Ada undressed and put on the gaudy, bright crimson dress with a bow at the hip.
Martha helped tie the mask and applied some lipstick to Ada’s pale lips.
“There, that’s much better,” she said.
“Can I have another cognac, please?” Ada asked.
She drank the second glass in a single gulp and staggered downstairs.
“Don’t forget to smile!” Martha screamed after her.
“What?”
“Smile! Men are not just after the wine and the women here. The Havana is a place where they can forget about their problems, and they’re certainly not interested in yours.”
Ada pinned a smile to her face and put her best foot forward.
Daniel had asked Fernando to bring his airplane from Suzhou, and the Don had spent the whole day out of Shanghai. The Avro was dismantled, packed into crates, and sent to the port. When Fernando returned to the city, he was greeted by surprising news: Daniel had been arrested.
The Don felt sorry for his friend but immediately realized that Destiny had given him a chance to play for high stakes. He paid a visit to Tony Aulman and told him that he urgently needed to see the chairman of the Municipal Council.
Within minutes, Tony had passed on the Don’s message that Chiang Kai-shek was keen to avoid bloodshed and ready to negotiate.
Two hours later, an inconspicuous car arrived at Big-Eared Du’s house. Out came Don Fernando, Tony Aulman, and Mr. Sterling.
The servant showed them past two armed men keeping guard and into the living room. The room was furnished in the European style—with a radio set, electric lights, and a telephone. But Big-Eared Du himself was a creature from another world, or rather another era—a tall, skinny man with a two-inch nail on his little finger. His shaved head was covered with a black satin cap, and a gray silk robe hung loosely from his bony round shoulders. The only element of his garb that matched the Western interior of his house were his leather shoes.
The guests sat in opulent chairs while the servants brought tea, and Aulman began to translate for Sterling.
“The main danger for us,” Big-Eared Du said in a soft voice, “is not Chiang Kai-shek but the communists who are preparing an uprising in Shanghai. There are about four thousand armed workers, called the ‘Red Guards,’ in the northern outskirts, but the communist need three times as many fighters in order to capture the whole city. They do have reserves, but not enough arms.”
“The commies are waiting for a steamer from Vladivostok, which will bring them all the smuggled weapons they need,” said Don Fernando. “We have to strike the Red Guards first, or they’ll destroy us. They have the numerical advantage, which is what matters.”
Sterling turned visibly pale. “But we have an agreement with the Governor. He won’t allow any rebellion here.”
“If I were you, I wouldn’t count on him,” said Big-Eared Du. “The Governor wants to withdraw himself and his troops from Shanghai in order to fight another day. The Great Powers’ warships are still a long way off, so we have no choice but to outbid the commies and persuade Chiang Kai-shek to become our ally. If he promises to purge the communists from his army and guarantee Shanghai’s safety, the Green Gang will take care of the Red Guards. But my boys need five thousand rifles with ammunition and passes to cross the territory of the International Settlement. The Red Guards aren’t expecting an attack from that side.”
“I’ll need to speak to my colleagues,” said Sterling in a weak voice.
After bidding farewell to Tony and Sterling, Don Fernando went to the church to pray for the success of his venture. He felt he had played a masterly diplomatic hand. If he were to succeed in reconciling Chiang Kai-shek, Big-Eared Du, and the “white ghosts,” Shanghai would be saved, and the Don would have connections at the very highest level in the city. No one would dare call him a bandit ever again. He would become a respectable gentleman, and the cream of Shanghai society would be happy to receive him.
I should marry a banker’s daughter, at the very least, thought Don Fernando. The kind that can play the piano, ride sidesaddle, and legitimize my earnings.
Remembering Daniel, Fernando looked up at the statue of the Virgin Mary.
“I would ask you to have mercy on him,” he whispered, “but if that were to happen he would replace me at the negotiating table, and that is not in my interests. You know me, I’m a good person and wish ill to no man. So please, just keep him in jail for a while and then grant that he be released.”
Anyway, Daniel had no one to blame but himself. He should have gone to the Municipal Council immediately. Then he wouldn’t be spending Christmas eve in a prison cell but in a good brothel surrounded by beautiful girls.
As for the Avro, Don Fernando decided that it would fetch a handsome price from the new government in Wuhan. The communists had an acute shortage of planes and would be willing to pay a lot of money for one.
Every room on the top floor of the Havana had been furnished in its own special style: a French boudoir, a ship’s cabin, a stable with horse-collars on the walls and a heap of hay on the floor, and more.
In Don Fernando’s room, all the available wall space had been covered with theater posters. Big chests sat on the floor filled with costumes, wigs, and hats, and the bed resembled a small stage with a velvet curtain. The young prostitute Don Fernando had picked at the restaurant, was a superlative actress. She was playing the role of the naïve innocent so realistically that the Don almost felt pity for her.
As though afraid of being recognized, she was wearing a mask. A clump of her hair was tangled in a knot from the ties on her mask and was sticking out awkwardly above the back of her head.
She wants to be a big girl, the Don thought in his drunken delight, doing what the big girls are meant to do.
The prostitute was to his taste with a tight, sleek tummy and prominent cheek bones. No waist, and breasts just beginning to take shape, as if she was just a thirteen- or fourteen-year-old girl.
Don Fernando made love to her tenderly. He looked into the dilated pupils of her eyes through the slits in her mask, kissing the dark lock of hair plastered to her forehead.
“Do you think I could be a high-class prostitute?” the girl asked when they had finished.
“You’ll be the greatest whore in the world,” said the Don pressing his hand to his chest.
Then he watched her get dressed. The dress she wore was beautiful, festive, but her underwear was worn out from endless washing. It was as though the girl wasn’t even working here and had just come to Martha’s to have some fun.
Oh, how wise and inventive these women are, Fernando thought. No one could beat them at the art of creating beautiful illusions.
Before leaving, he left a hundred dollars on the bed. The innocent little thing deserved something nice for Christmas.
27. GOOD-BYE, SHANGHAI!
Klim watched Nina as she packed her suitcase.
“Where are you going?”
“To Wuhan.”
Nina slammed her suitcase shut and tightened the fasteners.
“Take my luggage to the car,” she told the servant.
“May I ask why you’re leaving?” Klim asked.
“Because I can’t live with a man who doesn’t love me.”
“I assume that you have someone in Wuhan who is in love with you? Is his name Daniel Bernard by any chance?”
Nina left the room without even saying good-bye.
She went into the hallway and froze, listening. There was no hope for them. It hadn’t even occurred to Klim to stop her.