Reading with Insight
'Have you come back?' said the woman. 'I thought that no one had come back.' Does this statement give some clue about the story? If yes, what is it?
Yes, Mrs Dorling's remark is a significant clue about the story's historical and personal context. The phrase 'I thought that no one had come back' reveals that she had expected the entire family — including the narrator's mother — to have perished during the War. Her surprise at seeing the narrator indicates that those who were forced to flee or were persecuted during the War were generally not expected to survive and return.
The statement also hints at Mrs Dorling's bad conscience. She had taken away the family's valuables under the pretext of 'saving' them, believing that no one would ever return to claim them. Her guarded, unwelcoming manner — opening the door only a chink and refusing to invite the narrator in — suggests she had no intention of returning what she had taken.
The remark thus prepares the reader for the story's central conflict: the narrator has survived the War and come back to retrieve her mother's possessions, while Mrs Dorling clearly wishes to keep them for herself.
Answer: The statement reveals that Mrs Dorling expected the family to have died in the War and had kept their belongings for herself, expecting no one to return to claim them.