Page 34 - English Reader - 7

At last we rounded the last curve between two giant fig trees, and I could see Margot and her

husband waiting for us at their entrance gate. Helen was lifted out of the jeep and
hugged; the luggage was unloaded, and Miss Thompson upended and dusted
off.
I was invited for lunch. While the two old ladies were being shown
to their rooms to freshen up, Margot told me about how Helen was
famous worldwide, and in every civilized country, the great and the

renowned were eager to meet her.
After some time, we find Helen and her companion arm in
arm, casually walking, as if they just happened to be fond

of each other, two ladies walked through the garden
toward the terrace, where we were waiting for
them.
All the time we were talking, Helen sat and
waited. Now and then, when our conversation
went on too long, I saw her thin fingers take her
companion’s hand inquiringly, never impatiently.

Luncheon was served on the terrace. Before we began, Helen’s hands moved over the objects on the
table, plate, glass, silverware, and memorising where they were. However, never once, during the
meal did she grope about. She reached out casually and firmly like the rest of us.

After lunch, we stayed on the shady terrace. Helen listened to the voices of nature around us. Her
face, although an old lady’s face now, held the innocence of a schoolgirl. Whatever suffering must
have tormented her and might still tormented her, for all I knew, her face showed no trace of it. It
was an isolated face, a saintly face.

“Do you believe in life after death?” I asked her with the help of Miss Thomson.

“Most certainly,” she said emphatically. “It is no more than passing from one room into another.”
We sat in silence.

Suddenly, Helen spoke again. Slowly and very distinctly she said, “But there is a difference for me,
you know. Because in that other room I shall be able to see.”

Word Meanings
1. remarkable : extraordinary 2. conked out : wrecked or broken down

3. buxom : plump 4. loaded : full
5. steep : sharp 6. stammered : stuttered
7. fluttered : flickered 8. grope about : to feel about
9. tormented : suffered 10. isolated : lonely; cutoff
11. emphatically : forcefully

32