Perhaps then she felt a pang of regret at her own weakness. She spoke out, her voice fierce—"You have no right to cast aspersions on me. If you are one of those men who cannot see a man and woman together without raising a finger, then by all means, do so. I do not care in the least. If a woman were to come to you again and again on some pretext, to consider you her deity, to seek your counsel in every matter, to lay her eyes at your feet, to be ready to leap into fire at your command—then I can say with certainty, you would not ignore her. If you could reject her, then you are not human. Bring forth as many arguments and proofs as you like against this, but I will not believe them. I say, forget ignoring, forget rejecting—before long, you would be washing that woman’s feet and drinking the water, and she would become the queen of your heart. I beg you, with folded hands, never mention Khanna’s name before me again."

Mehta, as if warming his hands over this fire, replied, "The only condition is that I do not see Khanna with you."

"I cannot murder humanity. If he comes, I will not drive him away."

"Tell him to behave decently with his wife."

"I do not consider it proper to interfere in anyone’s private affairs. Nor do I have the right."

"Then you cannot silence anyone’s tongue."

Malti’s bungalow had arrived. The car stopped. Malti got down and walked away without even shaking hands. She even forgot that she had invited Mehta for dinner. She wanted to go somewhere alone and weep her heart out. Govindi had wounded her before, but today’s blow was deeper, broader, and more piercing than any before.

Raisahab received news that an incident had occurred in the estate and that the panchayat of Hori’s village had already collected the fine. He immediately summoned Nokhe Ram and demanded an explanation—why had he not been informed? There was no place in his court for such a thankless, treacherous man.

Nokhe Ram, after enduring so much abuse, finally retorted, a little heated, "I was not alone. There were other panchayat members too. What could I have done by myself?"

Raisahab cast a spear-like, piercing glance at his belly—"Don’t argue! You should have said right then and there: until the zamindar is informed, I will not allow the panchayat to collect the fine. What right do the panchayat members have to interfere between me and my tenants? Apart from this land and water tax, what other income is there in the estate? The collection has gone to the government. The arrears have been claimed by the tenants. Then where am I to go? What am I to eat—your head? Where am I to get the lakhs of rupees needed each year? It is a shame that after two generations of service, I have to explain this to you today. How