Tara: A Mahratta Tale

by Meadows Taylor

  CHAPTER VI.

  Anunda was not a person to allow useless time to elapse betweenthe ascertained necessity of any act and its completion, and thepreparation for the marriage went on merrily. What stores of flour,and rice and ghee, and condiments were laid in! What gorgeous dressesselected! Ah, young English ladies, and indeed I may include mothersalso, who may read these pages, you are not to believe that weddingtrousseaux are confined to your own country and society! Very far fromit. A young Hindu lady, or Mahomedan either--there is not much tochoose between them in this respect--is as full of hope of a liberal,a handsome, outfit on her marriage, as any fashionable young lady ofBelgravia or Mayfair; and believe me, is as proportionably delighted ifit be so.

  There was much to spend, and no grudging. So one old cloth-seller hadbeen dispatched to Sholapoor, and another to Wyr[=a]g; one to Nuldroogalso, then a large camp and emporium: and the result was, as we maysay, an overplus of riches. It was hard to select from the bales onbales which were sent up from the shops; still, piece by piece, thedresses accumulated, and were indeed lovely. Silk and gold sarees; silkand cotton mixed; plain cotton with silk borders; bodice pieces, stiffwith gold and brocade--all betokening wealth and comfort. No millinerrequired here. The garments of one piece, only remarkable for theirrichness and diversity of colour and pattern, were such as were, andare still, worn by the better classes of society. Anunda was determinedthat no fault could be found with her own and Tara's selection, andcertainly it was better to be on the liberal side.

  Then how busy the goldsmiths were! In the Shastree's school court,half-a-dozen men, sometimes more, were to be seen sitting over pans ofcharcoal, blowpipe in hand, beating silver or gold on small anvils, andfashioning them into massive and quaintly beautiful ornaments. Anundahad given some of her old things to be broken up and re-made. We willnot say how many ounces of virgin gold were added, but here too thegood lady was liberal--very liberal; and Tara, of her own accord, hadadded from her own store some valuable jewels. Yes, the arrangementsfor the marriage were to be pushed on; it must be completed within amonth, for after that, there was a "gutt" or planetary conjunctionaverse to marriage, which was to last long. As yet the day had notbeen fixed, but it must soon be; and the Shastree was passive when itwas mentioned. Not so those with whom he had now irrevocably connectedhimself.

  On the other side, preparations had been as active, though simpler.Moro Trimmul's object was haste, and he had desired his aunt andsister to spare nothing within their means. Strangers as they were inthe town, they found the girl Gunga, with whom, since the ceremony atthe temple, Sukya Bye had become intimate, a very useful ally. Sheknew what Anunda was preparing. Her gossips--the flower-sellers, thecloth-merchants, and the goldsmiths--detailed all that was being done,and to aunt and niece they were amply satisfactory. They knew theShastree was wealthy, but the profusion they heard of surprised them.

  "The Shastree loves thee, girl," the lady Sukya would say. "He willspend his wealth on thee. What lucky chance brought us here, who cantell? else who would have cared for thee? To whom could we have giventhee? Be content; he is not old; he will love thee, for thou artbeautiful. Wait and see."

  Truly she was so! Not Tara's tranquil, pensive beauty; not Anunda'seven in her prime. This girl was very different from both. She wasdarker than either--a warm, richly-tinted, clear, golden brown, witha skin like velvet; a small head, oval face--perhaps more round thanoval--and a mass of thick wavy hair, which, if loosened, fell far belowher waist, curling at the ends; a low broad forehead, strongly markedarched eyebrows, and a nose straight and delicate in outline, wereperhaps the ordinary possessions of a good-looking, well-bred Mahrattagirl; but the eyes and mouth were more remarkable, because they gave anindex to her character.

  "We will not tell what she is like," Anunda said, as her husbandfrequently asked her of Radha, for as yet he had not seen her. Perhapshe was indifferent on the subject, yet hardly so; it would have beenunnatural not to care at all. Certainly, as the days passed, theShastree grew somewhat curious, and he had to wait many more ere heshould see her.

  "Content thyself, husband," Anunda would say, as he questioned her;"I have told thee she is beautiful, else I had not noticed her: shehath a shape like a nymph, eyes like a deer, and a mouth like that ofK[=a]mdeo. What need to say more? Wait and see." So the Shastree waitedpatiently. Another would have followed the girl--contrived to see herby some means not perhaps over scrupulously; but the Shastree was veryhonourable, and such an alternative did not even suggest itself to him.

  But they were right. What Anunda had noticed, and Tara too, were onlythe eyes and mouth and the figure. Who could pass them by unheeded?Such eyes--so large, so soft in their velvet blackness when at rest,yet if excited, how different! The long, thick lashes, which werepositively heavy in character, shaded them ordinarily, and produced asoft, dreamy effect; but if the girl looked up, or was interested, orsuddenly roused, these eyes seemed to glow internally, and to assume acharacter almost oppressively fascinating.

  Radha well knew their power: since she was a child she had been toldof the beauty of her eyes, and she believed it--nay, added to theirexpression by slightly staining the inner portion of her eyelids,which gave to the already heavy lashes a softer character if the eyeswere at rest, or increased their effect if they were excited. Latelya habit had grown upon her of contracting her brows, and dilating hereyes till their effect was almost fierce, which both her brother andaunt had tried to check, but it did not leave her easily. Sometimes itgave place to a look of dreamy languor inexpressibly touching, and sosorrowful in character that, had the girl been older, it might havebeen attributed to some great grief lying at her heart, or some painfulrecollection. As it was, it was unsuspected, except by those who knewthe cause.

  The mouth followed the eyes. When they were excited by any emotion,the lips at once closed and were firmly compressed; but ordinarilythey remained a little open in the centre, showing teeth white, pure,and glistening with a pearly lustre. The lips were full, red, andmoist--the upper deeply arched and curved, with the corners fallingback into deep dimples; yet the mouth was small and delicate, pouting,and decidedly voluptuous when at rest or smiling, yet capable ofbeing hardened into an expression of self-will and obstinacy, whichindicated an inflexible determination should there be occasion toexercise it. No wonder that, seeing her in her most placable moods--forthe girl from the first had appeared charmed by the prospect of hermarriage--Anunda and Tara had been captivated by beauty so remarkable.It would have been well, perhaps, could they have seen the face underother expressions, and so been saved from what, under differentcircumstances, had an irresistible fascination.

  Need her figure be described? Being younger than Tara, there was notthe same development of form. The arms and throat were less rounded,yet the lines were as graceful and full of promise of perfection ashers. Eventually they would be about the same height--Radha, perhaps,a shade taller, and both slighter than Anunda ever had been. Her handsand feet were small and beautifully formed, more so, perhaps, thanTara's; they were indeed, remarkable features in her figure--so much sothat, as Tara was bathing her one day, and washing them, she had heldthem to her lips and kissed them in succession involuntarily.

  It was difficult to tell her age. Her "birth letter" told the Shastreeshe was not yet twelve. Had she exceeded much that age, to theirknowledge, Anunda would have objected to the marriage; indeed, shecould not have been married at all. But she was in reality fourteen,nay more. Sometimes, when her features relaxed, her eyes soft anddreamy, her mouth smiling, and her whole face assuming a lovingtenderness of expression, she appeared hardly the age she was said tobe; but when there was any change, and the rigid look already noticedtook its place, she appeared considerably older.

  Now, Anunda was by no means desirous of a very young girl forher husband's new wife. Many had been offered of very tender ageindeed, whom she had invariably declined. She could not be troubledwith a child; and if a thought that Radha might be older than shewas represented
to be, ever crossed her mind, a bright smile, atender caress from the girl at once removed the doubt, and restoredconfidence. As to her figure, it did but furnish earnest of maturedevelopment. And were not many girls precocious? She had been soherself. Yes, Radha was very beautiful; and, as day after day passed,Anunda longed the more for the time when she should be able to clotheher in one of those gorgeous dresses, to deck her with flowers andjewels, and to present her to her husband a bride worthy of him--worthyof her own affection--the most precious gift she could make to him.

  We have said that Radha was older than she was represented--and perhapsa brief sketch of her previous history is needful. She had been anindulged and precocious child, of a vain, weak, but beautiful mother.Her father, one of the hereditary Josees, or astrologers, of Wye,had died some years before, and her mother shortly after him. MoroTrimmul, on succeeding to the care of the house, had given charge ofhis sister to his aunt, and betaken himself to the company of certainwild associates, with whom, from his powers of learning, he had becomean especial favourite. The head of these was the Rajah Sivaji, whoserapid career to independence was one of the remarkable events of thetimes; and the wild exploits of the young prince, his raids againstthe Moghuls and Mahomedans in general, had long since enlisted thesympathies of the Mahratta people.

  Sivaji's early career had been dissolute, but that was a venialfault among the people. His companions were the young Mahrattagentry,--yeomen, and farmers, whom he best loved to draw about him;above all, young Brahmuns who would join him, whether as priests orsoldiers, or both, in his wild enterprises. Moro Trimmul was one ofthese--one who had grown into his deepest confidence. So long as Moro'sfather lived, he had in some degree restrained his son; but his privatemeetings with his prince were still frequent; and in the plays andrecitations, of which Sivaji was passionately fond, Moro was generallyan actor and reciter. Thus it was that Sivaji frequently came to Wye,and put up at the Josee's house; and so he came to know Radha--abeautiful child then, whom he could caress without hindrance. He aMahratta, she a Brahmun--any union was impossible; and yet she grew tobe more than interesting to him as she advanced in age.

  Eventually Radha's betrothed husband died. Other offers were made forher, but were always refused, so peremptorily, that people believed thereport designedly set afoot by her brother and Sukya Bye, that she wasto be married to a distant relative who, now absent on pilgrimages,would return and claim her, or she would have to be taken to him. Andso the girl grew, the time for marriage passed, and the Rajah's visits,often clandestine, were encouraged by aunt and nephew, with whatultimate hope of result might be imagined. Yet both were careful thereshould be no scandal.

  Perhaps their scheme might have succeeded had not Sivaji himself, nowfeeling his way to power, seen the peril of the connection. Was shewife or widow, there might have been fewer scruples, but, an unmarriedBrahmun girl would be a burden, a disgrace, which he dared notencounter--one that would not fail to be resented by the priests, whomit was his aim to gain. He could not spare one so devoted, so able, andso unscrupulous as Moro Trimmul, nor could he replace him; he neededmany such, and he loved him too much to break with him on this point.

  It was a hard struggle. But the young prince, whose firm will andself-control finally won him a kingdom, successfully resistedthe opportunities deliberately offered. As the girl grew, as hisintercourse with the house became more and more unreserved, itwas clear to him that her love for him was growing as part of herexistence. The girl, for whom he had always a kind word and freegreeting, who claimed the privilege of serving "her Rajah," when heput up at their house, became by degrees shy and reserved; cried if hespoke kindly to her, and trembled if he approached her. He could not bemistaken in those eyes: they told their own story--love.

  Under such circumstances, among such people, love is passion. It has nomedium except in maturer age and constant association. The girl--stilla child in years--loved deeply, passionately; and as she grew older,month by month, day by day, the news of her prince's exploits, nowbeginning to be sung in ballads through the country, excited herfearfully. Her aunt and brother had detected her in more than oneattempt to escape to him, and, fearful of the result, had preventedit. Had he taken her away, would they have pursued? Surely not; but hewas careful--he admitted his own danger to himself--and he graduallyavoided the house, though he clung the more closely to Moro Trimmul.Radha found means to send occasional messages to him--a child's love,a child's yearning for him were told to him; and we know that, in someinstances, a child's love--there and here the same--is more passionate,because more pure and more absorbing, than a woman's. What was marriageto her? If she could only be with her Rajah--to serve him, to live withhim, to ride, nay, to fight with him--she would go, or die.

  The last time Sivaji had seen her she had grown desperate. She hadnever spoken so to him before; but she had told him she must die if hedid not take her away. "Nay, but I will come with thee," she cried,"even if thou cast me out among thy servants." And he confided thisto her brother. "For my sake," he said, impressively, "if not forthine and hers, keep her safe; take her away and have her married; thefarther away from hence the better. It is no use speaking to her. MoroTrimmul! save me from the temptation, thyself from the contumely thiswould bring upon us. I know what is in thy heart; but, beautiful as sheis, it cannot be."

  So a plan was quickly arranged between them. Moro had an intimateacquaintance with the Mahratta gentry of the Dekhan, and he wasdespatched to canvass them. This necessitated journeys from place toplace. He was well provided with money, and he travelled, as one undervows of pilgrimage, to different shrines. Thus opportunity might occurfor marrying Radha; and, leaving all servants behind him but a fewmen in whom he had perfect confidence, he took his aunt Sukya Bye withhim as protection to his sister. No one cared to inquire who the youngprince's envoy and counsellor was, or what his family affairs were.Enough that he had a sister and an aunt with him, and was conductinghis secret mission with admirable policy and address.

  Thus he at length arrived at Tooljapoor alone. The rainy season hadset in, and travelling was no longer pleasant or easy. The town was agood position for his purpose, and there were many rich families andlandholders in the "Bala Ghaut" province to be brought over. For atime he secluded himself, and lived humbly in a hired lodging or inone of the courts of the temple. Here he had seen Gunga, and here alsohe daily watched Tara as she and her mother performed their worship.Even thus early the advantage of marrying his sister to the Shastree,of whose household circumstances Gunga had told him, had appeared mostdesirable; but as his passion for Tara grew, it was a thing to beaccomplished at all hazards. Gunga did not appear able to help him,for it was clear that neither the Shastree nor his wife noticed theinferior priestesses of her class, and Tara never spoke to them. Hetherefore secured a good house for some months, and sent for his auntand Radha from Punderpoor, where he had left them: and, till theirarrival, had busied himself in obtaining local information for thefurtherance of his future designs.

  On leaving their home at Wye, and after Radha's first paroxysms ofdisappointment were past, Sukya Bye and Moro Trimmul had instructedthe girl what to do. Perhaps, in despair of accomplishing her ends, orwith the desire of all Hindu girls for an early settlement, she was anapt scholar. Radha was to deny all knowledge of her age, to assume achildish demeanour, to acquiesce modestly, and as she saw other girlsdo, if she were proposed for. She was assured she would be given tonone but a man of wealth--her beauty would secure her this. If possiblehe should be young; but this was a difficult point, and what matter ifhe were old? She could have jewels, rich clothes, an establishment ofher own--she would have all these secured to her, and afterwards wouldbe her own mistress.

  But if she refused, or opposed these efforts in her behalf, she wouldsoon be too old to be assisted at all. As it was, few would believe herto be within the marriageable period for Brahmun girls. In a year, nayless, her marriage would be impossible, and she must be treated like awidow, shaven and degraded, or m
arried to a dagger,[4] and turned intoa temple to shift for herself.

  Was it wonderful that the girl submitted to, nay, even assisted in,their deceptions, or that those eyes looked dreamily after her ownprince, while her spirit, chafing within, carried her, in those momentsof abstraction, away into his glorious mountains, to be loved andcaressed as she felt he, and, he only, could love and caress her if shewere with him?

  FOOTNOTE:

  [4] Female devotees are married to a sword or dagger, as emblematicalof union to the divinity to which they have been devoted.