Six sentences from a paragraph are given below. The first (S1) and last (S2) sentences are fixed. Rearrange the four sentences labelled A, B, C, and D to form a coherent paragraph. Choose the correct sequence.
S1 Meenakshi had been living alone in the old bungalow for years.
A. She had made peace with the silence, finding comfort in small rituals — her morning tea, her evening walk.
B. The garden had grown wild, with jasmine climbing the rusty iron gate and creepers creeping across the stone pathway.
C. People in the neighbourhood often speculated about her past, but she neither confirmed nor denied anything.
D. Yet there was a quiet dignity about her, an air of someone who had lived deeply and remembered everything.
S2 And on certain evenings, if you passed by, you could hear her humming to herself — soft, old songs that nobody else seemed to know.

The correct sequence is BCDA.

Step-by-step breakdown:

1. First Sentence (S1): "Meenakshi had been living alone in the old bungalow for years."
This sentence introduces the central subject (Meenakshi) and her immediate setting (the old bungalow).

2. Sentence B follows S1: "The garden had grown wild, with jasmine climbing the rusty iron gate and creepers creeping across the stone pathway."
Sentence B directly expands upon the physical environment of the "old bungalow" mentioned in S1 by describing its garden and pathway.

3. Sentence C follows B: "People in the neighbourhood often speculated about her past, but she neither confirmed nor denied anything."
Sentence C introduces the perspective of the external community ("People in the neighbourhood") regarding her long, quiet presence in the house.

4. Sentence D follows C: "Yet there was a quiet dignity about her, an air of someone who had lived deeply and remembered everything."
Sentence D uses the contrast conjunction "Yet" to transition from the neighbours' external speculations (in C) to her true internal demeanor and posture ("quiet dignity").

5. Sentence A follows D: "She had made peace with the silence, finding comfort in small rituals — her morning tea, her evening walk."
Sentence A illustrates how her "quiet dignity" manifests in her everyday life through her peaceful daily rituals.

6. Last Sentence (S2): "And on certain evenings, if you passed by, you could hear her humming to herself — soft, old songs that nobody else seemed to know."
Sentence S2 connects seamlessly with Sentence A by elaborating on what happens during those peaceful evenings mentioned in A ("her evening walk" / "on certain evenings").

Thus, the logical and coherent order of the four sentences is B-C-D-A.