Chapter 2 Summary

Chapter Two begins with more discussion about Tusker's death and the events leading up to it. The reader learns that the servants had for weeks expected a letter, likely concerning the future of the Smalley's residence at the Lodge. Servants' gossip rarely reaches the people they work for, however, and did not in this case. The reader is also introduced into the complex world of servant and employer relations. In colonial India before the British left, there were very specific expectations between servant and employers, with long-time servants treated like family. Ibrahim still treats Lucy and Tusker in that manner, looking after the old couple much as he would children.

The story transitions from a description of Ibrahim's duties to Tusker's illness three months earlier. Tusker has been unable to get out much and, during his convalescence, he notices that the garden and...