The featured speaker was a historian who had been a protégé of Li Xueqin. His talk was mercifully short and surprisingly witty, concluding along with the elaborate dessert service. As the mingling and socializing started up again, Peach leaned over to Natalie and whispered, “Let’s go have a look at the night garden.”

She eagerly agreed. The moon garden of the mansion was famous, having been designed with night-blooming flowers lining the pathways and hillocks of the landscape. They stepped through the open doors, went down the wide stone steps, and were greeted by the heady perfume of late-blooming autumn flowers. The pale blossoms were lit from below, setting a mood of mystery. A fountain of natural stone rose up out of a pond surrounded by terra-cotta sculptures.

“It smells so nice out here,” Natalie said. “What an incredible garden. I could get used to hanging out with the haute monde.”

“You like the good life, then.”

“Do you blame me? Don’t you?”

He shrugged. “I like life. It’s all good.”

“That’s a very healthy attitude. Your parents must have raised you right.”

“I reckon they’d be pleased to hear that,” he said.

A few other visitors strolled the grounds, their murmurs of conversation drifting as they passed. Natalie felt an urge to take his arm but thought better of it. She sensed something new between them, but it could be just her imagination—or wishful thinking. Despite the tux and black tie, he was still Peach, the guy who had installed a new low-flow toilet in her apartment and was keeping the roof from falling in.

They passed a special display—marked by warning signs—of poisonous plants. Natalie had always been intrigued by the pendulous white angel’s trumpets and the small, deceptively innocent-looking berries of deadly nightshade. “That one’s a favorite in murder mysteries,” she said. “Supposedly ten berries will kill a person. The poison’s called atropine.”

“The name comes from Atropos, one of the three Fates,” Peach said.

“Oh, now you’re showing off again.”

“What good is knowing stuff if you can’t use it? Atropos was a bitch of a Fate. She could take you out by cutting the last thread of your life’s tapestry.” He made a snipping motion with his hand.

“I’ll steer clear of her.”

The path ended at a wrought-iron railing at the edge of the hill. Natalie’s breath caught as she surveyed the view. In the distance below, the lights along the shore and bridges reflected off the bay. “I love this city,” she said. “After college, I couldn’t wait to move somewhere else, but now that I’m back, I appreciate it so much.” She glanced up at him. His face was in shadow but a glint of light showed the curve of his smile.