At the hospital, Lian had spent every waking moment at her mother’s bedside, telling her everything that had happened since the bombing at the Nanking railway station. About the evacuation from Nanking, the long days of walking, the cold and hunger, always alert to the sound of airplanes. About the Library of Legends. About Mr. Shen, the first of them to fall. Mr. Lee’s threats and Wang Jenmei’s murder. About Meirong’s arrest and execution. How Wendian had gotten Mr. Lee arrested. The escape from Shangtan, and the journey east with Shao and Sparrow.

Then she had told her mother about her fright when she’d seen Mr. Lee at the hospital in Changsha. And the completely unexpected news that her father’s name had been cleared. That his file now showed he’d been an innocent victim.

“We don’t need to be afraid anymore, Mother,” Lian said, holding her mother’s hand. “We can use our real names. You can be Jin Beihua again.”

“All those years of hiding, the false identities.” Her mother began to cry. “And all that time, they knew where we were, who we were. I was so foolish. I ruined your childhood.”

“Don’t worry about that, everything’s worked out,” Lian said. “What matters is that the authorities have cleared Father’s name. Do you think his cousin knew, the one who got us the false papers? Why didn’t he tell us everything was all right?”

“He died a few years after we moved to Peking,” her mother said, wiping her eyes. “I saw the obituary.”

Her mother’s journey to Shanghai had been somewhat less eventful than Lian’s. She’d attached herself to some foreigners, missionary families glad to have help with children and the elderly, having left their own servants behind in Peking. Beihua had entered the International Settlement as part of their group, posing as a member of the household, a humble Chinese servant.

And now her mother was restless, worried again.

“Lian, we need to make some changes,” she said, looking around the beautiful room. “We can’t go on taking advantage of the Liu family’s generosity. Even though you helped bring their son home while he was so sick, it’s not a debt of gratitude that goes on forever.”

It wasn’t just the flat either. Whenever Sparrow came by, she brought food sent by Old Zhao, the Lius’ cook. When Lian’s mother had to return to the hospital for a follow-up visit, Shao sent a car and driver to take them.