The Man Who Did the Right Thing: A Romance

The narrative follows Lucy Josling and John Baines from a rural engagement through transcontinental separation when Baines departs for service in East Africa; Lucy plans to follow and they marry abroad. It follows their life in and around a coastal consulate and an inland settlement, introducing arrivals and rivalries that reshape relationships. Key episodes cover mission life, an attack on a station, returns to the coast, a subsequent marriage, and long-term consequences of conflict and war. The work examines duty and moral choice within a small expatriate community, showing how desire, ambition, and the passage of years alter loyalties and outcomes in the Happy Valley.