Dickie Gordon, lucky to escape the Japanese Invading Burma in April,1941, is re-instated as a district officer in Bengal, India. He struggles to maintain the integrity of the Civil Service beseiged by ambitious politicians, corruption, and ruthless terrorists, a mix that hastens the disintegration of the Raj.

Beatrice, his decisive wife, is disenchanted with him and has an affair with Oxford educated Ravi Das, an ambitious colleague who becomes an influential politician. Co-incidentally, Dickie falls in love with Sarojini, Ravi's sister, but is frustrated by her promised marriage to a son of a powerful family. Dickie disappointed in love, trapped in a collapsing career, derails himself after surviving a poisonous snake bite. He survives a street mugging, a leopard attack during unofficial leave, and bungles an attempt to murder Das only to face a serious death threat wrongly accused of raping Sarojini.