Henry is one of the main characters in The Californian's Tale. He is the bereaved husband, a forty five year old man who lives in a little cottage.
Henry invites the narrator, who is a traveller, to his place and tells him all this stories about his wife and how she made it a comfortable place. He begs the narrator to stay until his wife returns, he seems to be very in love with this woman and it all seems very natural and loving.
Little by little, the traveller discovers that henry's wife doesn't live there anymore and that she vanished years ago. The remaining miners help Henry to keep the fantasy about his wife during that special period of time so that his grief isn't too hard to bare.
When the narrator finally figures it out, he gets shocked and feels for Henry's tragic story and his melancholy.
Henry lost himself when he lost his beloved wife and year after year he awaits for her to come back to him.
