Seeing her agitation and sorrow, Seero came over and with a show of civility began enquiring after the health of the Chief Justice and the family. She also described in detail the critical condition of the patient and the heavy responsibilities that lay upon her, how night and day she had to be in constant attendance, how despite the insistence of friends and relatives she found it impossible to leave the wounded hero and join in the festivities.

To Divya, Seero’s behaviour appeared to be intolerably haughty and conceited. She seemed to be making fun of her unfortunate situation. She could say nothing in reply but only lower her eyes and remain silent.

‘You too seem to have missed the festivities, my dear,’ Seero said, her eyes opened wide with curiosity. ‘Without you it has been so dull in the cultural programmes. Devi Mallika is always looking for you and thinking about you.’ Her searching gaze travelled over Divya’s body, and the effort to suppress her smile made her full red lips quiver. She covered her lips with a corner of her stole.

Divya could not bear to wait for Prithusen to wake up. As politeness demanded, she somehow managed to express her wishes for the speedy recovery of the wounded hero and came away.

When he woke up, Prithusen learned from a maidservant about Divya’s visit and her departure. At the city gate, when the ladies and young women of the nobility had anointed him, his eyes had been searching for Divya, and his ears had been eagerly waiting to hear her voice. Whenever his pain subsided a little, his thoughts would turn to her. That she should have come after such a long time, and then gone away without even waiting for him to wake up, caused him great grief. As he was himself unable to go and see her, he became all the more restless. Troubled by her apparent indifference, he was at a loss to understand what could have occasioned it. He asked Seero why Divya had gone away without even waiting to speak to him.

An ironical smile hovered on Seero’s lips. With a pout of her thick red lips, she said disdainfully, ‘How can I tell what was on her mind, Arya? Maybe the great-granddaughter of the Chief Justice did not have enough time to wait until the patient woke up. What else can I say?’ Prithusen did not have the courage to ask any more questions to Seero.

His anxiety, since he was not able to allay it, became all the more oppressive. However hard he tried, he could not imagine what could have happened during his six months’ absence. ‘Can it be that Divya’s ardour has cooled towards me out of pride for her high birth? Can it be that she has grown afraid of her family? Or perhaps she has been drawn towards someone else, someone who is more attractive? Why is she unwilling even to see me now?’ Lying alone, he would spin all kinds of dramatic explanations.