The Jewel in the Crown

The hasty arrangements for Susan and Teddy's wedding are threatened, but Ronald Merrick provides a solution. The Layton family gathers in Mirat as guests of its ruler, the Nawab, who may even attend the wedding. However, what should be a happy occasion is overshadowed by unexplained incidents.

Susan and Teddy's wedding day is a happy one, except for the strange attack on the car taking Ronald Merrick and Teddy to the church. Merrick apologises to Sarah and explains the connections between Mirat and Mayapore where Daphne was attacked. What happened on the night of the Bibighar haunts Lady Manners too.

While visiting the wounded Ronald Merrick in Calcutta, Sarah meets Jimmy Clark who later challenges many of the values by which she lives. In Pankot another daughter of the regiment confesses her own act of rebellion long ago.

Sarah returns to Pankot to find her sister Susan becoming increasingly agitated by her new baby. Merrick too is close to madness, but who will snap first?

Susan's baby has been rescued from the ring of fire that nearly engulfed him, but how did that awful moment leave Susan? Barbie embarks on a generous mission but is turned back by an appalling discovery. Meanwhile, the Laytons have moved into Rose Cottage, but the shadow of events in Calcutta darkens this home-coming.

It is 1945. Colonel Layton has been released from prison camp. Sarah visits Barbie in hospital then goes to Bombay to welcome him home. Also in Bombay, Sergeant Guy Perron of Military Intelligence is quickly drawn into a web of intrigue by Major Ronald Merrick. A web not only to catch traitors, but to bind the Laytons too. At a strange party Guy widens his circle of friends with far reaching consequences.

On 6th August 1945 Barbie lies in hospital in Rampur. Sarah meets Guy in Bombay, after which she and her father travel to Pankot for his home-coming. There are other travellers who make the journey north with them, two old school fellows and a recently promoted Lt. Colonel. A number of questions need to be answered about loyalty, whether Merrick has finally met his match in Guy and whether it is time for another marriage.

Merrick, having blackmailed an orderly to gain access to Susan's records, is recalled to Delhi at the end of the war. Guy and Sarah find that their friendship with Hari is drawing them together.

In August 1947 Guy Perron returns to India on the eve of independence to observe the last days of British rule. He discovers that Merrick had married Susan but was subsequently killed in a riding accident. Guy questions Nigel about Merrick and discovers he was murdered.

Guy discovers the horrific details of Merricks death. He travels to Ranpur for the independence celebrations, but the train is besieged and Ahmed Kasim and other Muslims are killed.