Without wanting to be impertinent, or callous, may I say the change suits you very much."

"I would prefer ten thousand time to have my husband alive, and not to have changed." Her openness surprised her, though like Malcolm, she had always found Gornt easy to talk to. "I'm not yet sure about the change, if I like it. Growing up so fast is, I don't know the right word, is aching, scare-making." She got up and refilled his glass, then put the iced champagne bucket on the table, closer to him.

"Thanks," he said, aware of her more than ever before.

"I've decided not to go to Hong Kong by the clipper."

"Ah, yes, Ma'am. I'd heard the rumor, something about you not wanting to go aboard her again--or your husband's remains--that you go by mail ship." As soon as he had heard, for safety, he had seen the agent to reserve passage also but all cabins were taken. Cursing, he had tried to find Jamie but Jamie was not in the building.

"I can understand you not wanting to go on the Cloud."

Her hands were tranquil in her lap, her voice quiet and as controlled. "These secrets you were going to tell my husband, will you tell them to me?"

He smiled his nice smile, fascinated by her, and shook his head. "Sorry, Ma'am, no --even if I had any."

She nodded, not offended. "I didn't expect you to, I'm sure I wouldn't understand them if you did, and then, I could never put them into effect anyway, could I?" He smiled. "But Tess Struan can, no?"

"Ma'am?"

"My husband told me you said if anything happened to him, you would go at once to Hong Kong to deal directly with his mother, to make the same arrangement with her you had made with him. He said you were doing this because you hated the Brocks-- he didn't tell me why you hated them." She reached up and toyed with the stem of her glass.

"Tess Struan could certainly use the information, if what you claim is true, no? This was Tuesday, before we were married."

Again, he just watched her, a pleasant expression on his handsome face.

"I can understand why my husband liked you, Edward, why you'd be a dangerous enemy, and even more dangerous a friend."

This made him laugh outright and the tension between them broke. "Not to you, Ma'am, never, I swear it.

Never."

"We'll see. We have many bridges to cross you and I, for, by God, as my husband would say, I am embracing his hopes and dreams as my own: that you can help Struan's destroy the Brocks, once and for all. Perhaps your hopes and dreams too."

"Mine?"

She opened her bag and took out the paper she had found in the safe's inner compartment, held it closer to the light to see better and read aloud: ""This is my solemn agreement with Mr.Edward Gornt, gentleman, of Rothwell's in Shanghai: if information provided by him assists Struan's to break Brock and Sons, causing them to go under within the next six months, on behalf of Struan's I guarantee that he will receive from their wreckage, the Brock 50% interest in Rothwell's free and clear, that we will assist him in good faith, as best we can, with the Victoria Bank to raise the necessary loan to purchase the other 50% belonging to Jefferson Cooper, that from this date, for twenty years, Struan's grants him, or any company he personally controls, favored nation status on any mutually agreed business dealings."

She held it for him to see but did not hand it over. "It's dated the day before yesterday, Edward, signed but not witnessed."

He made no move to take it. His eyesight was good. While she was reading it he had recognized the signature. Without the witness it doesn't have its real value, he thought, his mind moving rapidly from plan to plan, from question to question, to answers. "So?"

"I could witness my husband's signature."

His mind stopped churning with a jolt. "A wife witnessing her husband's signature isn't usually valid."

"Say I witnessed it the same day--before we were married."

Where the devil's she getting all this from? he was thinking frantically. Jamie? Heavenly? She's like one of Stevenson's new steam rollers.

"Even if, even if the paper was witnessed, it wouldn't bind the Noble House."

"Yes, but it would carry weight with Tess Struan--it would be an agreement with her son.

Doesn't it confirm you were working with my husband, clandestinely, to deliver her the greatest ambition of her life?"

"Perhaps, perhaps it would, Ma'am." He hesitated. "Jamie approves of the document?"

"He doesn't know about it. No one does except me," she told him, believing it. Why else would Malcolm hide it?

Thoughtfully, he poured some wine--he noticed she had not touched hers further. "I imagine," he said delicately, "such a favor would require one in return, Ma'am."

"I would like you to hurry by Prancing Cloud with all speed, as you planned, and see Tess Struan. And deliver a letter from me."

His eyes widened with disbelief. "That's all?"

"Not exactly. When you arrive Hong Kong-- the clipper will be there long before the mail ship--you must get to her before she hears the tragic news of my husband's death from anyone else. It is essential that you get to her first, telling her you bring her terrible news but also secret information, vital information that guarantees the ruin of Brocks forever, that will put them out of business forever quickly." She took a deep breath. "It will won't it?"

"Yes," he said softly, no longer a need to deny it.

"Next, tell her the Brocks had planned to murder Malcolm, using Norbert Greyforth.

Third that..."

"They what?"

"Isn't that true? Wasn't that part of Tyler Brock's plot? Or Morgan's? Certainly Jamie is of that opinion--he would swear to it.

Mr. Skye told me about the duel, the rest I forced from Jamie--why there was a duel. Wasn't Norbert just a pawn for murder?"

"Maybe," Gornt said, overwhelmed by her.

"Probably. Next?"

"Next." Her voice became quieter but oddly, clearer: "Please tell her it's because of me you're bringing her the evidence to destroy Brock's--you must keep stressing that."

"Because of you?"

"Because of me. Yes. Emphasize that. It's important to me, not much to ask, and you will get what you want anyway."

"You're sure?"

"Yes. You tell her you were going to forget this written contract you had with her son, believing it to be valueless now. But because I asked you, pleaded with you to see her in his stead, you decided to rush to Hong Kong to see her." She leaned closer.

"The information, must it be acted on quickly?"

"Yes," he said.

"Then emphasize that. But most of all, keep stressing it was I who persuaded you to go to her, my pleading persuaded you to see her to give her the evidence to destroy Malcolm's enemies and hers ... that I assured you she would honor the contract, or give you an equivalent. And she will. Tess Struan will, I guarantee."

"With your signature?"

"That's the first thing she will notice, so mention it in advance. Say Malcolm asked me to witness his signature, saying only it was a business contract between you two, which I did in front of you, without thought--on Monday, before the party. I didn't read it, nor ask about it. Last, say you have an urgent letter from me, and give it to her."

Angelique picked up her glass. "If she reads it in front of you, she probably won't, but if she does, I'd like to know what she says or does."

Now she took a second sip, leaned back, waiting, her eyes locked on his.

Her face still told him nothing. "What's in the letter?"

"You may read it, if you wish, before I seal it." She added lightly, without spite, "It will save you the bother of opening it."

His mind was pondering the conundrum of her.

"And the news of his death, your marriage and his death, how do I tell her that and all the rest?"