But Sudhakar’s face was unmoved. “The difference is that giving someone medicine secretly—someone who is certainly not dying—is the kind of action your father would delight in. You were raised in a household in which one man thought he knew best and implemented his rules, his Christianity, his morals, how and wherever he pleased. I would be disappointed to see you adopt his methods.”

“Oh, Sudhakar, what happens between Quill and me is completely different; I love him!” Gabby cried.

“I don’t see a marked difference.” He looked around the library. “It has been most pleasant to see you again, little Gabrielle. And I am pleased to see you in your house, as a married woman. But I shall return to my village on the morrow.”

“No,” she said obstinately. “You must not leave until you talk to my husband.”

“It will not change his mind, Gabrielle. I have found Englishmen to be remarkably unwilling to try unfamiliar cures, especially medicines that come from the ‘East,’ as they call it.” The old man peered at her, a look of great sympathy on his face. “You must grow inured to his pain, I am afraid.”

He was right, Gabby thought, given Quill’s unrelenting opposition to so-called quack cures. He would never take another medicine, not because Sudhakar brought it from India, but because Quill was infinitely stubborn. Having declared he would take no more medicines, he would never change his mind.

Gabby straightened her shoulders and held out her right hand. “I would like that medicine, please, Sudhakar.” Even she could hear the echoes of her father’s demanding voice in her ears.

He shook his head. “No, little one,” he said, sounding tired.

Gabby’s chest was burning, but she pushed on. “I brought your son medicine,” she said. “I brought it to Johore because I loved him. And I would like you to give me your medicine. I love my husband and I will not injure him. You said the medicine would not hurt him.”

“This is not worthy of you. You are making a terrible mistake, Gabrielle.”

“I could have caught cholera myself, entering your home. I could have died bringing Johore the medicine.” Her voice was stony.

She waited, hand outstretched.

The old man’s eyes dropped. He reached into the small red bag and took out a bottle.

“It will be my choice,” Gabby said. “Quill will almost certainly leave me when he learns what I have done. But I will know that I tried everything I could to save him from pain. At any rate, I will have to leave him if there is no cure. We cannot continue like this.”