Every now and then, Nina met the Bernards at mutual friends’ houses, at theaters, or at concerts. Daniel’s face had healed, but Nina had to admit that he looked much more handsome in Tamara’s photograph than he did in real life.
Daniel would greet Nina and then do his utmost to avoid getting into conversation with her. Nevertheless, she would catch him giving her the occasional furtive glance, and that was encouraging.
In order to gauge her chances of success, Nina gathered various bits of information about Edna and soon discovered that she was educated, fearless, and smart.
Mrs. Bernard couldn’t stand anyone belittling women and questioning their intelligence. At one dinner party Nina heard Daniel saying that it was all very well allowing women into the work place but they were totally incapable of creating anything truly great.
“Yes, your mother is ample evidence of that,” Edna said.
Many at the table were outraged at her boldness, but Nina was secretly delighted that Edna had so publicly taken her know-it-all husband down a peg or two. After all, he had been the first to cast aspersions at their sex.
Feminine wiles, with their secret, soft power and a woman’s ability to play on men’s weaknesses were an alien concept to Edna. She preferred a relationship based on reason and rational agreement rather than tumultuous passion and unpredictable emotional turmoil.
“Let the man think,” Nina’s mother had always told her, “that he’s the head of the family and in charge of everything. But you must be the ‘neck’ turning the ‘head’ in the direction that suits you.” And this was exactly what Nina was planning to do.
She persuaded Jiří to invite Daniel out to lunch and to steer the conversation towards the events in Lincheng and particularly the journey back to Shanghai.
“Find out what Mr. Bernard really thinks of me,” she instructed Jiří. It provided him with a perfect opportunity to make fun of her, but he still agreed to meet Mr. Bernard. To Nina’s great relief, Daniel accepted the invitation, and on the appointed day, she restlessly waited for Jiří to return with the news.
One way or another, I’m going to land Daniel, Nina thought excitedly. And then we’ll see what that arrogant Mr. Rogov has to say.
Jiří arrived back late, drunk and mellow.
“What took you so long?” Nina asked.
“I do beg your pardon, Madam Excellency, but we were busy reminiscing about Prague.”
“Did Daniel say anything about me?”
“Yes. He told you to go and find the ninth son of the dragon.”
“What on earth does he mean by that?” Nina frowned.
“I have no idea. Perhaps it’s some kind of Chinese riddle.”
Nina went to see a recent acquaintance, an old antique dealer by the name of Gu Ya-min, and asked him about the ninth son of the dragon.
“He’s referring to Jiaotu,” the old man replied, pointing at a bronze door handle cast in the shape of an animal snout with a ring in its mouth. “Jiaotu doesn’t like to be disturbed and keeps uninvited guests out of the house.”
Nina was furious. Albeit politely, Daniel had just told her to go to hell.
In response, she sent him a traditional Chinese watercolor of a fish jumping out of the water against the background of a distant gate standing in the middle of a river. She was sure that Daniel knew the legend of the silver carp that had overcome a great waterfall called the “Dragon’s Gate” and thus turned into a dragon itself.
Every 4th of July, Shanghai’s American expatriates would celebrate U.S. Independence Day. In the Public Garden long rows of tables were laid out with perfectly starched white tablecloths under striped awnings. Next to them stood souvenir stalls and barbecues selling food, merry-go-rounds for the children, and a huge stage with a podium for the U.S. Consul General and the Chairman of the Municipal Council, who were due to address the gathering.
The heat was so intense that the air seemed to tremble overhead. The enticing aroma of vanilla ice-cream and grilled meat mixed with the bitter smell of the gunpowder smoke that hovered over the well-dressed crowd. The sound of gun shots and cheers could be heard over the booming music of the brass band.
In the shooting range, Nina was aiming at a paper target. After she had hit the bull’s eye five times in a row, the owner of the shooting arcade doffed his hat. “I’ve never seen anything like it, ma’am.”
Nina handed him back his rifle and headed for the door. She knew that Daniel Bernard had been watching her, but she hadn’t so much as glanced at him. He would have to make the first move.
“Nina, wait!” Daniel called when she was out in the street.
She pretended to be pleasantly surprised.
“How nice to see you again. How are you?”
“Very well, thanks.”
They stood in the middle of the crowd looking into each other’s eyes.
“Do you always find your target?” Daniel asked.
“If I thought I was going to miss, I wouldn’t bother going hunting,” Nina said.
He clasped both her hands in an intimate, sensual, almost imploring gesture. “You’ve had your sights on me in the last couple of months. What do you want of me?”
Nina freed her hands and gave Daniel a reproachful stare, as if he had suggested something indecent.
“I’m just looking for some advice on Chinese art,” she said. “A friend of mine has an unusual collection of antiques. He’s an old man now and wants to sell it but has no idea how to go about it.”
Daniel had such a distraught look on his face that it was all Nina could do to stop herself laughing.
“Well, you must let me see the collection,” he said. “Name a time and a place and we must meet.”
Suddenly Edna rushed up to them, hot and bothered.
“Have you completely lost track of the time?” she said to Daniel. “Everyone is waiting for us in the Administration Booth.”
“I’m terribly sorry,” Daniel said to Nina and tipped his hat. “You’ll have to excuse me.”
Nina clenched her fists. Edna had come at just the wrong moment. But on the plus side, it was clear that Daniel had succumbed to the inevitable and that the idea of another woman entering his life had taken root in his mind. The rest would be a matter of time.
He called Nina two days later, and it was a while before she managed to locate the receiver of the telephone standing on her bedside table.
“Hello!”
“Good morning,” Daniel said. “Do you still want to show me those antiques?”
Nina pressed her hand to her forehead. The previous day, she had held a Spanish masquerade at her house and had been dancing flamenco until the small hours. Now her head was still buzzing from the excesses of gathering.
“Let’s meet up in couple of hours,” she said.
“Agreed.”
She pulled herself out of bed and looked at her triptych vanity mirror. Goodness gracious! Remnants of make-up were smudged under her eyes, and her hair was a total mess. But worst of all she had a horrendous hangover.
“Qin!” Nina called to her amah, the Chinese maid. “Could you bring me a glass of seltzer water and ice, please?”
Daniel met Nina at the entrance of the antique market. It was packed with tourists, sightseers, and art collectors, all wandering around the numerous tents and stalls. The air was thick with the scent of old wood and incense sticks smoking in front of small shrines and altars. Inscrutable dealers sat deep in the cave-like interior of their stalls, surrounded by mountains of colorful bric-a-brac and nonchalantly cooling themselves with fans. Every now and then a heated dispute would break out over the provenance or price of an item. The vendors would invoke the gods and ancestral spirits as their witness, a deal would eventually be agreed on, and a couple of old chairs or a temple bell would pass from one hand to another.