“I’m sure he’s coming, my love.”

“What if he’s changed his mind?” The fancy bow loosened in her fidgeting hands.

“I know he hasn’t. Be careful of your bouquet.”

“What?” she said. Then, “Oh!” as the bundle of flowers burst apart and scattered over the floor. She tried to gather them up, darting from one fallen flower to the next and tripping on her train. “What if he doesn’t love me and is only after Father’s money?”

“What a thing to say, Emily!” I said, moving to help her.

“Greater men have done lesser things.”

I bound the scattered blossoms back together into some semblance of a bouquet, not the artful arrangement of a practised flower seller, but passable. Maybe my beautiful sister was smarter than she looked. “You’re already legally married to him, so if that’s what he’s after, he’s already got it.”

In the steward’s quarters belonging to Martin Colville, Tak-Wing adjusted his top hat. He didn’t have a clue as to what to do, so a grinning Colville waited on him as though he were a real toff, while Tak-Tam hovered awkwardly. Tak-Wing thought the hat was a bit frumpy, but Colville said that a trilby was too casual for the occasion.

“Edward didn’t wear a hat at all,” Tak-Wing grumbled.

“Yes,” said Colville, “but you’re not he, and this is Hong Kong, not the Loire Valley.”

Tak-Tam said, “No hat is better, if you ask me.” He heard the noonday gun go off. “We’re late. We better get going.”

“No hat?” said Colville. “Not very dignified.” He glanced at his wristwatch, a beautiful if modest Omega 26.5 T2, with a sector dial. Tak-Tam glanced at Coville’s wrist too, enviously. He loved watches and studied the advertisements for them in the Chinese papers. Though he didn’t expect ever to be able to afford one, he knew all the different makes from Rolex to Audemars Piguet.

The two-tone shoes lent to Tak-Wing by one of the young cricketers were too narrow in the toe. They cut off his circulation so badly that he could hardly walk. His toes felt like the lumps of ice that the toffs put in their glasses to make their water cool. A chill spread through his feet, up his legs, through his belly, and into his heart. He shivered in spite of the good suit of English wool.