The love story thread is kept alive by Emma’s pining for her betrothed. Ultimately, she has to take up arms since she’s implicated in the atrocities committed by the Jhansi rebels. They persuade the Rani to join the rebellion, which she is reluctant to do initially. To make matters worse, the East India Company army’s Hindu/Muslim sepoys mutiny over the religious issue of needing to chew off the pig- and cow-fat- greased new cartridges required to load the superior Enfield Rifles. By 1857 the Rani is struggling to survive on a small pension. After the rejection of the appeal, the affairs at Jhansi take a turn for the worse. While Emma is there to tutor the Rani’s adopted son, she does much more, advising and assisting the rani in her cause. This continuance covers the events immediately prior to and during the Indian Mutiny/Rebellion of 1857. Coincidentally, Jhansi is under the Governor General’s annexation orders that are being appealed by the Rani. She’s still in the employ of the Rani of Jhansi, although she has separated from her husband, an Indian officer, and is engaged to a British major who is serving elsewhere. Nicole, in this sequel to Manu, continues the fascinating travelogue of Emma, a young and attractive English governess.
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