“I’ll convey your message. But I can—personally, not officially—tell you that, in broad outline, your conditions appear acceptable. Now, let’s both get on the telephone.”
Apprehension gnawed at James Sekloong’s new resolution, but he insisted upon being put through to the Premier. If he had misjudged Chou En-lai’s position, he would certainly be purged. The Premier himself would probably be purged, and the People’s Republic of China would be at war with the United States of America. After eighteen minutes, at 3:32 A.M., Hong Kong time, he finally heard the Premier’s familiar crackling Kiangsu accent.
“Well, Ai-kuo, what can you tell me?”
“I understand, Comrade Premier, that our patrol-boats have clashed with an American destroyer.”
“Correct. I’ve just heard.”
“And the Americans claim one was destroyed.”
“I hadn’t heard that. I’ll have the report checked.”
James waited while Chou En-lai spoke to an aide.
“Now,” the Premier resumed, “what else have you to tell me? Any cracks, any openings? It’s getting very tight.”
James summarized his last discussion with Spencer Taylor Smith. The Premier listened without comment. When James had finished, there was a long pause on the static-blurred line. After more than two minutes, when James feared he had lost the connection, Chou En-lai spoke slowly.
“Tell them: Yes. We can make detailed arrangements later. But we can live with your agreement. I can halt the troop movements. Yes, we can all live with those terms—almost all of us. You’ve done well. Now let me get to work. I’ll call you later.”
Trembling with relief for himself and his world, James walked slowly to the study to await Spencer Taylor Smith. When the American returned, the Chinese spoke wearily.
“It’s all right, Spencer. My people can live with it. The details must be worked out, but the general outline’s acceptable.”
“And mine, too, James. A small drink, perhaps, before we discuss those details and report again to our governments. I’ll need something a little more concrete.”
James Sekloong took the younger man’s arm paternally as they walked down the hall. The strained faces in the drawing-room brightened on beholding the gesture.
“It’s all right,” James told the Sekloongs. “There’ll be no war. You can tell Mother Sino-American relations should improve markedly. And ask her to forgive me for … for everything.”
Charlotte, Sarah, and Kazuko carried his message to Lady Mary, who lay waxen frail in the high bed of the big bedroom that had been Sir Jonathan’s. Her violet eyes sparkled before fluttering closed, and her translucent hand fondled the winged-dragon plaque.
“I’m glad, very glad,” Mary Philippa Osgood Sekloong murmured. “It won’t be easy or always pleasant. But it is a beginning. Now, I think, I shall rest for a while—perhaps a long, long time.”
About the Author
Robert Elegant was born in New York City in 1928. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Pennsylvania at eighteen and, after voluntary US Army service, studied Japanese and advanced Chinese at Yale and Columbia. In 1951, while he was at Columbia, his first book, China’s Red Masters, was published to wide acclaim. He arrived in Asia as a Pulitzer traveling fellow and became one of the youngest American reporters covering the Korean War, scooping the world in 1953 with his exclusive report that an armistice had been agreed upon.
Elegant’s subsequent career included stints as Asia bureau chief for Newsweek and columnist for the Los Angeles Times. Both Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger consulted him personally before Nixon made the decision to go to Beijing and reopen relations with China. He has published seventeen books of both fiction and nonfiction, most centered on China. A recipient of several major press awards, his books have been widely translated and many have become bestsellers; he also won an Edgar Award for a political thriller set in Vietnam. Elegant lives with his wife, Rosemary; shih-tzu dogs; and cats in Umbria, Italy, where he is working on more books; writers, he says, never retire.
All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 1977 by Robert S. Elegant and Moira Elegant
Cover design by Andy Ross
ISBN: 978-1-5040-4225-3
This edition published in 2016 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
180 Maiden Lane
New York, NY 10038
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