1923 – III

The suttee (pp. 56-61)

While Douglas is away, a widow has been forced by her relatives to burn herself with her dead husband on his funeral pyre. Although he just left the moment he got the news, he comes too late to save the woman. Therefore the only thing he can do is to arrest the relatives for what he achieves many congratulations.

By this time the Nawab has begun to visit Olivia regularly, which she does not tell her husband Douglas though. 

At a later date the Crawfords give a dinner party at thier house at which the main topic of conversation is the widow burning. Everybody discusses about the suttee and Olivia holds that the widow burned herself voluntary. She takes the stand that the suttee is part of the Indian religion and their culture and on top of that, the British may not interfere with it. In Olivia’s view, it’s „a noble idea“ to die with your husband, she would like to burn herself if her beloved Doulgas would die.