“I would love for you to read it to me,” she said sweetly.

He chuckled. He always had a twinkle in his eye; now she heard it in his voice. “This has something to do with FBI work?” he asked, curious.

“You would be amazed.”

He left for a minute to find the story. When he returned he warned that he might have to interrupt and clarify a few parts, but he would try to stay out of the way as much as possible. Not to worry, she told him. Sitting back in her chair, she closed her eyes and listened.

“RATI LIVED in ancient India. She was the daughter of a rich nobleman and very pretty. When it was time for her to marry, she had dozens of would-be suitors pining for her love, but there were only two young men that she cared for: Vindhu and Hara.

“Vindhu was educated and kind. His family did not have the riches Rati’s clan did, but he came from an honorable line of Brahmins. Hara was a member of the warrior caste, a Keshatria, like Rati. Now you know that ordinarily castes marry within caste but in that age it was not unusual for a Brahmin and Keshatria to wed. Even today a union of those two castes is not that odd.

“Hara was a true warrior in many ways, the opposite of Vindhu. Hot-tempered and passionate, he appealed to the dark side of Rati’s nature. Theirs might have been the first love triangle in all of literature. Rati loved Vindhu more but was constantly drawn to Hara. She was not above torturing the two men, pitting one against the other. That was hard on both, and they ended up hating each other, and maybe her a little as well.

“But in the end Rati made a decision, choosing Hara over Vindhu, which broke Vindhu’s heart. Because all along she had told Vindhu he was the one she truly loved.

“The wedding day came and Rati and Hara were joined as man and wife. At first they lived happily together and time passed. But fiery by nature, Hara grew impatient with Rati when she did not conceive a child. He began to abuse her, not physically, but emotionally and verbally. Rati was no saint, however; she dished out her own share of insults. The marriage began to crumble, but there was no possibility of divorce. Rati kept thinking of Vindhu, how kind and loving he had always been, and she came to regret her decision. She even went so far as to seek him out, to talk about her problems, and to enjoy a few hours in his company.

“One thing led to another. Even though Vindhu was a highly moral man, he loved Rati too much, and when she offered herself to him, he could not resist, and they became lovers. Not long afterward she discovered she was pregnant. Unfortunately, she had no idea who the child belonged to. For his part, Hara had recently taken a secret lover and she too became pregnant. The triangle took on an added dimension.