When Burnes was summoned to give advice at the Governor General’s Residence in Simla on 20 July, he was warned not to muddle Auckland or attempt to change his mind. According to Masson, “when he arrived, Torrens and Colvin came running to him and prayed him to say nothing to unsettle his Lordship; that they had all the trouble in the world to get him into the business and that even now he would be glad of any pretext to retire from it.”129
