Randhir woke up with a start just before dawn, sensing the urgency to leave the room before anyone knew that he had spent the night with her. As he tried to rise from the bed his angarkha caught into something and he fell back with a thud, falling partially over the sleeping Sanyukta who was jolted out of her sleep. As she took her bearings she figured out what had happened, she turned to the bedside table and quickly lit a lamp to undo her mischief. After he fell off to sleep she had tied an end of her odhni to a loose end of his angarkha so that when he rose he could not slink away from the room without her knowledge. She had tied the knot so firmly that she found it difficult to undo. In her struggle she unfurled the odhni off her body to be able to get a better grip over the knot. 

While her fingers were occupied his eyed strayed to her embroidered backless blouse that accentuated the swell of her breasts. The sight caused a wave of desire to course through him. He hoped that she would not notice the bulge in his front and yet his hands ached to caress her all over. Unable to stand the suspense anymore he drew his dagger and jerking her hand aside, swiftly ripped off the tied end of her odhni, cutting himself loose. Without a word and without so much as a backward glance he marched toward the door and was gone in a flash. It happened so abruptly that she dissolved into tears to see the ripped end of her odhni, unable to figure out why he had ruthlessly walked away without realising that she felt rejected by his act.

In the morning the women from her camp moved into the part of the women's apartment where she was being kept. The senior lady examined her carefully and noted that her fever had reduced considerably. Locking the door behind her she asked the girl to part her legs as she proceeded to verify what she was asked to, once satisfied that the girl's virtue was intact she went on to check her body for any tell-tale marks. Finding none she asked the girl why she was tearful. "Mai ri ghani olu awey manne." She replied that she missed her mother very much. She told them that she had no recollection of how she had wandered into the mansion in the night, having probably sleep-walked. Her father was given the news that his daughter was safe and on the road to recovery, and that she had been invited in by one of Samsher's wives to whom her responsibility was assigned. 

Knowing fully well that a Rajput Zenani Deorhi was guarded like a fortress, he felt assured about his daughter's security and gave permission for her to be the personal guest of the lady in her private apartment. He had to go into town on official business, to pay his dues for carrying goods through the territory and also to trade. Samsher too had to report to his headquarters and they decided to set off together. The ladies of the Baniya camp were to travel in their own carriage so they could visit the many shrines around the town, accompanied by a few guards. Sanyukta's cousin Keshav was left behind at the mansion so he could keep an eye on her and report back anything unusual. As Samsher's wife welcomed Sanyukta she introduced Keshav to her two sons asking the boys to go out and play until they were called away for their lunch and the boys happily complied.

Offering the girl a seat next to her she asked her to unveil herself as they were away from public scrutiny. As Sanyukta drew the odhni back her hostess was awestruck by her beauty and she quickly applied a dot of kohl near her hairline showing her admiration and making her feel at home. Sanyukta noticed how much she resembled her own mother and took an instant liking for her. She informed Sanyukta that she could, if she wished to, attend the private mela that Randhir had organised in the Zenana courtyard as it was customary for him to present his cousins with gifts.  There would be bangle sellers , trinket peddlers, cloth merchants bearing silk and zari fabrics for lehenga, kurti and odhnis, mehendi artists, puppeteers and confectioners so the girls could enjoy themselves to the fullest. Her sharp eyes noticed Sanyukta's crestfallen expression and taking the girl's palms in her own she admitted that her sons had brought her the news about how the same girls had berated Sanyukta for her simplicity. 

She told Sanyukta that she herself was born a Gujjar and had always been discriminated against by the Rajput wives after Samsher married her for love, the only saving grace being the birth of her two sons which gave her some respectability, although she was not blessed with a daughter. The girls Sanyukta had seen were born to Rajput wives and just reflected the attitude of their mothers. She warned Sanyukta that a non-Rajput spouse's life in the Zenana was difficult, prejudice was evident in status, the size of the apartment, the allowances and the priviliges assigned to the wives in the strict hierarchy. While the Rajput wives were referred to by their natal surnames such as Rathorni or Bhattiyani, she herself was always called the Gujjarni and the concubines were called by their own names as Panna Rai, or Champa Rai. 

She confided in her that she knew everything that had happened between Sanyukta and Randhir, how she had fled in the night out of frustration, her husband having narrated her the story. She also knew that Randhir had spent the night in Sanyukta's room, although no one else knew about that."We did not do anything actually." Sanyukta's voice trailed off. The woman smiled. "I know Randhir banna very well, my dear. He has completely fallen for you and must be aching to have you, but he will not compromise on his principles. That's why he will never cross the line with you as long as you are promised to another man." "But I love him very much, Kaki sa, I cannot marry anyone else." Her tears began to flow once more. 

"Can you defy you father? Even if you did Randhir banna will not accept you as his wife, it will be against his Kshatriya Dharma to betray you father's trust. But you must not lose heart, if fate wants to bring the two of you together it will surely prevail against all odds. As per custom Randhir banna is to be my guest for lunch. If you wish to you can help me prepare the Jeeman for him, I know you will pour all your love in the feast. Afterwards I will doll you up personally so you can attend to him by yourself behind closed doors. I have my own husband to keep happy, you see!" She grinned naughtily like a teenage girl while Sanyukta blushed, telling herself she would give him a treat and a "dessert" he would be unable to forget.