September 1939. War breaks out as newly-married Guy and Harriet Pringle set out on a journey across Europe and into the heart of the Balkans - to Romania where an uneasy neutrality reigns.
January 1940. The Romanian Prime Minister has been assassinated by the fascist Iron Guard and Bucharest is rife with rumour and counter-rumour. Guy, gregarious as ever, is at the centre of the city's intellectual life, popular alike with his students and with the ex-patriate community of diplomats, agents, refugees, spies and politicians. Harriet is beginning to wonder when he will find time for her.
June 1940. To Harriet's intense annoyance, Prince Yakimov has taken up permanent residence in the Pringle flat while they secretly shelter Sasha Drucker who is in hiding from the Iron Guard. France has fallen and Romania is forging an alliance with the Germans.
October 1940. Unwittingly betrayed by Prince Yakimov, Guy's name has appeared on a Gestapo "death list." The Pringle flat has been ransacked and the Jewish refugee, Sasha Drucker, has disappeared. Bucharest is overrun by Germans and it is time for the English to move on. Harriet, alone, waits anxiously for Guy to join her in Athens.
April 1941. As German troops advance into Greece and the Allied forces mobilise, Harriet's brief encounter with a young army officer comes to an end. As the English community prepares to leave Athens, Prince Yakimov is tragically killed, and Guy and Harriet escape in the nick of time on a derelict cargo boat.
September 1942. After fighting his first battle in the Western desert, Simon Boulderstone sets out in search of his brother, only to learn that he was killed in action. Guy returns from Alexandria to take charge of the Institute in Cairo. Harriet feels that she could play no part in his ambitious plans for reorganisation.
January 1943. Neglected by Guy and weakened by illness, Harriet decides to return to England. Unbeknownst to Guy, she changes her mind and on a last-minute impulse sets off for Damascus instead. Meanwhile in Cairo, news came that the ship Harriet was to have sailed on has been torpedoed - with no survivors.
