CHAPTER 15

Summary

• Honorine and Digby go watch a movie at the New Elphinstone Theater in the company of many soldiers, which makes Honorine express worry about the prospect of another war, given the current global tensions like Japan invading China and the rise of the Nazis in Germany.
• Digby recalls how the Great War had a significant impact on India's population, with a million soldiers serving and hundreds of thousands dying. He believes that if India is again drawn into a global conflict, the Indian soldiers would not settle for anything less than freedom afterwards.
• They watch a Charlie Chaplin film, and its sweetness and humor help divert their thoughts from the prevalent fears of war. After the movie, they take a carriage ride to Marina Beach to enjoy the evening breeze and the beach.
• The pair discusses their experiences in Madras. Honorine comments she may have to leave soon due to India's impending independence. They also discuss their personal lives, with Honorine advising Digby on his relationships with his nurses.
• Later, near Christmas time, Digby is introduced to Franz Mylin whose wife Lena had been suffering from abdominal pain. She was initially misdiagnosed with dyspepsia by another doctor named Claude Arnold.
• Upon examining her, Digby immediately diagnoses her with peritonitis resulting from an obstructed gallbladder. He quickly arranges for an operation which is successful despite the high levels of inflammation and bleeding.
• After the operation, Lena's condition improves significantly. However, when Claude Arnold dismisses Digby's successful operation and criticises his surgical technique, Franz confronts him and demands he shows more respect towards Digby. Following this altercation, Arnold avoids visiting Lena on her ward.
• Before leaving the hospital, Lena invites Digby to visit their home on the Western Ghats, insisting that he now has family in India, since he used his own blood for her transfusion during the surgery.