“To Delhi!” said Jaya, her countenance rather expressing alarm than pleasure: “why should you repair to the enemy’s capital?”
“Is not your father a prisoner there, and do you not desire his release?”
“Yes, truly; but how can your single arm avail to break through the bars of his prison, surrounded as he is by guards, who are as vigilant as they are cruel?”
“Circumstances may arise which we cannot foresee, to render my single power available in effecting an object interesting to me, in proportion as its accomplishment is desired by you. Think that I am upon a mission of love, and be happy. You will at least hear of something before the horns of the young moon unite into a circle.”
“You go on an enterprise of danger.”
“And are not such enterprises dear to the soul of a Rajpoot? I should be unworthy of your love, if I hesitated to venture my life to secure your parent’s liberty.”
“There are perils which the brave may shun, because it is prudent to avoid them.”
“But when a man listens to the suggestions of prudence before the appeals of duty, his bravery is as questionable as his virtue.”
“Go, Jeipal, I would not withhold thee from such deeds as constitute man’s nobility. Bear my love with thee.”
“That will be a talisman which shall protect me in the hour of peril. Love is the root of all virtue; the love of good alone makes man happy. When this principle is dead within his bosom, he at once becomes a monster.” After the lapse of a few days Jeipal quitted Jesselmere for Delhi.