The Covenant of Water

Mariamma is struggling with a crisis of identity: “Mariamma never knew her mother, and now it turns out that she never knew her father either” (665). She travels to the leprosarium to speak with Digby, who knew her mother’s father and, presumably, her mother, well. All of a sudden, it strikes her: Her face resembles Digby’s.

After visiting some of Digby’s leprosy patients, they take tea in his study. She resolves never to call him “father.” But before Mariamma can broach the subject, Digby takes the reins. He tells her even more shocking news. The leprosy patient who is sitting outside the study on the veranda is Elsie, Mariamma’s mother, and as Digby puts it, “the greatest Indian artist alive” and “the love of [his] life” (672).

The narrative returns to 1950, 27 years into the past, to describe how Digby and Elsie came to know each other. She had once helped to heal his hands as a young girl, after the fire, and he is told about the death of Elsie’s son and her despondency through friends. These friends bring Elsie to the club, and Digby is struck by her beauty and her sadness.