After becoming separated from his friends Hank and Buddy in the desert, John returns to Brandon Abbas. The last survivor of the three brothers, he is welcomed by their aunt and his fiancée Isobel. The reason for the jewel theft is revealed to have been a matter of honour, and to have been the only "decent thing" possible. In "Beau Ideal" and other sequels P. C. Wren ties loose strings together, including recording that Michael Geste's original reasons for joining the Foreign Legion were honour but also his doomed and impossible love for Claudia.