"That night, having extinguished the light, Bhusan took his seat at the open window of
his bedroom as before. The sky was dark with rain-clouds, and there was a silence as
of something indefinite and impending. The monotonous croaking of the frogs and the
sound of the distant songs were not able to break that silence, but only seemed to add
an incongruity to it.
"Late at night the frogs and the crickets and the boys of the opera party became silent,
and a still deeper darkness fell upon the night. It seemed that now the time had come.
"Just as on the night before, a clattering and jingling sound came from the ghat by the
river. But this time Bhusan did not look in that direction, lest, by his over-anxiety and
restlessness, his power of sight and hearing would become overwhelmed. He made a
supreme effort to control himself, and sat still.
"The sound of the ornaments gradually advanced from the ghat, and entered the open
door. Then it came winding up the spiral staircase which led to the inner apartments. It
became difficult for Bhusan to control himself, his heart began to thump wildly, and his
throat was choking with suppressed excitement. Having reached the head of the spiral
stairs, the sound came slowly along the veranda towards the door of the room, where it
stopped just outside with a clanking sound. It was now only just on the other side of the
threshold.
"Bhusan could contain himself no longer, and his pent-up excitement burst forth in one
wild cry of "Mani," and he sprang up from his chair with lightning rapidity. Thus startled
out of his sleep, he found that the very window-panes were rattling with the vibration of
his cry. And outside he could hear the croaking of the frogs and patter of rain. "Bhusan
struck his forehead in despair.
"Next day the fair broke up, and the stall-keepers and the players' party went away.
Bhusan gave orders that that night no one should sleep in the house except himself.
The servants came to the conclusion that their master was going to practise some
mystic rites. All that day Bhusan fasted.
"In the evening, he took his seat at the window of that empty house. That day there
were breaks in the clouds, showing the stars twinkling through-the rain-washed air. The
moon was late in rising, and, as the fair was over, there was not a single boat on the
flooded river. The villagers, tired out by two nights' dissipation, were sound asleep.
"Bhusan, sitting with his head resting on the back of his chair, was gazing up at the
stars. He was thinking of the time when he was only nineteen years old, and was
reading in Calcutta; how in the evening he used to lie in College Square, with his hands
behind his head, gazing up at those eternal stars, and thinking of the sweet face of Mani
in his father-in-law's house. The very separation from her was like an instrument whose
tense-drawn strings those stars used to touch and waken into song.
"As he watched them, the stars one by one disappeared. From the sky above, and from
the earth beneath, screens of darkness met like tired eyelids upon weary eyes. To-night
Bhusan's mind was full of peace.