, ‘So you think we are “others”?’ and the other said, ‘After so long you still don’t think of us as your own.’

Binodini said, ‘But really, did you think you could keep me here forever?’

Mahendra said, ‘Oh no, we wouldn’t dare to presume any such thing!’

Asha said, ‘Why did you steal our hearts like this if you meant to go away?’

That day nothing was decided. Binodini said to Asha, ‘No, my friend, let me go. It’s best to leave before the tie grows stronger.’ She threw a poignant look at Mahendra as she said this.

The next day Behari came and said, ‘Binod-bouthan, why do you speak of going? Have we offended you—is this a penalty we have to pay?’

Binodini turned her face slightly and said, ‘Why would you offend me—my own fate is at fault.’

Behari said, ‘But if you leave I can’t help feeling it would be my fault.’

Binodini raised her eyes full of pleading and asked of Behari, ‘You tell me, is it right for me to stay?’

Behari was put in a spot. How could he answer in the affirmative? He said, ‘Of course, you must leave at some point; but why don’t you stay a while longer?’

Binodini lowered her eyes and said, ‘All of you are begging me to stay—it is rather difficult for me to override the requests—but this is really very wrong of you.’ As she spoke, the tears fell thick and fast through the dense curtain of her long lashes.

Behari was unnerved by this silent, severe deluge of tears and exclaimed, ‘In the short while that you’ve been here, you have won the hearts of everyone around you. And that is why no one wants to let you go. Please don’t take it to heart Binod-bouthan, but who would want to be separated from such grace and charm?’

Asha sat in a corner with her sari pulled over her head, and wiped her eyes repeatedly. After this incident, Binodini never spoke of leaving again.

17

IN AN EFFORT TO WIPE OUT THE MEMORY OF THIS UNPLEASANTNESS, Mahendra proposed a picnic in the farmhouse at Dumdum the following Sunday. Asha welcomed the idea but Binodini refused. Both Mahendra and Asha were crestfallen at her refusal. They thought, ‘Binodini is trying to distance herself from us these days.’

That evening, the minute Behari arrived, Binodini said, ‘Beharibabu, listen to this, Mahinbabu wants to go to the farmhouse at Dumdum for a picnic and because I refused to go, the two of them have been sulking all day.’

Behari said, ‘I can’t blame them. If you don’t go, the bedlam that’ll pass for a picnic can’t be wished upon one’s worst enemies, let alone on these two.’

Binodini said, ‘Why don’t you come along, Beharibabu? If you come, I’m willing to go.’

Behari said, ‘Brilliant suggestion. But it awaits the master’s approval—what does the master say?’

Both the master and her ladyship were miffed at this predilection on Binodini’s part towards Behari. Hearing the proposal, Mahendra’s eagerness for the outing dwindled. He was keen on persuading Behari that the latter’s presence was distasteful to Binodini at all times. But now it would be difficult to hold him back.

Mahendra said, ‘That’s fine, sounds good. But Behari, you always kick up a ruckus wherever you go—perhaps you’ll invite a whole bunch of local children there or stir up a fight with a whiteskin, one never knows what to expect with you.’

Behari understood why Mahendra was dragging his feet and he smiled quietly to himself as he said, ‘But that’s the fun of life—one never knows what’s to come, what will happen next.