In April 1910 Penang, Lesley wakes to her comfortable life with her barrister husband Robert and their two young sons, James and Edward. Over breakfast, Robert mentions he's to meet Dr. Sun Yat Sen, a Chinese revolutionary referred to him by Dr. Cantlie. Lesley then reads in the newspaper that her close friend Ethel Proudlock has been arrested in Kuala Lumpur for shooting William Steward, who allegedly tried to rape her. Lesley recalls a recent meeting with Ethel where Ethel confided about a 'mild flirtation' with a man, which Lesley had warned her against.

Later, meeting her brother Geoff for tea, Lesley learns devastating news: Robert is having an affair. Geoff has seen them. Lesley weeps in a rickshaw, then weighs her options on the beach, recalling how she met Robert at a musical evening and built a respectable life with him. She decides she cannot divorce him because of the social ruin and losing her sons. She recalls a divorced woman, Mrs. Logan, as a cautionary example.

That evening at the Pyketts' anniversary party at the E&O, Lesley meets Robert's new Chinese assistant Peter Ong Chi Seng, then encounters Dr. Sun Yat Sen and Dr. Arthur Loh. Robert invites them for drinks. The next evening, Sun Wen visits and recounts his life: his radical youth desecrating temple idols, his medical studies under Cantlie, his kidnapping at the Chinese Legation in London, and his current work raising funds for the Tong Meng Hui to establish a Chinese republic. When Sun Wen reveals he has two wives, Lesley, fueled by suppressed rage at Robert, lashes out at his hypocrisy about equality. She tells Robert she is going alone to KL to attend Ethel's inquest.

In KL, Lesley visits Ethel at the Shaws' bungalow. Ethel, distracted and defensive, claims Steward came to beg her to resume their affair, then attacked her when she refused. At the inquest, DPP Hereford methodically dismantles Ethel's self-defense story: Steward was shot six times (chest, neck, four to the head); his clothes were intact; the verandah showed minimal struggle; Ethel wore a low-cut tea gown. Ethel's husband William testifies about finding her dazed and the body on the lawn. Magistrate Daly refers the matter to trial, charging Ethel with murder. Bail is denied; she is sent to Pudoh Gaol.

Lesley visits Ethel in prison and urges her to admit the affair as her only defense, but Ethel refuses, terrified of being labeled an adulteress, and threatens to deny everything if Lesley speaks. Returning home to Penang, Lesley embraces her sons and resigns herself to enduring Robert's betrayal in silence. Over a dinner where Robert thoughtfully obtains her favorite chendol, he speculates that Ethel may have lured Steward to murder him in cold blood—and warns that if found guilty, she will hang.