Summary
Moonlit Calcutta, 1916: Paul Ellison, sybaritic cadet of the British telegraph corps, courts the ethereally alabaster Elsa beneath the tamarind trees, yet the cosmos curdles when his rakehell identical twin Arthur—an opium-sotted drifter—slashes a moneylender’s throat during a monsoon-soaked card brawl. Haunted by fraternal blood-obligation, Paul swaps dress whites for Arthur’s stained linen, shoulders the murder charge, and is devoured by the penal maw of the Andaman Isles while Arthur sails west, a guiltless parasite. Half a decade later in flapper-era New York, Elsa—her gaze still carrying Himalayan snow—accepts the hand of the man she believes is her resurrected Calcutta lover, unaware that the scar under his left eye is a forgery. On a freighter bound for Rangoon, fate’s loom tightens: Paul, sun-scorched and Christ-bearded, emerges from self-inflicted exile; Craig, a syphilitic gambler with dice for eyes, recognizes the prodigal and threatens blackmail; during a torch-lit temple festival, identities splinter like lacquer, culminating in a deathbed confession that bleaches the night of its deceit. Twin shadows merge; innocence, once auctioned, is quietly returned.
Synopsis
Paul Ellison, who falls in love with Elsa, exchanges identities with his twin, Arthur, because he feels himself responsible for his brother's downfall, and assumes guilt for a murder. Five years later Elsa meets Arthur, whom she believes to be Paul, and they become engaged. In Rangoon, Paul is recognized by Elsa and Craig, a gambler. Though Paul confesses to the crime, Craig, in his dying moments, admits he is the real murderer. Elsa and the two brothers are then reconciled.
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