'All right, we'll see,' said Joygopal. The neighbours made a great
stir over this incident. 'If you want to quarrel with your husband,'
said Tara, 'do so at home. What is the good of leaving your house?
After all, Joygopal is your husband.'
By spending all the money she had with her, and selling her ornaments,
Sasi saved her brother from the jaws of death. Then she heard that the
big property which they had in Dwarigram, where their dwelling-house
stood, the income of which was more than Rs. 1500 a year, had been
transferred by Joygopal into his own name with the help of the
Jemindar. And now the whole property belonged to them, not to her
brother.
When he had recovered from his illness, Nilmani would cry plaintively:
'Let us go home, sister.' His heart was pining for his nephews and
nieces, his companions. So he repeatedly said: 'Let us go home,
sister, to that old house of ours.' At this Sasi wept. Where was
their home?
But it was no good crying. Her brother had no one else besides herself
in the world. Sasi thought of this, wiped her tears, and, entering the
Zenana of the Deputy Magistrate, Tarini Babu, appealed to his wife.
The Deputy Magistrate knew Joygopal. That a woman should forsake her
home, and engage in a dispute with her husband regarding matters of
property, greatly incensed him against Sasi. However, Tarini Babu
kept Sasi diverted, and instantly wrote to Joygopal. Joygopal put
his wife and brother-in-law into a boat by force, and brought them home.
Husband and wife, after a second separation, met again for the second
time! The decree of Prajapati![29]
[29] The Hindu god of marriage.
Having got back his old companions after a long absence, Nilmani was
perfectly happy. Seeing his unsuspecting joy, Sasi felt as if her heart
would break.