In 1814, Richard Sharpe and his second wife, Jane, quarrel over Sharpe's imminent duel with Captain Bampfylde, resulting from the latter's cowardice in the previous novel, "Sharpe's Siege". Just in case, Sharpe grants her power of attorney over the considerable sum of money he has lodged with his prize agent in London. Sharpe fights the duel, wounding Bampfylde in the buttocks, and sends Jane to England with instructions to purchase a country home in Dorset, even though she makes it clear she wants to live in London.