“I love it,” he said. “In fact, it’s one of the things I do not have in common with Chit. He always wants to be up and doing something. He loves to learn new things, but he prefers to do so by meeting new people and being actively involved in whatever it is they do. I often chose relaxing with a good book over following him about on his adventures.”

“But you did follow him to India.”

“Yes, I certainly did. And I confess that nothing in a book could have ever described what I saw and experienced there. Still, I’ve learned from the experience that being a world traveler does not necessarily agree with me. I suppose I’ll just have to learn about other places in the world by reading about them.”

“That sounds perfectly reasonable to me,” Amala said and smiled, loving the way he smiled back.

Chapter Five

THE DECISION

Amala sat down a safe distance away from Henry—close enough to hold his hand, but far enough away to avoid the temptation of his kiss. Should anyone come into the library looking for them—or for any other reason—they both agreed it was wise to avoid spending excessive time in close physical proximity. She was so glad to finally be alone with him—as she sensed that he was—but all of the conversation she wanted to share had gone completely out of her head. Following a stretch of silence that began to feel awkward, Henry said, “May I ask you something . . . sensitive? You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, although I confess to wanting to know everything about you. Still, I know some things can be difficult to talk about.”

“Ask me and I’ll tell you whether or not I want to talk about it.” Amala sensed what the question might be, but couldn’t be sure until it was actually spoken.

“How did your mother and father die?”

Even though she’d suspected this was what he wanted to know, hearing the question aloud took her off guard more than she’d expected. The incident hadn’t been discussed in her family for many years. She looked away, wanting a moment to gather her thoughts and compose her expression. He squeezed her hand more tightly, as if he sensed the difficulty of speaking about this.

“Do you want the simple answer or the story as I remember it?”

“You should know me well enough by now to know my response to that. I’m not a casual acquaintance, Amala; I’m the man who wants to marry you.”