e me next month's pay in advance, then I will explain."

Kamal Mani brought her mouth close to that of Srish Chandra, who took
the coin he wished. After reading the letter he said--

"This is a joke!"

"What is? your words, or the letter?"

"The letter."

"I shall discharge you to-day. Have you not a spark of understanding?
Is this a matter a woman could jest about?"

"It is impossible it can be meant in earnest."

"I fear it is true."

"Nonsense! How can it be true?"

"I fear my brother is forcing on this marriage."

Srish Chandra mused a while; then said, "I cannot understand this at
all. What do you say? Shall I write to Nagendra?"

Kamal Mani assented. Srish made a grimace, but he wrote the letter.

Nagendra's reply was as follows:--

"Do not despise me, brother. Yet what is the use of such a petition;
the despicable must be despised. I must effect this marriage. Should
all the world abandon me I must do it, otherwise I shall go mad: I am
not far short of it now. After this there seems nothing more to be
said. You will perceive it is useless to try to turn me from it; but
if you have anything to say I am ready to argue with you. If any one
says that widow-marriage is contrary to religion, I will give him
Vidya Sagar's essay to read. When so learned a teacher affirms that
widow-marriage is approved by the Shastras, who can contradict? And
if you say that though allowed by the Shastras it is not countenanced
by society, that if I carry out this marriage I shall be excluded from
society, the answer is, 'Who in Govindpur can exclude me from society?
In a place where I constitute society, who is there to banish me?'
Nevertheless, for your sakes I will effect the marriage secretly; no
one shall know anything about it. You will not make the foregoing
objections; you will say a double marriage is contrary to morals.
Brother, how do you know that it is opposed to morality? You have
learned this from the English; it was not held so in India formerly.
Are the English infallible? They have taken this idea from the law of
Moses;[14] but we do not hold Moses' law to be the word of God,
therefore why should we say that for a man to marry two wives is
immoral? You will say if a man may marry two wives why should not a
woman have two husbands? The answer is, if a woman had two husbands
certain evils would follow which would not result from a man's having
two wives. If a woman has two husbands the children have no pro