A Passage to India Part 2, Chapter 31 Summary

  • Fielding has been away at a conference, so Aziz isn't able to confront him about the rumor of Fielding's affair with Adela immediately.
  • When Fielding returns, Aziz meets him at the train station, and Fielding invites him to dinner.
  • On the ride into town together, Aziz notifies Fielding that there's another scandal afoot. Mr. McBryde was caught having an affair with Miss Derek, and Mrs. McBryde is divorcing him.
  • Of course, what Aziz really wants to do is find out about Fielding and Adela.
  • Aziz finally confronts Fielding about the rumor, which Fielding dismisses as ridiculous. He calls Aziz a "little rotter," which Aziz finds horribly insulting.
  • At the hospital, Aziz leaves Fielding, who continues on to the post office. There, Fielding sees the Collector, who invites Fielding back into the club.
  • The Collector makes it perfectly clear that they're inviting Fielding back at the Lieutenant-General's request, not because they feel sorry about the way they treated him.
  • Fielding shows up at the club to acknowledge his re-instatement into the club. He chats with a few people, including McBryde, who's not sorry at all about his divorce, and a couple of new faces.
  • Major Callendar has been replaced by Major Roberts, the new Civil Surgeon, and Ronny has been replaced by Milner, the new Civil Magistrate. New faces, but to Fielding, the same club.
  • At dinner, Aziz and Fielding have an awkward conversation that jumps from topic to topic. Fielding mentions that he'll be returning to England soon for some school business. Aziz then wants to talk about poetry, and Fielding expresses his hope that Aziz will continue writing poetry.
  • Aziz then asks Fielding if he's going to see Adela in England. Fielding replies that he might. Aziz gets annoyed, but says he has a headache.
  • Fielding apologizes for calling Aziz a "rotter" earlier. Aziz forgives Fielding, but as Aziz leaves the college, he feels out of sorts.
  • At home, Aziz thinks of Fielding and convinces himself that Fielding did have an affair with Adela. Aziz decides to take his children back home to Mussoorie as an excuse to avoid seeing Fielding before Fielding leaves for England.
  • Fielding senses something is amiss and writes Aziz a letter. But Aziz doesn't like the letter because of its rational tone.
  • Aziz writes back that he won't be able to see Fielding again before Fielding leaves for England because he has to take his kids back to Mussoorie. Besides, when Fielding returns to India, Aziz will probably be working away at some far-off Indian state.
  • (This is Aziz's indirect way of accusing Fielding of ruining Aziz by convincing Aziz not to pursue a lucrative lawsuit against Adela.)
  • After Fielding leaves, Aziz's friends convince him that Fielding did have an affair with Adela, and that's why Fielding convinced Aziz not to pursue a lawsuit against her. Aziz manages to further convince himself that Fielding has actually married Adela.