Among the captured baggage lying strewn in the gardens of Kandahar were letters of support from Wade, proving British complicity in the failed coup. Wade tried to put a good face on it all, saying that it was a result no one could have anticipated; but it now looked more and more as if Burnes had been right about the popularity and efficiency of the Barakzais, and that Wade had all along been backing a serial loser in Shah Shuja.
