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Summary
The Indian guests arrived at the Bridge Party before time but they kept to themselves. Turton came late and surveyed the gathering which was composed of Hindus, Muslims and Parsees. He felt that the Nawab had come with an ulterior motive and might be expecting to get a contract from him. Ronny felt that those who mattered had not come and those who had come were seditious.
Mr. Turton had come late to the party. He asked Mrs. Turton to go and meet the Indian ladies. Hesitantly, she proceeded towards them. She told Mrs. Moore that the English ladies were superior to the Indian ladies, except for two or three 'Ranis' who were to be treated equally. Mrs. Moore expressed her regrets that she could not speak in any of the native languages.
On coming to know that Mrs. Bhattacharya and Mrs. Das (sister to Bhattacharya) were English speaking ladies, Mrs. Moore asked Mrs. Bhattacharya whether she could call on them. Mrs. Bhattacharya welcomed her but at the same time she told her that they were leaving for Calcutta. But Mr. Bhattacharya intervened and invited Mrs. Moore and Miss Quested to his residence on Thursday morning. Mrs. Moore felt sorry that the Bhattacharya's had to cancel their visit to Calcutta for her sake:
After the party, Mrs. Turton behaved as though she had achieved a lot. Hamidullah thought that Mr. Turton had played his part well. But Mahmoud Ali cynically believed that the Collector had launched the party under pressure, The Nawab was pleased with the Collector. Fielding got along well with the Indians. He was glad to know that Mrs. Moore and Miss Adela Quested were going to the Bhattacharya's on Thursday. He also invited them and promised to invite Dr. Aziz whom Miss Adela Quested was eager to meet. He also told the that he would invite a musician who would sing Indian songs.
On returning home Mrs. Moore and Ronny got involved in another round of discussion. Ronny wanted to know whether Miss Adela Quested was happy. Mrs. Moore told him that she was not happy over the way the Indians were treated. At this Ronny got excited and remarked that the Englishmen had come to India to rule, to do justice and to keep peace. They could not be pleasant to the Indians as India was no drawing room. Mrs. Moore did not agree with his and argued that since God is present everywhere and India is a part of the world, so the Indians too, should be treated well. Ronny thought this mother to be aging speedily as she talked of religion and applied it everywhere. Mrs. Moore, too, regretted the fact that she brought in religion unnecessarily in her conversation whereas she should have been more relevant and concentrated on the subject of marriage between Ronny and Miss Adela Quested. Ronny was anxious whether he would be able to win the heart of Miss Adela Quested or not?
Critical Analysis
This chapter is very important as it helps in furthering the development of the theme. The crux of the problem is that the 'pucca sahibs' could never mix with the Indians. Ronny Heaslop's love affair and his relations with his mother has also been indicated. Except for Dr. Aziz all the other important characters of the novel are present in this chapter.