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The Mockery of Fate
where the guards live in a separate apartment. There, I saw some elderly guards sitting together and conversing. The guard who was formerly guard at the door of his Highness' palace and who after Anjana's arrival in Adityapur was appointed to watch at the doors of Anjana's palace was saying to his friends, "Brothers! This is really unjust. Princess Anjana is being censured without any reason. I have been here for so many years but I have not seen Anjana talking with any man. She does not know what decorations are; nor have I seen her humming a tune at any time. The accusations made against her by Queen Ketumati are totally baseless. When I heard about it my heart broke into pieces. But what can we do? Great people have their own ways. We cannot interfere in these matters." Saying this the old man wiped his tears with his uppercloth.
"From there, I went straight to the seventh storey of the palace."
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"Did not anyone stop you from entering the chamber ?" The Chief Minister asked him speaking in the middle.
"No, no one stopped me on my way. I went there without any hitch or hindrance. The reason was nobody noticed me. All were forgetful of their surroundings lost in deep agitation and grief. Moreover, they were grieving over the sad prospect of Anjana's leaving Adityapur in a couple of days. Since they were all deeply thinking about this, they did not notice me. And when I entered Anjanadevi's chamber, the heart-rending sight I saw there stupefied me. I was indeed stunned by the sight. It was indeed a miserable sight. Anjana has fallen upon evil days. She had been weeping endlessly. The tears in her eyes had not dried up. Her eyes had swollen with incessant weeping. Her dear companion Vasanta Tilaka was trying her best to comfort Anjana. Her eyes also were swollen with weeping. Every word she uttered was of great significance and also every word she uttered was revealing. When a person is suspected of having been guilty of something, the truth can be known from that person's confidential conversation with his or her close associates or friends. That can be used as a basis for solving the problem; and that can help us to go to the roots of the problem."
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