Seeing his manservant, he ordered a glass of cool lemon drink and sat on one of the chairs under the shade of the verandah. Kaniz’s shameful words compressed his lips into a thin line of fury. ‘Begharet aurat!’ He shook his head in disbelief. Just then his mother stepped out of her bedroom. Agitated, he got up from his seat, afraid of her question.‘Did you see her?’ she asked with a distinct catch in her voice. A slight, gentle woman, she was extremely fond of her youngest son, but not of his wish to marry a haughty widow with a son.Younus Raees got to the point straight away.‘Yes, I’ve spoken to her.’ His black eyes glared coldly. ‘And you, Mother, from this moment on, can rest assured that I will be bringing no widow into this home. You’ll be granted your wish for a virgin bride for your beloved younger son!’‘What!’ His mother now stood beside his chair with flushed cheeks. She was taken aback by his goading answer and the look in his dark eyes.‘Yes, dear mother,’ Younus Raees’s bitter laughter disconcerted her.
