be
angry, I said nothing to you about it. Forgive me that offence; I am
telling you all."

Then she related the whole matter frankly, from the discovery of the
_Boisnavi_ Haridasi to the reproof she had given to Kunda. At the end
she said--

"I am deeply sorrowful that I have driven Kunda Nandini away. I have
sent everywhere in search of her. If I had found her, I would have
brought her back."

Nagendra said--

"Your fault is not great. Could any respectable man's wife, hearing of
such a stain, give refuge to the guilty person? But would it not have
been well to think a little whether the charge was true? Did you not
know of the talk about Tara Charan's house? Had you not heard that
Debendra had been introduced to Kunda three years before? Why did you
believe a drunkard's words?"

"I did not think of that at the time. Now I do. My mind was
wandering." As she spoke the faithful wife sank at Nagendra's feet,
and clasping them with her hands, wetted them with her tears. Then
raising her face, she said: "Oh, dearer than life, I will conceal
nothing that is in my mind."

Nagendra said: "You need not speak; I know that you suspect me of
feeling love for Kunda Nandini."

Surja Mukhi, hiding her face at the feet of her husband, wept. Again
raising her face, sad and tearful as the dew-drenched lily, and
looking into the face of him who could remove all her sorrows, she
said: "What can I say? Can I tell you what I have suffered? Only lest
my death might increase your sorrow, I do not die. Otherwise, when I
knew that another shared your heart, I wished to die. But people
cannot die by wishing to do so."

Nagendra remained long silent; then, with a heavy sigh, he said--

"Surja Mukhi, the fault is entirely mine, not yours at all. I have
indeed been unfaithful to you; in truth, forgetting you, my heart has
gone out towards Kunda Nandini. What I have suffered, what I do
suffer, how can I tell you? You think I have not tried to conquer it;
but you must not think so. You could never reproach me so bitterly as
I have reproached myself. I am sinful; I cannot rule my own heart."

Surja Mukhi could endure no more. With clasped hands, she entreated
bitterly--

"Tell me no more; keep it to yourself. Every word you say pierces my
breast like a dart. What was written in my destiny has befallen me. I
wish to hear no more; it is not fit for me to hear."

"Not so, Surja Mukhi," replied Nagendra; "you must listen. Let me
speak w