The man chuckled and turned his attention back to his work. “Yes,” he muttered, “that certainly might be possible.”

Henry didn’t know if he felt validated or skeptical. Needing more information before he came to any conclusions, he asked, “Is it common around here for Amala to leave men in tears?”

“Never happened before to my knowledge,” the man said, stealing a long glance at Henry before he again put his focus on the work at hand. He chuckled again, but Henry didn’t find anything about this the least bit amusing. “Let’s just say I suspected it would happen eventually. You can’t blame a man for being just a wee bit pleased with himself for realizing he’d been right about something.”

Henry didn’t know what to say, but he didn’t want to leave. If he couldn’t talk to Amala, he figured the next best thing was to talk to someone who knew her well. And what little this man had said already made it evident that he had some insight, and perhaps some personal connection, to Amala. He’d admitted right off that Amala was in tears, but it had not been twenty minutes since she’d left Henry sitting alone in the garden.

While Henry just stood there, the man said, “The situation here is not easy for our little Amala. Those of us who have tried to look out for her have known it would likely only become more difficult when she came of age.” He stole another quick glance at Henry. “Twas you and your friend just returned from India.” He stated it as a fact, which meant this man knew very well who Henry was and why he’d come here today.

“Yes,” Henry said.

“Which would have something to do with why you took a long walk with Amala in the garden.”

“Something to do with it,” Henry admitted.

“But apparently your conversation didn’t end well.”

“Apparently not,” Henry said and ventured to clarify, “You said she was in tears?”

“Yes, indeed,” the man stated. “At least she was when I left her to cry in peace. I came here to give her some privacy and sent the stable hands off. Don’t much care for their company.”

Henry surmised that this man had lived and worked here for a long time and held some authority among the servants. He clearly had some level of long-term relationship with Amala. But he felt confused on one point and asked, “If you help look out for Amala and you believe I’m the one who upset her, then why are you being so kind to me . . . and so forthright?”