Watch The Far Pavilions

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.

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 returning from Afghanistan, Ash is transferred to a desk job with an army regiment. He finds a good friend in Wally but clashes with the other officers. As punishment for a brawl, Ash must escort a caravan of princesses to be married--including Anjuli, his childhood playmate.

After a tumultuous childhood in India and schooling in England, Ashton Pelham-Martyn takes a post with the British Corps of Guides on India's northwest frontier. There he struggles to reconcile his Indian upbringing with his place in Anglo society, and he courts the beautiful Belinda Harlowe.