Did a nineteenth century British landowner really discover gold, jewels, and the charred bones of the Lord Buddha in an underground chamber on his estate? Is the site of this discovery the legendary lost city of Kapilavastu, where the real Buddha lived as Prince Siddhartha?

After four years of college in America, Princess Christianna is determined not to return to the stiff, formal lifestyle of her father's court and, hoping to make a difference in the world, persuades her father to allow her to volunteer for the Red Cross in East Africa.