The women replied that their mistress was in her bed-room.

Kamal Mani darted thither.

For a minute or two she searched hither and thither, finding no one.

At last she saw a woman sitting near a window, her head bowed down.

Kamal Mani could not see her face, but she knew it was Surja Mukhi, who, now hearing footsteps, arose and came forward.