Final answer:
Unable to provide an answer as the provided excerpts do not contain information about the characters Rukmani and Ira or the context needed to accurately respond to how Ira replies when questioned about her nighttime activities.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question pertains to the response of the character Ira when Rukmani, most likely her mother or a figure of authority, demands to know about her nocturnal escapades.
As the provided excerpts from various texts do not contain direct information about Ira's reply to Rukmani's question, nor mention the characters Rukmani and Ira, it isn't possible to accurately determine how Ira responds without further context from the specific literary work this question is drawn from.
Therefore, without the correct literary source, any response to the given options (a) she reveals her secret, (b) she refuses to answer, (c) she says she's visiting friends, or (d) she lies about it would be speculative and not factual.