The gears in Nola's head engaged. Lulu had become an international incident. A cause célèbre. The magnitude of the publicity wasn’t hard for Nola to fathom; she had been a guest on scores of TV and radio shows, from Argentina to Zimbabwe. There were thousands of such broadcast programs around the globe.

“I’m on your side.” Ashford’s voice returned to its normal level. “We’ll help you with an adoption through official channels, but the process may take up to one year, and the baby you’ll receive will be their choice, not yours.”

Nola struggled to restrain the quiver of her lips and chin. “I don’t want just any baby. I want Lulu. If I’m this big, important goodwill ambassador, why can’t the Chinese humor me?”

“They must save face.” He waved his pipe in a gesture that nicked her heart. “The only way they know how is to dig their heels in, in what’s tried and true for them.”

The walls were closing in, concentrating the smell of his tobacco in the room. She needed fresh air. Lots of it, or she would die. “Don’t you have all kinds of informal channels of communication with your Chinese counterparts?” she asked. “Can’t we cut a deal in which it will look as if I don’t get to adopt Lulu, when in fact I will?”

“That’s a possibility—if perhaps you hand her over to an orphanage with fanfare, wait a while, and in a year or so, maybe get her back.”

“A year? Maybe get her back? And maybe not! Ambassador Ashford, do you have children?”

He shook his head. “Margot and I weren’t so blessed.”

“I don’t see how I could hand her over for one day, let alone a year, to those butchers.”

“Don’t take it to the extreme. I’m sure they’ll put her in a good institution. You’ve seen an orphanage; it’s not bad—”

“Sure. I saw the token one on the official tour. Even there, they believe in tying down toddlers to potty chairs for hours. And they indicated that even adoptive parents aren’t allowed to visit the institutions in which their kids are raised.” She sucked in her breath. “And I’ve seen the Dying Rooms.”

“The name itself is a demagoguery of the most dangerous sort. Anyway, those places are only for hopeless medical cases. Euthanasia is practiced in many cultures, although I, as a Catholic, won’t make any excuses for it.” He pointed his pipe at her. “This is a generous offer and I suggest you take it now, because they might rescind it.”

“An offer? Who made it? And why might they rescind it?”