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CHAPTER XLVIII

Annada Babu had rented a bungalow in a secluded part of the cantonment outside the city.

On his arrival in Benares he had learned that the simple fever and cough from which Nalinaksha's mother, Kshemankari, had been suffering had devel- oped into pneumonia. The fever had been aggravated by the chilly weather and by her refusal to give up her customary morning bath in the Ganges, and her con- dition had become really critical. As a result of Hem- nalini's unremitting care the crisis was now over, but her illness had left the old lady deplorably weak. In one respect Hemnalini could offer her no assistance. Kshemankari's views on ceremonial purity were rigid, and she could not take from the hands of the Brahmo girl such potions and nourishment as were prescribed for her. She had been accustomed to cook her own food and now Nalinaksha himself prepared the in- valid's diet and served up all her meals, greatly to his mother's distress.

"It's time I were out of the way," she lamented. "Why did the Lord keep me alive only to be a burden to you?"

Austere as she was in respect of her own comfort and personal adornment, Kshemankari had a keen eye for order and beauty in her surroundings ; this Hem- nalini had learned from Nalinaksha. The girl accord- ingly made it her special care to keep the whole house in apple-pie order and she bestowed particular atten- tion on her dress before she visited the old lady. An- nada Babu supplied her with flowers from a garden

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