The Glass Palace

Alison suggests that she and Dinu drive to Gunug Jerai. They drive through the dark; when they arrive, they find the building deserted. They hear the planes approaching overhead and they see the squadron split in two, heading toward different targets. From high atop the mountaintop, they witness the bombing raids on Sungei Pattani and Fort Butterworth. When the oil tanks in Butterworth explode, Alison embraces Dinu. She reveals that she has been to see a doctor, worried that she was pregnant, but she’s not. She apologies to Dinu for leaving with Arjun.

Dinu tells Alison to go to Singapore but she doesn’t want to leave. Dinu says that Ilongo will run the estate while she is away and he will go back to Burma. Alison insists that he travel with her to Singapore first and confesses her love for him.

Arjun struggles through the plantation alone. In the darkness, he comes across Kishan. Arjun is led by his batman to the remnants of his battalion, including Hardy. They spend a night unable to sleep; Arjun and Hardy discuss their role in the Army compared to their British and Australian equivalents. Hardy suggests a relief at the routing of the Army, positing that it was not really his fight.