The Glass Palace

Rajkumar sells his stockpiled teak for a huge profit, though the specifics of the deal are murky. He sells all his properties save for the timber yard. Moving all the teak quickly will require a huge effort and Rajkumar, now elderly, relies on Neel to do much of the work. The whole household is thrilled with the news, putting aside the lack of contact with Arjun and Dinu. They reach out to Doh Say through his son, Raymond.

Arjun, Kishan, and two others are sent ahead of the decimated battalion. They find the house of the plantation manager and enter carefully, though it has been abandoned. The others arrive and they raid the house for food. Though the officers are prepared a European meal, Hardy insists that they eat the chapatis and Indian cuisine of the men. After dinner, the commanding officer reveals that he has heard much of mutinous discussions around him. Their conversation is interrupted by news of the Japanese advancing.

Arjun and Kishan take a detail to cover the retreat of the rest of the battalion. A firefight erupts. Arjun is shot through the leg and slips over. A voice emerges from the darkness: it’s Kishan, and he has found a hiding place. As they keep quiet, the pain of the gunshot wound hits Arjun and he blacks out.

Dinu struggles to follow the war on the radio. He sees a stream of evacuees fleeing toward Singapore; they advise him to leave as soon as possible. Their departure is hampered by their cars, which will not bear all of passengers and their possessions. Ilongo arrives at four o’clock in the morning and brings bad news of the war. Alison must leave at once and take Saya John with her; Dinu will stay behind. They are told about a special train leaving the next day that may be able to take all three of them.

The drive to the station leads them through a ghost town. They find a hotel and spend the day waiting for the train, making frequent inquiries. Finally, the train is set to arrive. They leave Ilongo and push through a crowd toward the train. When they reach the front, they are refused entry: the train is only for Europeans. Dinu argues in vain; when he attacks the station master, the guards beat him. The train departs without them. Dinu tells Alison to take her father to Singapore without him, offering to stay at Morningside and join them later.

Arjun returns to consciousness to find Kishan tending his wound. They’re surrounded and decide to wait. As they hide, Arjun thinks back to his time with Alison and realizes the limits of his understanding of the world. With the pain in his leg becoming overwhelming, Arjun asks Kishan to speak to him. Kishan tells Arjun about his village, family, and history. Arjun becomes delirious, aware that his entire existence is a confusing lie.