Malcolm waved back and got up. The two men watched her approach.

"Hello, Angel," Malcolm said warmly, the Admiral's words dancing in his head. "May I introduce Mr. Edward Gornt of Rothwell's in Shanghai? My fiancee, Mademoiselle Richaud."

"Ma'am!" Gornt took her hand and kissed it gallantly.

"Mr. Gornt," she murmured, reading his eyes. There was an abrupt, curious silence between the three of them, then for no apparent reason they burst out laughing.

"What is it?" she asked, her heart picking up beat.

"Joie de vivre," Gornt said.

She looked up at him, liking what she saw, warmed by the smile, then took Malcolm's arm, already relating the encounter in the letter she had interrupted: I confess, dearest Colette, I spied them on the promenade so put on my best bonnet and took them by surprise, and my Malcolm's arm (Defensively) for this new arrival is tall and handsome with the naughtiest glint behind his eyes that I saw instantly, though Malcolm could not possibly be aware of, or he would have been more jealous than usual, poor dear! I wanted to meet this tall stranger casually. He has the slightest of Southern accents, broad shoulders, narrow waist, a fencer probably, and glorious dancer--I do hope he'll be a friend, I need them here so much...

"La, cheri," she said, fanning herself against the immediate and pleasing internal heat, a subconscious feline reaction to Gornt's masculinity. "Excuse me, I didn't mean to interrupt an important conference ..."

"You didn't, Angel," Malcolm said.

"I was just leaving," Gornt said. No need to conceal all of his admiration. "I'm pleased to make your acquaintance, Ma'am." He bowed.

"Good day, suh, I shall be in touch."

They watched him walk off. "Who is this Mr.Gornt?"

He told her, but nothing in fact about the real Mr. Gornt. He was fogged by the thought of Tuesday.

"More pork in black bean sauce, Younger Sister?" Ah Tok asked, chomping on a piece of fish.

"Thank you." Ah Soh reached over with her chopsticks to replenish her bowl, then snapped up the choice, quick fried prawn she had ogled.

"Please continue, Elder Sister."

The two women were in Ah Tok's room, their lunch spread out in a multitude of dishes, a fresh pot of jasmine tea close at hand.

"Ayeeyah, it's very difficult. Illustrious Chen gave no clear instructions."

"That's not like him." Ah Soh took more of the succulent pieces of beef in oyster sauce.

"Not like him, not at all."

"I agree, but then his new concubine, the whore from Soo Chow, is sure to be taking most of his concentration."

"Ayeeyah! Is it true she's fourteen with no pubics?"

Ah Tok took up another bony piece of fish head and sucked it appreciatively.

"It's only the Garlic People of Chosen who don't have pubics." She spat the bones onto the floor and selected another part.

"Interesting. I wonder if it's all the garlic they eat? May I re-read his letter, Elder Sister?"

It said: Greetings, Ah Tok, Sixth Cousin Twice Removed, You did very well to consult me at once. The cork of the bottle revealed clear traces of Dark of the Moon which must be the Expeller of Dog Land in the Eastern Sea.

An abortion! The whore was wise and unwise to use it, the Master wise and unwise to advocate it. Until we know if he made the decision, or she did without his knowledge, you must do nothing. Cousin, listen to him sleeping-- he's always muttered in his sleep since a child--perhaps he will tell you more. Instruct Ah Soh to do likewise and both of you be like bats.

Unfailingly obey.

"Ayeeyah, what does he mean, be like bats?" Ah Soh asked irritably. "Bats are silent but they squeak. Bats can fly in the dark but are blind during the light, are invisible at night, helpless by day. Their droppings are valuable but stink to Heaven. What does he mean, heya?"

"Eyes and ears and nostrils open, like a bat, and watch where you drop droppings!" Ah Tok cackled. "Ten thousand summers to Noble House Chen, without him we would not have known her Jade Gate's hung on my son's door!"

"How do we know it was him?" Ah Soh said with a robust belch. "How do we know it was the Master and not someone else?" She dropped her voice and looked around as though expecting alien ears and Ah Tok's chopsticks hesitated in midair.

"Someone like Long Pointed Nose, the same kind of foreign devil as she is, heya? Those two are as close as lice in a beggar's crotch. And didn't he sink the bottle, all the evidence in the sea, remember?"

The old Ah Tok was no longer laughing.

"Fang-pi!" she said, using the rare expletive. "That's what Illustrious Chen must have been cautioning us about! Bats weave as they fly and don't alight on the first branch and even then they hang upside down. He's telling us to find out which Yang possessed that Yin! Ayeeyah, yes, I agree, it's possible, possible Long Pointed Nose's made my son wear a green hat!"

"The Master cuckolded!" Ah Soh's eyes went to Heaven. "It's true Long Pointed Nose spent enough time in her room to..." She gasped. "Ayeeyah! Remember, weeks ago, when she sent me away and later screamed because she thought someone was climbing into her room from outside when it was only the wind banging the shutters? I remember now, I was quicker than a bat to her side but Long Pointed Nose was already there and both of them... now I think of it, both were whiter than a five-day corpse! Was that the time his Yang..."

"When was it, Young Sister? The day? When?"

"It was the day... the day after the Master had that native whore from the brothel across the Canal."

Both women began calculating, minds abacus-fast. Today was twelfth month, fifth day. "That would be, that would be tenth month, eighteenth or nineteenth day, Elder Sister."

"Not enough, perhaps not quite enough time, unless this Dark of the Moon is swallowed earlier." Absently Ah Tok sucked more of the fish head, then spat out the bones with conviction: "They must have lain together earlier. The whore had plenty of chances, heya?

She was always at that barbarian house, even before you both stayed there."

"You're right, you're right as usual, Elder Sister! We must inform Illustrious Chen at once."

"But why should she give her Jade Gate to such an ugly foreign devil when my son's panting over it?"

Ah Soh shrugged expansively.

"Barbarians! Who knows what they think? You should tell the Master!"

Weak with excitement, Ah Tok looked at her bar. Madeira, whisky, brandy. "We need strength!" She selected the whisky and poured two large tots. "To work! We must plan, plot and think how to get the whore and her paramour to reveal the truth!"

"Good, very good! Together we'll do it!"

"But no hint to my son, unwise for us to carry dirty tidings. Until we are sure." They clinked glasses. "By all gods great and small, no one is going to cuckold my son, make him wear the green hat and live a long and happy life!"

"Good evening, Father Leo," Angelique said politely, knelt and kissed his hand, finding it hard to contain her revulsion against his strong odor.

They were alone in the little church, the nave dimly lit, only a few candles burning, the dying sun coming through the small, poorly executed stained-glass window. There were few Catholics in the Settlement, the revenue miserly, even so the altar and crucifix were rich. Outside, in the sunset, Vargas waited to escort her back again.

"You wanted to see me?" she asked innocently, knowing she had missed Mass again on Sunday. Her pink bonnet had been chosen carefully, also the long Kashmir shawl over her most maidenly afternoon dress of somber silk.

"How well you look, Father."

"I'm glad to see you, senhorita, my child," he said with his heavy Portuguese accent. "You are not at Mass again."

"It's the vapors, Father. I'm still recovering from the disorder... Dr. Babcott advised rest," she replied, her mind on what she would wear for tonight's birthday banquet for the Russian Minister, and what she could do to entertain Malcolm during the evening. "I am sure by next week I will be better."