Chapter 5 Summary

In the fourth part of Nikhil's Story, Nikhil notes that every August he and Bimala celebrate their anniversary by going in a house-boat over the broads of Samalda, but he wonders if Bimala even realizes that time of year has come again. Nikhil fetches a book from his bedroom in the morning. When Bimala enters the room, he tells her he had come for Amiel's journal, hurrying away without looking her in the face. As Nikhil's Story continues, Nikhil decides it is useless to try to stay busy as Panchu, a man he knows through his master, arrives with a basket of cocoa-nuts, explaining he stole some from Nikhil's garden when he was hard-pressed and has come to repay them because he is old and may die at any time. Panchu's words lighten Nikhil's heart.

In Bimala's Story, Part 11, the change that comes...