“It was like a curse in a way, wasn’t it? It’s amazing how you both managed not to let it define you,” Rachel remarked.
“Well, at some point I made my peace with it, and getting away also helped me appreciate it in a new light. I realized how much the place nurtured me, how I found my adventurous side climbing trees and building forts, and how spending all those hours in the library reading all my grandfather’s old books—Winston Churchill’s memoirs, Sun Yat-sen’s letters—got me fascinated with history. But now it feels like I’m seeing my entire childhood sold off to the highest bidder.”
“I know, Nick. It’s been so painful even for me to watch on the sidelines. I just can’t believe how it’s happening so quick, and how your aunts who also grew up in the house don’t seem to care about letting it go.”
“Even though my grandmother’s will clearly states what it does, I don’t think she would have wanted Tyersall Park to be demolished and forgotten like this. To me, there are so many things that just don’t add up with my grandmother’s will and everything.”
“That’s been my suspicion all along too, but I didn’t feel like it was my place to say anything,” Rachel said with a frown.
“I wish I had more time to dig deeper, and figure out why my grandmother wanted the house sold off like this. But things are moving so fast with my aunties.”
“Wait a minute—your aunties can move as fast as they want, but you heard them yourself, nothing is going to happen without your father. And as far as I know, he’s somewhere in Sydney sipping a well-made cappuccino. And how about Alistair? He’s got a stake in all this too.”
“Hmm…come to think of it, Alistair hasn’t been around the house much over the past few days, has he?” Nick said.
“If your father, Alistair, and you join forces, the three of you have enough votes to block any sale.”
Nick kissed Rachel excitedly and leapt up from the pavement. “You’re brilliant, you know that?”
“I’m not sure that required much brilliance.”
“No, you’re a genius, and you just gave me the best idea! Let’s go call my dad!”
* * *
* Any good tea sommelier will tell you that GFBOP stands for Golden Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe tea leaves, but of course.
CHAPTER TWELVE
THE HELENA MAY, HONG KONG
Astrid walked into the dining room at the Helena May, Hong Kong’s historic private ladies’ club, and Isabel Wu waved to her from her table by the window. She strolled toward Charlie’s ex-wife a little trepidatiously. It was only the third time they were meeting, and the last time in Singapore hadn’t gone so well.
“Astrid. Thank you so much for agreeing to meet with me for lunch. I know it’s your last day in Hong Kong, and you must be so busy,” Isabel said, getting up from her chair and giving Astrid a peck on the cheek.
“Thank you for inviting me. I love coming here.”
“Yes, it’s such a special place, isn’t it? There are very few places like this anymore.”
Astrid took a moment to look around at the other smartly dressed ladies having lunch together. The dining room with its Queen Anne furniture and botanical prints covering the walls was a throwback to another era, when Hong Kong was a British Crown Colony and this was the exclusive bastion for all the wives of high-ranking officials and expatriates. It was all so civilized.
Astrid was relieved by such a warm welcome from Charlie’s ex-wife, and glad to see Isabel looking so well, and so chic in white jeans, a rose-colored cashmere sweater with a quilted vest thrown over it. She looked the epitome of Hong Kong old money.
“What have you been doing since you got here?”
Astrid hesitated for a moment. She didn’t think it would be a good idea to tell Isabel that she’d spent most of the week planning her upcoming Hong Kong wedding, and yesterday, Charlie had taken her to see the breathtaking new house he had built for them in Shek O. “Not much really, I’ve just been decompressing. It’s good to be away from Singapore, you know?”
“Yes, the past few weeks must have been very hard on you. I’m so sorry about your grandmother’s passing. She was a great lady, from everything I know.”
“Thank you.”
“As I told you in my note, I was very close to my Ah Ma. In fact, she used to bring me here for afternoon tea once a month. So this place holds many memories for me.”
“My grandmother used to take me to afternoon tea as well. One of my earliest memories, I think, is of having tea with her at the Raffles in Singapore. But soon after that, she stopped going out.”
“So she became a recluse?” Isabel asked.
“Yes, and no. She didn’t go out much, but that’s because she felt that the standards had slipped everywhere. She had very exacting standards, and she didn’t much care for restaurant food. So she only went to friends’ houses—the ones that she knew had good chefs—or she entertained at home. She liked to have people over all the time, and she was very social up until the end of her life.”
“Sounds like quite a character. All the women of her generation, like my grandmother, were characters. My grandmother was known as the hat lady. She had the most incredible collection of hats, and she never left the house without one.”
The waitress came over and took their orders. After Astrid ordered the cream of asparagus soup, Isabel looked across the table at her with an almost embarrassed look. “You know, I have to confess I’ve been so nervous all morning about this lunch. I am still so mortified over what I did when I was in Singapore.”
“It’s fine, really. I’m just happy to see you so well again.”
“Those women whom I scalded. Was one of them a nun or something? Is she okay? I have such a strange memory of that day. Because I remember everything, you know, but I just had no control over my actions.”
“A nun?” Astrid didn’t know what she was referring to.
“I remember the look on her face when I threw that soup. Her eyes got so huge, and she had Tammy Faye levels of mascara on. She was wearing a nun’s habit.”
“Oh! You’re talking about the Dowager Sultana of Perawak—she was wearing a hijab. She was fine, the soup hardly touched her. Don’t worry, it was probably the most thrilling thing that’s happened to her in decades.”
“Well, I appreciate your understanding, and I really must thank you for taking such good care of my daughters during that difficult time.”
“Don’t mention it. Chloe and Delphine are lovely girls.”