CHAPTER XII
Annada Babu was too hospitably inclined to let Ak- shay depart as soon as he had taken the pill and Akshay on his part showed no disposition to hurry away. He kept glancing disapprovingly at Ramesh out of the corner of his eye. Ramesh was not par- ticularly observant but he could not fail to notice Ak- shay's disapproving looks and they disturbed his equanimity.
Hemnalini had been gloating over the prospect of the trip to Jubbulpore, the time for which was now fast approaching, and she had decided to take the opportunity of Ramesh's next visit to discuss with him her plans for the holidays; they were to prepare in consultation a list of books to take with them for reading in their hours of leisure. It had accordingly been arranged that Ramesh should make his call an early one, for if he delayed his arrival till tea-time Akshay or some chance visitor might drop in and spoil their tete-a-tete.
But as it happened Ramesh had been later than usual in arriving, and when he had come he wore a preoccupied air. Hemnalini's spirits were correspond- ingly damped. She found an opportunity to remark to him in an undertone, "You were very late to-day, weren't you?"
Ramesh's mind appeared to be elsewhere. "Yes, I'm afraid I was," he replied after a moment's pause.
Now Hemnalini had made a special point of being ready in good time. She had dressed her hair and
40
Digitized by Google
