"In her experience all the richest and most valuable things were mixed up, somehow or other, with being hurt...Happiness was the flaunting honeyed flower of the soul; but the root was pain, and the twin fruits knowledge and strength."

Though war-lords skirmish in the countryside, formal diplomatic life proceeds in the fabled city of Peking. At its centre is Laura Leroy, an attache's wife, "admired, valued and a little feared", though privately grieving for her children and for England. When a group embarks on a camping trip to a great temple, the breathtaking scenery provides a perfect backdrop for romance and, while offering wise and tactful advice to the young lovers in her midst, Laura finds her own heart touched by a lonely visitor, But all such contemplations must be cast aside when a group of bandits takes the party hostage and violence erupts...