A clerk in the British Civil Service stationed in India, Gilbert Raynor sends for his wife Emily after a long period of diligent saving. Shortly after her arrival, Emily becomes ill, and Raynor requests a transfer to a gentler climate. Marner, Raynor's superior, refuses the request until he meets Emily and falls in love with her, after which he moves Raynor to a high-paying but dangerous post. Inevitably, Raynor contracts the fever which is endemic to the district where he is stationed. Marner, who follows Emily to the mountain area where she goes to recover, learns of Raynor's illness but does not transfer him. Finally, after Emily, who has backed off Marner's advances, learns of her husband's plight, Marner has an attack of conscience and journeys with Emily to rescue Raynor in the nick of time. Remaining in the fever zone, Marner reads the story of David and Uriah in Raynor's Bible, recognizes the parallel to his own wrongdoing, and dies from fever, while husband and wife are restored to happiness.