she would get one of her parents, or one of their maids. They would be angry that she had awakened the household, but she was too upset to care.
Yash answered after the first ring. For a moment she was too choked up to speak. Why hadn’t she thought of this before?
“Yash,” she said in their native tongue. “Finally. I’m so glad it’s you on the other end.”
“Janya?” He sounded delighted. “I wasn’t sure you remembered how to use a telephone.”
She no longer wanted to protect her mother. “I have called many times. They don’t want us to speak. I might give you bad ideas. Have they been blocking my e-mails, too?”
There was a pause, and not just the normal pause that was part of any international call, or a sometimes problematic phone system.
“I didn’t know about the telephone calls. But the e-mail? That’s my fault,” Yash said. “I didn’t know how to tell you something.”
“That Darshan and Padmini are to be married? Our mother sent me a letter. I received it today.”
“That sounds like Aii. Did she tell you that this was all your fault?”
“She spared me that. For her, my betrothal to Darshan is a thing of the past. And the way Padmini betrayed me is simply my imagination.”
“She is looking ahead, in that way she does. Since she can’t change what happened, she’ll change what happens next. She and Baba will go to the wedding and take elaborate gifts to show they have forgotten the unpleasantness between our family and Padmini’s. Then all will be as it was.”
Tears stung Janya’s eyes. “How can she be so blind?”
“It’s easier to blame her daughter than her wealthy cousin’s daughter. Padmini’s family is a connection she’s not willing to sever. She has hopes I will marry well and lift the shame that’s fallen on us. And she believes the Bhagwats and the Tambes can help make that true.”
“I can’t believe she and Baba will go!”
“Yes, you can believe it.”
And in fact, Janya could. Because her mother had always cared most about the way their family looked to others. Janya’s feelings in this matter, as they had been so often during her childhood, were irrelevant.
“I got an e-mail from Darshan just over a week ago,” Janya said.
“What did he have to say for himself?”
“I don’t know. I deleted it. What can Darshan say to me now that I want to hear? The time for saying things is over.”
“Perhaps he wanted to tell you why he is marrying the woman who caused all the problems between you?”
“I don’t think he believed Padmini was the culprit.”
“But you know better.”
Janya did. Her cousin Padmini had not stabbed her in the back, she had stabbed Janya directly in the heart. And Janya knew her attacker well. She could not be disguised.
“Padmini and Darshan deserve each other,” Yash said. “Don’t be a sap and let this get to you. You were fortunate to get out of that marriage before it tumbled all around you.”
She felt a rush of warmth for her little brother who wanted so badly to make her feel better. “Thank you for caring.”
“So you have been telephoning me?” Yash said.
“Aii and Baba don’t want us to talk.”
“Aii may stop sleeping forever when she hears we spoke tonight, so while you can, tell me how you are.”
“Rishi is a good husband. He’s rarely here, but when he is, he treats me well. He wants my happiness more than anything.”
“And the place where you’re living?”
“Rishi knew how much I loved our seaside cottage at Marve. This was as much the same as he could find. He is very kind in those ways.”
“I wish I could see the United States.”
“You could come for a visit, Yash. You would be so welcome.”
“Can you imagine Baba’s reaction if I asked him for the time?”
“Are you still determined to be an accountant?”
“No, but they are determined for me.”
“I miss you,” she said. “My little brother. Soon you will marry and have your own family, and forget your older sister.”
“Janya, if I marry, I will first be certain my wife adores you.”
She laughed. “You know you can phone me anytime? I’ll be waiting to hear from you.”
“Check your e-mail. Until our parents figure out a way to get my password, we can always write.”
She laughed at the picture of her traditional mother sneaking onto the Internet.
She hung up and stared at the wall. And in her head, she watched a video of her cousin Padmini, who had been as close as