Was It Heaven? Or Hell?: Summary and Plot Analysis
The story revolves around a female family of four, Margaret Lester, a widow in her late thirties, her teenage daughter Helen, and two righteous maiden twin aunts, Hannah and Hester Gray.

The story opens with the aunts confronting Helen for a lie she confessed to have said.

Theirs was a world where lies had no place. It was something unthinkable. So having their darling Helen confess to lying evokes consternation from the elderly women and they demanded that she confess to the lie in front of her sick mother.

The child implores them to excuse her behavior just that once and spare her mother the agony of her confession of a lie, but her requests fall on deaf ears.

After all, with a duty no compromise is possible.

All said and done, the decision is made. Helen is to visit her mother in the sick room and confess to her lie.

Sobbing and desolate, Helen begs for forgiveness from her mother.

The doting mother, caring not for the lie, immediately forgives her and embraces her to calm her down, as the elderly aunts witness the scene.

It’s at this time that the family doctor makes his presence felt and softly whispers to the aunts to clear out the space and give the sick woman some time to rest.

He appears half an hour later with Helen, who seemed to have returned to her natural cheery self. He quickly examines her, declares her fit and healthy. He asks her to go back to her room, and excuses himself from her company to talk to the aunts.

Expressing his disappointment at the women for creating a ruckus, he lets them know that Margaret was suffering from typhoid.

The women, terrified of this news, when attempting to rush back to Margaret are stopped by the doctor, who demands a reason from them behind creating a scene.

They tell him that it was Helen’s lie that started it all.

Infuriated at hearing this, he reprimands the women for

Was it Heaven? Or Hell?