Katyayani went and touched Subhadra's feet, wordlessly. The latter grunted her acknowledgement of the girl's presence and didn't even bother to utter a polite blessing. Instead, she moved quickly towards Lilavati, who had the usual superior look on her face.
As someone belonging to a prestigious scholarly family, Lilavati always behaved lofty and snobbish in front of her far lesser educated youngest sister-in-law. As a result, there was always some amount of tension simmering below the surface between the two of them.
"Eldest Sister in-law, I heard that Eldest Brother-in-law has been keeping extremely busy these days. I wonder if the workload of a minister is really so strenuous or maybe something 'new' has captured his attention again," said Subhadra in a cryptic, mocking tone.
Lilavati's face paled at the implication. She was about to retort but felt her elder daughter's hand covering her cold palm.
"Greetings, Third Aunt!" Dharitri crossed over with Dharani following behind and touched her feet.
Subhadra was distracted momentarily from her original target but then found another one. "You are becoming more and more beautiful everyday, Dharitri. Sometimes I get confused whether there was a mix-up in your childhood. Maybe Second Sister in-law and your mother exchanged you and Katyayani accidentally in the cribs. But then I remember that they are a year apart. Still… hehe…"
Subhadra's raucous laughter was cut short the moment she raised her eyes and looked at the door.
Kirtidev stood there looking at his youngest daughter in-law making crass remarks in front of everyone, including children.
Before he could berate her, Jayantdev reached his wife and scolded her in a soft voice. "Have you lost your senses? Is this even a joke? I know that you have been working hard with me in managing the accounts. But that is not an excuse for your lapse of judgement right now."
Subhadra got the requisite face saving excuse and she immediately fell on Kirtidev's feet. "It was this daughter in-law's fault. I just got dizzy momentarily and didn't realise what I was saying. Begging for your forgiveness, Father."
Kirtidev's face didn't move a muscle but Lilavati pushed Subhadra aside and bent down to offer her greetings to the family's patriarch with a wounded expression on her face.
"I am sorry that you had to witness this embarrassing scene, father. I have failed in imparting the teachings of mother to my youngest sister in-law. I have no face to even seek your forgiveness," she said cleverly, making a reference to the deceased mother-in-law to add oil to Kirtidev's burning ire.
"Be quiet. Enough of this nonsense! Father, why don't you take a seat. Let's not delay the meal due to the foolishness of the womenfolk," Rudradev said in a glib tone, simultaneously winking at his brother to cooperate.
"Greetings, Eldest Uncle, Youngest Uncle," Katyayani touched their feet and moved back timidly right after.
All this while, Kirtidev had not spoken a word. He took his seat at the head of the table silently. The servants started bringing in the hot dishes till the time the mahogany table was groaning under the weight of aromatic, flavourful food.
Both Lilavati and Subhadra maintained deferential posture and stood on the side, instructing the servants to serve the three men and admonishing the children to eat properly in hushed undertones.
There was no conversation at the table and the occasional screech of the spoons against the vessels also seemed jarring. As was the custom, everyone ate with their hands and washed the soiled fingers with lemon water in a bowl.
"Have the servants take away the two boys and second girl of Rudradev. Rest everyone stay, I have something to announce," said Kirtidev after wiping his hand with a silken napkin given to him by the attentive servant.
The two brothers exchanged an uncomfortable look amongst themselves while the wives looked at their respective spouses in confusion.
Katyayani's face remained impassive as she chased the lemon slice floating in the water bowl. Dharani pouted but her sister levelled a severe look at her, making her get up quietly and walk away with the two boys and their nanny in tow.
"Everyone sit down," Kirtidev waved his hands at the two women, a touch impatiently.
As the male head of the house, he found it awkward to deal with the daughter in-laws directly on most occasions. This was also the reason why he had stopped them from coming to greet him every morning since his wife passed away.
Without any preamble, he started with Rudradev first. "Dharitri turned 17 last month and it is time for her marriage to be fixed. Instead of concentrating on useless, dirty things outside, find a good house for your daughter in the next six months. I have been ignoring your shenanigans for quite some time now, thinking that you would grow up one day. I don't have the patience to see you make a fool of yourself and the Bali name any longer. So, get your act together. If you aren't capable enough, I will look elsewhere for the next head of the Bali household. I believe in merit more than birthright. Do you understand?"
Embarrassed at being confronted in front of everyone, Rudradev's face turned mottled red but he managed to shake his head in affirmative.
Lilavati's eyes turned moist and embarrassed but she didn't lose her bearing, especially under the hawk-eyed, mocking gaze of Subhadra, her nemesis. Dharitri was glad that her younger sister had been sent away. She believed that Dharani was still unaware of the ugliness of her parents' marriage.
But she was feeling awkward, standing here while the discussion regarding her marriage was taking place. She kept her eyes fixed at an obscure point in the room.
"I will be adding a 100 gold coins each to the dowry that you wish to give your daughters, and will also bear the cost of their weddings. Rest everything is your duty," Kirtidev continued.
As per the customs in this part of the world, the marriage expenses were fully borne by the bride's family. Apart from providing a dowry, there were a plethora of gifts sent to the groom and his family. The boy and his family had to do nothing except show up for the wedding with their relatives!