“He died suddenly; an illness that came on very quickly. There was little warning. My heart was broken, and to make matters worse, my mother only became more cantankerous and difficult to live with. I spent a great deal of time in Chit’s home and with his family. They were kind to me, but not necessarily warm. They’re very caught up in appearances and gossip. So, I kept finding places to hide. I was barely a man when Chit talked me into going to India with him. Going to the other end of the world seemed like a very good way to hide. I made certain every possible provision was put in place for my family’s care, and I left with hardly a second thought.”

“You have family besides your mother?”

“One sister,” he said. “But we were never close at all; she was almost like a ghost in my life. She made a good marriage while I was in India and moved far away. She has no contact at all with either me or our mother—in spite of our efforts to keep in touch. I believe she’s severed her ties, and I don’t blame her. In a way I did the same when I went to India. But I don’t regret the decision at all; it made me a better man in too many ways to count, even if the path to becoming better has left me with memories that are haunting.” He sighed loudly and concluded, “I returned to find my mother’s health very poor and her mood even more foul. Of course, I knew all of that from the occasional letters we exchanged. She was well cared for—and continues to be. But I confess I’ve come to see that there is nothing I can do to be a good son in her eyes, and it’s better for me if I just keep my distance. I check in on her every day and try to remain cheerful, but it’s not easy. I don’t know how my father did it. I believe the man was a saint.”

“I believe you must be very much like him,” Amala said.

Henry looked toward her in surprise, although he could barely see her face in the darkness of the carriage interior. “I think I’ve tried to be . . . although I was so young when he died that it’s difficult to know exactly what that means.”

“You’re certainly not cynical and cantankerous like you describe your mother.”

“Not that you know of, anyway,” he said in a teasing tone that he hoped would lighten the mood and draw attention away from himself.