Tess until the end of the month. How much loyalty do I owe her? All of it. Till the end of the month.

Rain battered the window. He got up and looked around the bay critically. The sea was a dirtier grey than before, the sky lowering. No doubt the storm would be bad for the cutter but not for a ship. Ah, there she is!

Their cutter was a couple of hundred yards or so off their wharf, making way carefully against the waves, shipping some water but not badly, spray from the bow wave substantial, the Struan flag at half mast--as the flag above their building had been since the death of the tai-pan. His binoculars were on the window ledge. Now he could see Hoag and Pallidar clearly in the cabin, the flag-draped coffin lashed securely to one of the benches as he had ordered. A twinge went through him seeing the entwined Lion and Dragon around Malcolm's coffin--a sight he had never expected to see. Then he remembered that it was not his friend's coffin but some unknown native, at least he hoped so.

"Vargas!"

"Yes senhor."

"Take this lot of mail, copy it and seal it--I'll deal with the rest this afternoon. I'll be back later."

"Captain Biddy wasn't in the Club but expected, senhor, I left a message."

"Thanks." Unhurried he put on his coat and hat and went out, leant against the rain-filled wind. He was almost alone on the High Street.

At the North Gate, Cornishman was nowhere to be seen. A few samurai guards huddled in the lee of their Customs House. Some traders were scuttling for the Club and a late tiffin. A few waved. One of them stopped and urinated in the gutter. South Drunk Town seemed even more squalid under the overcast. This's no place for a woman, he thought.

"Ahoy, Jamie!" Hoag called from the cutter.

"Hello Doc, hello Settry." They clambered onto the rough, tarred planks, the piling timbers sunk deep in the seabed creaking with the thrust of the waves. One look at Hoag was enough to know that the switch had been successful, however much the squat man pretended nonchalance. So we're committed, he thought. Pallidar was having a coughing fit. "Settry, you'd better get that fixed before it turns into something worse."

"It already has," Pallidar said sourly. "This so-called doctor gave me a potion that's bound to kill me. Doc," he said coughing again, "if it does, when it does, the hell with you."

Hoag laughed. "A double-strength toddy and you'll be right as rain tomorrow. Jamie, everything's all right?"

"Yes."

Pallidar said, "I'm turning responsibility of the coffin over to you, Jamie.

It goes aboard Cloud at once?"

"About half an hour. Angelique wanted to... to say good-bye. Reverend Tweet will add a few words."

"Then she's definitely not going by the clipper?"

"I don't know, Settry, not positively.

Last I heard she was going by the mail ship, but, you know how women are."

"Don't blame her. Going back aboard the clipper would give me the creeps too." Pallidar blew his nose and huddled deeper into his greatcoat. "If you want I'll get Sir William to send the coffin by mail ship then they'd arrive together."

"No," Hoag said, too quickly for Jamie, then recovered, "no, Settry old boy, I wouldn't recommend that, medically. Best leave arrangements as they are, coffin by Prancing Cloud. Angelique's all right now but a sudden shock could shove her back into a nightmare.

Better she goes by mail ship and the coffin by clipper."

"Just as you want. Jamie, I'm recommending to William we shut down Kanagawa at once, that's why I came back."

"Christ Almighty, why?"

Pallidar told him about the patrols and numerous samurai around. "Not to worry. We can blow 'em all to hell. Mind if I have the cutter take me back, it'd save me time."

"Why not go with her to Prancing Cloud, and she can take you direct after that. Are you overnighting at Kanagawa?"

"No, I've seen enough and just have to get my lads," Pallidar said to their relief. "The clerks and guards can evacuate over the next few days. See you later." He walked off, coughing.

Before he was hardly out of hearing distance Hoag said, "It went perfectly, Jamie."

"Not now for Christ's sake." In spite of the cold and wet Jamie was sweating. He led the way back to the High Street to the lee of a bungalow, safe from other ears. "What happened?"

"It worked like a charm. This morning as soon as the cutter arrived we went to the morgue an--"

"Who's we?"

"Settry, Sergeant Towery, the Bosun and two crew. We draped and secured the flag to the coffin and they put it aboard the cutter. The other one is waiting for us tonight or whenever--supposedly waiting for cremation." Hoag peered seawards, against the rain. "No chance tonight, eh?"

"No. But it'll blow itself out by morning. I think."

"Good." Hoag rubbed his hands against the cold.

"Everything worked like a dream. One small problem, the native was tiny, just skin and bones so I packed his coffin with earth to make up the difference in their weights."

"God Almighty, of course! I'd forgotten about that. That was clever."

"Did that last night, no trouble--no one said a thing when they put the coffin aboard the cutter, not a sausage."

"My God, this is all so dicey," Jamie said uneasily. "How are we going to get the other coffin out of the Legation with the clerks and soldiers there?"

"Already taken care of that." Hoag chortled.

"I told our Japanese assistants to put it in the shed by our Kanagawa jetty, it's not far from the crematorium. They can do it without arousing any suspicion. George told me he puts coffins and bodies there when he has an overload. It's routine."

"Marvelous! How far is it from the jetty?"

"Fifty yards or so. Three of us can carry it easily and we'll have the Bosun, won't we?"

"Yes. You've done damn well. Damn well." Jamie squinted into the rain. "Pity we couldn't do it tonight and finish it."

"Never mind. Tomorrow will be fine." Hoag was very confident and pleased with Jamie's praise. No need to tell about being spotted and about Pallidar.

This morning they had had breakfast together and when he said: "Settry, about last night..."

Pallidar had interrupted him: "Forget it, just forget it, Doctor, that's the best thing for you to do."

That is best, he thought, beaming, forget it ever happened. "Shall we fetch Angelique? How is she?"

Within the hour they had reassembled beside the cutter. The rain was heavier and the wind squalling.

Spray came over part of the jetty. The cutter, well moored, dipped and fell with the waves, ropes creaking. Angelique wore black, a black cloak raincoat over her dyed black dress, black hat with a heavy black veil, and an umbrella. The umbrella was sky blue, a startling contrast.

Surrounding her were Jamie, Skye, Dmitri, Tyrer, Sir William and other Ministers, Captain Strongbow, Gornt, Marlowe, Pallidar, Vargas, Andr`e, Seratard, the Reverend Tweet and many others, all bundled against the rain. In the background Father Leo stood bleakly, hands in his sleeves, peering out from under his cowl. Jamie had invited Tweet to say a blessing: "It would be odd if we didn't, Angelique. I'll make sure there's no real service, or speeches, that wouldn't be correct, just a blessing."

The inclement weather helped to make the blessing brief. For once, Tweet was curiously eloquent. When he finished, self-consciously they all looked at her. Overhead gulls cawed as the wind swirled them past, riding the currents joyously. Sir William said, "Again, Madame, my deepest condolences."

"Thank you." She stood straight, rain spattering off her umbrella. "I protest that I am not allowed to bury my husband openly as he and I wish."

"Your protest is noted, Madame." Sir William raised his hat. The rest filed past, saying their condolences and raising their hats or saluting if in uniform. Strongbow saluted and stepped into the cutter, Pallidar boarded after him as Marlowe stopped in front of her, still upset.