The Far Pavilions

Ash returns to Mardan, where the Corps of Guides has been fighting across the border. British envoy Cavagnari signs a treaty with Afghanistan's emir and establishes an embassy in Kabul. Wally leads a force to secure the legation, while Ash accepts an assignment to spy among the natives. After making a last stand at the embassy, Ash journeys home. There, he learns that Anjuli's husband is near death; she and her sister, Shushila, will have to commit suttee, immolating themselves on his funeral pyre. Ash concocts a desperate plan to save his lover.