With Kat’s eyes closed, Henry looked at Amala a little more boldly, validated by the shock and dilemma in her expression that mirrored his own reaction. He felt foolish for having believed he’d been able to conceal what had once been such powerful feelings for Amala. He felt guilty for having kept it a secret from Kat all this time when she’d always known. And he felt utterly terrified to consider facing up to everything that had happened in order to even consider keeping the promise he’d just unwittingly made to his dying wife.

Henry was glad when Amala spoke, and he felt complete empathy for the reasons her voice was trembling. “Are you telling me,” she asked Kat, “that you knew all along? That Mother and Father knew?”

Kat opened her eyes and looked at her sister. “Of course we knew, dearest. It’s one of the reasons we were all so upset over your declaration that you would never marry. When things seemed to be going well for you and Henry—in spite of the secrecy—we all hoped you would change your mind. We wanted to tell you we would support you in your decision, and we would have eventually when we felt the time was right, but Father felt we should give you time to come to terms with it, and then . . . you just . . . left. And we could all tell that Henry was heartbroken.” Kat turned to look at him. “You did well at keeping it concealed,” she said, “but I could still see it in your eyes. We all could. And we were all so grateful that you continued to be a part of our family.”

Again Kat closed her eyes, but not before she made certain she had a firm hold on each of their hands at her sides. Her voice sounded weaker now that she’d said her piece, which was apparently moving toward a conclusion. “Amala,” she said, “I want you to know that I didn’t try to fall in love with Henry.” Tears leaked from the corners of her closed eyelids. “In fact, I tried very hard not to. I cried more than I want to admit over the matter. I talked with Mother and Father a great deal about my feelings. In the end they told me you had made your decision quite clear and I needed to follow my heart. They also told me they knew Henry was a man of deep integrity and that he would not love me falsely or betray your love in any way.”