In theater on his first day, Digby hesitates before an enormous hydrocele until Matron Honorine Charlton scrubs in and calmly directs him. He drains the filarial sacs—getting sprayed—then completes bilateral repairs, earning Honorine’s praise and the term he’ll adopt for tropical pathology: “magnified.”

Digby bicycles through Madras, observing street vendors and disease signs, then settles into running the native surgical wards. Under the skilled LMPs Peter and Krishnan, he refines minor procedures and adapts to the heat and routines.

Confident, Digby begins selected major operations, notably partial gastrectomies for peptic ulcer, guided by Professor Elder’s maxim. Results are swift and dramatic. When postoperative patient Senthil has a silent bowel, Krishnan urges reassurance; Digby complies, and soon Senthil passes flatus—“He who farts, lives!”

Over tea, Digby asks about Claude Arnold’s emptier wards. Honorine reveals Arnold’s illustrious ICS family and hints at drink and underachievement, then reflects on British public-school ethos and the Raj’s self-justifying mission.

Sharing sherry, Digby wonders if their work does good. Honorine concedes practical benefits but condemns imperial extraction. Digby recalls an Indian barrister predicting British departure. Honorine ends the evening by sending Digby to the club, his role and moral unease both newly defined.