THE WRECK
47
came home yesterday evening and announced, 'Do you know, your Ramesh Babu's wife is at our school.' I said, 'Silly kid ! Do you think ours is the only Ramesh Babu in the world?' 'Whoever he is,' said Sarat, 'he's very unkind to his wife. Almost all the girls are going home for the holidays and he has arranged for his wife to board at school. Poor thing, she's crying her eyes out.' Then I said to myself, 'This won't do at all; other people may make the same mistake as Sarat.'"
Annada Babu burst out laughing. "Akshay, you're perfectly mad! Why should our Ramesh change his name because some Ramesh or other has left his wife crying at school?" But Ramesh suddenly turned pale and left the room.
"What's the matter, Ramesh Babu?" cried Akshay. "Where are you off to? Have I offended you? You surely don't think that I suspect you," and he hurried out after Ramesh.
"What on earth is it all about?" exclaimed Annada Babu. To his astonishment Hemnalini burst into tears. "What's this, Hem? What are you crying about?"
"It's too bad of Akshay Babu, daddy!" she sobbed out; "why does he insult a guest in our house like that?"
"Akshay was only joking; why take it so much to heart?"
"I can't stand that sort of joke," and Hemnalini fled upstairs.
Since his return to Calcutta Ramesh had left no stone unturned to trace Kamala's husband. With great difficulty he had found out where Dhobapukur was and had written to Kamala's uncle Tarini Charan,
The reply came on the day after the incident just described. Tarini Charan wrote to say that he had heard nothing of his niece's husband Nalinaksha since the catastrophe; Nalinaksha had been a doctor prac-
