But in the meanwhile Arunodaya fled as it were from Makarandika to take
refuge in his dream. And he found Sarojini as it were waiting for him
with anxiety, with eyes that seemed to say to him: Amidst all this
tumult of the pandits, thou and I are as it were alone together. And it
seemed to Arunodaya as he watched her, that her lips moved, and were
striving to say to him something, that by reason of the distance and the
shouting, he could not understand. And in his delight, he began to laugh
in his sleep, and murmur back to her in answer: Sarojini, Sarojini. And
filled with unutterable desire to approach her, and take her in his
arms, he was on the very point of rushing forward, urged by the
irritation of an impatience that was becoming unendurable, when once
again that maid devoid of modesty came straight towards him, and almost
broke his heart in two by taking by the hand not himself, but the king
who stood beside him. And as he muttered to himself: Out on this
interloping king, who comes between me and my delight! beginning to
tremble all over as he lay, that maid said again: King, listen and reply
to the question that the husband of Sarojini must answer well.
And Sarojini turned half towards him, leaving as it were her eyes
behind, fastened still on Arunodaya, as if unable to bear again the pain
of separation, and calling as it were to him, from over the sea of time.
And then she said, as if her words were meant for him alone! Maharaj,
Maharaj, say, shall I choose the past or the present, the living or the
dead?
And then, ere that unhappy king could answer, Arunodaya leaped towards
her, while all his body quivered as he lay upon his bed, as if
struggling in desperation to accompany his soul. And he cried out, not
only with his soul, but his body: Sarojini, Sarojini, never shall thou
choose, since I will not leave the choice to thee at all. Dead or
living, I am thine and thou art mine. And as she threw herself into his
arms, he caught her, and pulled her to his breast, while she put up her
face to him, as if dying to be kissed.
And then, strange! that face suddenly eluded him, with a derisive sneer.
And his ears rang with a din composed of the shouting and laughter of
pandits, mingled with the roar of the wind and the sea. And she and the
dream together suddenly went out and disappeared. And he saw her face,
for the fraction of a second, change, as if by magic, into the face of
Makarandika, pale as ashes: and then, something suddenly ran into his
heart like a sword. And his soul abandoned his body, with a sharp cry,
never to return.