33

The moment Paresh Babu came home and saw Lalita there at an unexpected hour, he understood that this impetuous daughter of his had set off some unprecedented incident. As he turned a questioning look upon her face, she burst out, “Baba, I have come away. I could not stay there a moment longer.”

Paresh Babu asked, “Why, what has happened?” Lalita replied, “The magistrate has sent Gour-babu to gaol.” How Gour had entered into any of this, what had come to pass — Paresh could make nothing of it. After hearing the full account from Lalita, he remained silent for some time. The thought of Gora’s mother came to him at once, and his heart ached within him. He fell to thinking: if only those who sit in judgment could feel within their hearts what cruel punishment is inflicted upon how many innocent souls by sending one man to prison, the act of imprisoning a human being could never have become so habitual and facile a matter. That sending Gora to prison had cost the magistrate no greater effort than sending a common thief — such barbarity was possible only through the utter deadening of the moral sense. How terrible is the tyranny of man over man, beyond all other cruelties in the world — and how immense and overwhelming it becomes when the power of society and the power of the state rally together behind it — all this became vividly present before his eyes as he heard of Gora’s sentence.

Seeing Paresh Babu thus silent and absorbed in thought, Lalita grew animated and said, “Is it not a monstrous injustice, Baba?”

Paresh Babu replied in his customary gentle voice, “What Gour has actually done, and to what extent — that I do not know precisely; but I can say with certainty that Gour might, carried away by the force of his sense of duty, overstep the boundaries of his own authority — yet what in English is called a crime is something utterly contrary to Gora’s nature; of that I have not the slightest doubt. But what can one do, my dear? The justice of the age has not yet attained sufficient conscience. Even now, the punishment for an offence is the same as the punishment for an error; both must turn the same grinding-wheel in the same prison. That such a thing has become possible cannot be laid to the charge of any single individual. The sin of all humanity together is responsible.”

Abruptly breaking off this subject, Paresh Babu asked, “Who came with you?”

Lalita straightened herself with a particular firmness, as though bracing for effort, and said, “With Binoy-babu.”

However much courage she displayed outwardly, there was weakness within. She could not say with ease that she had come with Binoy-babu — a flush of shame came from somewhere and settled upon her, and the thought that this shame was showing itself in her expression made the shame grow greater still.

Among all his children, Paresh Babu held this wayward and indomitable daughter in a measure of particular affection. It was precisely because her conduct was censured by others that he had accorded a special regard to the sincerity that lay within Lalita’s behaviour. He knew that Lalita’s faults would always catch people’s eyes most readily, while however rare the virtues she possessed, they would win little appreciation from the world. Paresh Babu had sheltered and protected those virtues with care and solicitude; he had not wished that, in suppressing Lalita’s unruly nature, he should at the same time crush the greatness within her. His other two daughters were at once acknowledged beautiful by all who saw them; their complexions were bright, their features without fault — but Lalita was darker than they, and there was division of opinion regarding the gracefulness of her face. For this reason, Baradasundari constantly expressed to her husband her anxiety over finding a suitable match for Lalita. But the beauty Paresh Babu perceived in Lalita’s face was not the beauty of complexion or of feature — it was the deep beauty of the spirit. In her there was not merely softness, but the fire of independence and the firmness of strength — a firmness not pleasing to all. It drew certain persons to her, yet held many others at a distance. Lalita would not be beloved in the world, but she would be true — knowing this, Paresh Babu drew her close with a kind of tender sorrow — knowing that no one else was ready to forgive her, he judged her with compassion.

When Paresh Babu heard that Lalita had abruptly come away alone with Binoy, he understood in an instant that she would be made to suffer for this for a long time to come; for whatever fault she had committed, the world would decree a punishment far heavier than the offence warranted. He was sitting silently pondering this, when Lalita broke out: “Baba, I have done wrong. But now I have come to understand clearly that the relationship between the magistrate and the people of our country is of such a nature that in his hospitality there is no honour at all — only patronage, nothing more. Even so, was it right for me to remain there?”

The question did not appear simple to Paresh Babu. Without attempting any answer, he smiled gently, tapped Lalita lightly on the head with his right hand, and said, “You foolish child!”

That afternoon, as Paresh Babu was turning these events over in his mind and pacing in front of the house, Binoy came and bowed to him. Paresh Babu discussed Gora’s imprisonment with him for a considerable time, but made no reference whatsoever to the matter of Lalita having come with him on the steamer. When it grew dark, he said, “Come, Binoy, come inside.”

Binoy said, “No — I shall go to my lodgings now.”

Paresh Babu did not press him a second time. Binoy cast one swift glance towards the upper floor and then walked slowly away.

Lalita had caught sight of Binoy from upstairs. When Paresh Babu entered the house alone, Lalita thought Binoy would perhaps come a little later. A little later still, Binoy did not come. Then she moved a few books and a paperweight on the table, and left the room. Paresh Babu called her back — and, resting a gaze full of tenderness upon her downcast face, said, “Lalita, sing me a Brahmo devotional song.”

And with that he shielded the lamp.