As we disembarked, I invited her to continue our conversation at home.
‘I must excuse myself, Nopporn. You should spend all of your first day with your close relatives.’
‘No relative is going to want me for the whole day.’
‘Well, there’s your father, at least. He’s going to want several hours to chat with a son who’s been away for seven or eight years. And there are others, too.’
‘My father’s not going to be so desperate to say everything in one single day,’ I replied with a laugh, but my manner remained composed.
‘Let’s meet another day, Nopporn.’
‘In that case, I’ll visit you as soon as I can,’ I said, deferring to her wishes.
The curtain fell all too quickly and unremarkably on that first day’s meeting in Bangkok between Mom Ratchawong Kirati and me. Most of the day was taken up with meeting people, with a short rest in the afternoon. In the evening, after dinner, I talked with my father in the sitting room. At one point in our long conversation, the subject of Mom Ratchawong Kirati came up.
‘So, you’re very well acquainted with Khunying Atthikan, are you?’ he asked, as we chatted casually about various things.
‘You mean Khunying Kirati? Yes,’ I continued when he had confirmed this. ‘I became close friends with her when she visited Japan. I was assisting her and Chao Khun most of the time.’
‘It’s a shame Chao Khun died so soon. When he was alive,’ my father continued, ‘I heard him speak very highly indeed of his wife, and from what I’ve seen since he died, I think she’s a lovely woman, well worthy of high regard.’
‘I have great admiration for her,’ I responded. ‘Even thoughit wasn’t for very long, I got to know her very well. She’s a very intelligent woman and a good person. I’ve never met anyone sharper. I think she ought to marry again. She surely won’t be able to escape the attentions of someone or other.’
‘I’m not so sure, because since the death of Chao Khun Atthikan, I’ve heard that she takes little pleasure in society. She leads a quiet life and is held in high esteem by all of Chao Khun Atthikan’s close friends everywhere. Recently I heard that there was someone paying her a lot of attention, even, it seems, to the point of sounding her out on marriage. But she turned him down. People say that she seems like someone with some sort of secret hidden away.’
I listened calmly in silence and, after that, my father changed the subject.
17
About five days after my arrival in Bangkok, I found a suitable time to pay Mom Ratchawong Kirati a visit. In truth, it was somewhat belated. I should have gone to see her much sooner, but I had several urgent matters to settle, largely concerning my career, which at that time preoccupied my thoughts above all else.
I went to visit her at her home in Bangkapi. It was a modest bungalow, set in large grounds of about threerai, and surrounded by a thick hedge of morning glory, resplendent with green leaves and purple flowers. The house stood back some way, clearly visible on raised ground. At the front was a lawn and, beyond, a garden with different kinds of flowers. To the left, there was a large pond. Near the entrance gate, among flowerbeds, stood a small pavilion, covered in climbing plants. It made a pleasing sight.
My first impression when I reached Mom Ratchawong Kirati’s house was that, compared with the dozen or so I had passed on the way, it was one of the nicest in Bangkapi. They were all lovely houses, but the setting and layout of the grounds were not as pleasant and soothing as Mom Ratchawong Kirati’s home. When I looked at the flowerbeds, among which large stones had been laid, I felt as if I had known this house for a long time. This was because of the way the garden had been laid out, which was very similar to the Japanese style. The various plants had not been grouped together in a regulated way but were allmixed up together. They grew in a dense mass, making the garden look natural, rather than one that had been created. And even though it had in fact been created, it seemed as natural as the magnificent gardens at Nikko, which I had visited so often.
The gate was already open. The car passed slowly through and, as I looked among the flowers, I saw a woman’s head appear by the orange jasmine bush. I recognized the hairstyle and told the driver to stop before we reached the building. As I got out and stood there on the path, Mom Ratchawong Kirati emerged from the bushes and came into full sight.
‘Nopporn,’ she called from a distance.
I raised my hat to her and cut across to meet her. As soon as I reached her, an Alsatian, which had been playing nearby, ran over and stood right up against me, looking at me in a frightening way. She bent over and patted it on the head. Then she called its name two or three times and it lay down quietly at her feet.
‘That’s a large and very scary dog you’ve got,’ I began. ‘It’s eyeing me suspiciously.’
She smiled, ‘Thorwald is my bodyguard. There aren’t many people living out here, so we have to rely on Thorwald as our watchman. You’re right though, Thorwald is always suspicious of everyone at first. I’ve explained to him that you’re my friend and you mean no harm.’ As she finished speaking, Mom Ratchawong Kirati patted Thorwald on the head and told him to run along and play somewhere else. He did as he was told.
‘I should be entertaining you inside,’ she continued, looking up. We were standing by a garden table which had been placed among the flowerbeds and which was where Mom Ratchawong Kirati had been sitting before.
‘I really like it here,’ I said, putting my hat down on the table. ‘It’s nice and cool and looks lovely with all these different kinds of flowers.’
‘If you like, then I’ll entertain you here.’
‘I must apologize,’ I said, when we were both seated, ‘for not coming to see you sooner. It was because I had to go and see a lot of important people about my job. I didn’t want to waste any time.’
‘I’d like to congratulate you. I think it’s quite right, Nopporn, that you should think of your work before anything else.’
‘I have to confess that over the last two or three years I’ve been really preoccupied with the thought of work. It’s not that I want money to satisfy any cravings for pleasure. The main reason is I want to work. I believe it’ll give me great satisfaction if I can use the knowledge I’ve gained from my studies in my work. It’s this that has perhaps left me deficient in certain other areas, such as socializing and, for example, coming to see you.’
‘It’s a deficiency which makes you the more endearing,’ she said with a smile. It was a smile of such tenderness and sweetness, a smile I had known long ago and which I recognized instantly when I encountered it once more.
