After the Niçoise salads had been served and a few pleasantries had been exchanged, Kitty took a deep breath and gazed earnestly at Ada. “Lady Poon, there’s no easy way to say this, but I so regret what happened at the Pinnacle Ball. I haven’t been able to forgive myself for my actions ever since. It was so terribly foolish of me to dash up on stage like that when Sir Francis was receiving his award, but you see—I was just so overcome with emotion. I have to tell you something that I’ve never told anyone before…” Kitty paused, looking the ladies in the eye one by one before she continued. “You see, when Sir Francis started talking about all those children in Africa that have been getting tuberculosis, I couldn’t help but remember my own childhood. I know everyone thinks I am from Taiwan, but the truth is, I grew up in a tiny village in Qinghai, China. We were the poorest peasants…we didn’t even have enough money to stay in the village—I lived in a little hut made out of metal and cardboard scraps beside the river with my grandmother. My grandmother raised me all by herself, you see, because my parents were working at a clothing factory in Guangzhou. We grew vegetables in the marshes by the river’s edge. That’s how we fed ourselves and earned a meager existence. But then when I was twelve, my grandmother…” Kitty paused again, as tears welled up in her eyes. “My grandmother contracted TB…and…”

“You don’t have to continue,” Fiona said softly, putting her hand on Kitty’s shoulder.

“No, no I must,” Kitty said, shaking her head and swallowing back her tears.

“Lady Poon, I want you to understand why I was so overcome that night when your husband started talking. My nainai contracted tuberculosis, and I had to stop going to school to nurse her. For three months I did this…until she died. This is why I was so touched by your husband’s efforts to combat TB in Africa. This is why I jumped onstage and wanted to write my twenty-million-dollar check right there and then! I just felt so lucky that a girl like me, who grew up in a hut by the river, could now be in the position to help others with TB. I really had no idea what I was doing…I wasn’t thinking…I never imagined how disrespectful it was. That was the last thing I wanted to do to your husband…your husband is such a hero to me. And you, if you only knew how much I admire you. Everything you do for the people of Hong Kong, your work on behalf of breast cancer awareness…it’s made me become aware of my breasts in a whole new way, and when I realized what I had done to offend you and offend all the Poons, my God, I just…I just wanted to bury myself in shame,” Kitty said sadly, as she cast her eyes downward and shook violently with sobs.