38
ETIQUETTE OF THE HANDKERCHIEF.
Mrs. Jefferson Davis is the ‘New York Journal’s’ distinguished authority on etiquette. Recently she discoursed on the etiquette of legs, informing her lady readers that it was very bad form to sit with the legs crossed. Now the wearing and carrying of the pocket handkerchief claims her attention. She says: The handkerchief is one of the most necessary articles of the modern wardrobe. But etiquette demands that in spite of its usefulness it should be kept out of sight. The inconspicuous use of the handkerchief proves the refined man or woman. The misuse of the handkerchief indicates lack of breeding as much as faulty grammar or gaudy dress.
The etiquette of the handkerchief for a man, although very important, is also very simple and direct. Don’t use a handkerchief as if signalling an enemy with a flag of truce. Don’t display a handkerchief in a breast pocket as if it were an advertisement. Don’t in full dress wear it tucked in the waistcoat as though its sole purpose was to protect the shirt front. Don’t on a hot day wear a handkerchief tucked inside a collar, like a bib. Gaudy handkerchiefs are considered as bad taste for men as women. It is no longer correct for a man to carry a large silk handkerchief. The proper handkerchief is fine white linen with a half-inch hem, and a tiny embroidered initial in the corner. When necessary to use a handkerchief in public, always do so in the quietest, most unobtrusive manner. The fashionable multitudes have never become used to the bugle blast some people blow.
Yackandandah Times, 27 July 1900
Chief Inspector Randolph surveyed the sorry gathering before him, trying to ascertain what exactly had occurred from the babble of accounts. As a precaution, he had placed everyone, including Edna, under arrest, confining them to various rooms in the sanatorium, while he waited for more vehicles to transport the prisoners back to the International Police Headquarters.
The Japanese businessmen were furious, alternately demanding immediate release and the attendance of the consul and lawyers.
Rowland coughed again. The rally in his health had, once the immediate danger was over, subsided and he felt wretched. He left it to Edna to explain to the police what had happened. From the guarded office, Gilbert Carmel was shouting with all the force and volume of the law, claiming that he was the victim of a deranged, homicidal client. Le Fevre was as yet unaccounted for.
Alastair Blanshard lit a cigarette. He introduced himself to Randolph. “Might I have a private word, Chief Inspector?”
For a moment it seemed Randolph might refuse, and then he relented.
Rowland watched the exchange. He wondered if Blanshard had pulled some sort of rank. Perhaps international spies outranked the local police. He realised that he had never ascertained what exactly Blanshard was doing in Shanghai.
Edna returned from giving her statement, ignoring the young policeman who tried to direct her to wait in another room. She went immediately to Rowland’s side. “Haven’t they seen you yet?” she asked, placing a hand on his forehead. “Rowly, you’re running hot. You should be in bed.”
He looked at her throat. “Did he—”
“Just the tiniest scratch, Rowly.”
“God, Ed, I’m sorry. If I thought he’d let you go, I would have signed over everything I own.”
“Oh, I know that. You did the right thing.” She took his hand in hers. “Mr. Carmel would have killed me the moment you stepped out of the room. He couldn’t very well allow either of us to live.”
Clyde and Milton sat down opposite Rowland.
“So Carmel was behind it all?” Clyde handed him a glass of water. “Why?”
“Money, I suppose. I expect he always knew the Sinclairs were unlikely to pre-empt the embargo.” Rowland swallowed painfully and drained the glass before he went on. “But he’d promised his clients that we would, so he hired Alexandra to compromise Wil.”
“To blackmail him?”
Rowland nodded.
“But then you turned up so he decided to kill her instead?”
Edna pushed the hair gently back from Rowland’s face. “Alexandra wanted to tell Rowly the truth. She might have told him she wanted out of the scheme, or Le Fevre might have told him about the message he overheard her making for Rowly. Mr. Carmel couldn’t allow that.”
“Bloody hell, the poor girl… What about Middleton?”
Rowland rubbed his face. “That’s my fault,” he blurted. “I told Carmel about Middleton, that I’d threatened him, in case someone from the North China Daily News made a complaint. If I hadn’t—”
“Don’t you dare feel guilty about Bertie,” Edna said fiercely. “He got caught up in this because he followed us here! Because he was trying to…” Her lip trembled. She wiped her eyes, furious that after everything that had happened that day she would be reduced to tears over Bertram Middleton.
Rowland wrapped his arms around her. “I’m so sorry, Ed.”
She broke down then. Rowland held her as she sobbed into his chest. Clyde and Milton waited, without a word, for Edna’s tears to expend. They were shocked, but it was not a loss that they could grieve. Even Rowland, though he was plagued with guilt for his part in Middleton’s end, could feel only sadness for the wastage of a life. He had never liked Middleton particularly, and his recent treatment of Edna had transformed years of studied neutrality into open hostility. Even so, Middleton had been murdered. Callously and brutally. And it seemed right that at least Edna, who had loved him occasionally should weep, that here in China there should be tears, however confused.
A throat was cleared pointedly. Rowland looked up.
Chief Inspector Randolph nodded brusquely. “Would you care to come with me, Mr. Sinclair? If we take your statement now, we can release you to see a doctor as soon as possible. I understand you are unwell.”
Rowland was surprised by the new conciliation in Randolph’s manner. Nevertheless, he hesitated, reluctant to leave the sculptress.
It was Edna who drew away. “You go, Rowly.”
Clyde and Milton agreed. “We’ll keep an eye on Ed, mate. You tell them what Carmel’s been doing.”
Rowland took the handkerchief from the inside breast pocket of his jacket and handed it to Edna. “It’s clean. I always carry two of these.”
She laughed through her tears. “It’s just as well.”