Henry was aided in not spending too much time at home by following Chit around on his escapades. His friend was surely the most popular bachelor in the area. His charm and good nature and stories of adventure easily made him the center of attention at teas and luncheons, soirees and balls. And Henry was always expected to come along, as if everyone took for granted that they were inseparable as friends. But of course that had always been true. They’d been friends since childhood, and they’d traveled to India together, where their work and their social life had been closely integrated. Although, Henry was finding that he felt less and less dependent upon Chit, and Chit seemed to do just fine even when Henry slipped away from nearly every social engagement early and left without him. He wondered if it was meeting Amala that had changed him, but he could look back and see that this had been slowly evolving for years now. It was just as he’d described to Everett: India had made Henry realize that he and Chit saw everything in the world around them much differently. And Henry felt more and more drawn toward being himself—however sentimental and sappy he might be—as opposed to clinging to a longtime friendship they both seemed to be outgrowing. He also knew that Chit likely planned to return to India, and Henry intended to live out his life in England. Their separation was inevitable; Henry could feel it settling in a little more every day.

However, he did appreciate the social distractions that were open to him by tagging along with Chit. It wasn’t that Henry couldn’t be adequately social all on his own; he’d never considered himself quiet or reserved in any regard. But Chit just had a way with people that seemed to evoke more invitations. Perhaps it was because Chit’s parents had been more socially active. The reasons didn’t really matter to Henry; he simply wanted any distraction he could find to keep him from thinking too much about Amala. But inevitably night would come, the parties would end, and Henry would find himself in the stillest part of the night wondering about her, longing to see her, to talk with her, to marry her. He knew there was truth and substance in all of her reasoning as to why they shouldn’t pursue a relationship. But something inside of him just couldn’t accept it. He wanted to believe they could love each other enough to overcome whatever challenges they might face. Perhaps his thinking was naive. Or perhaps he was right.