"We'll be in constant communication. I have a radio in my purse."
Pitt stared at the tiny purse skeptically. "And a gun too?"
She shook her head. "No gun." Then she smiled slyly. "You forget, I've seen you in action. I'm counting on you to protect me."
"Dearheart, you're in big trouble."
They passed through the foyer into a vast hallway filled with Chinese art objects. The centerpiece was a seven-foot-tall bronze incense burner inlaid with gold. The upper section depicted flames leaping toward the sky interspersed with women, their arms and hands uplifted with offerings. Aromatic incense wreathed the flames in billowy clouds that scented the entire house. Pitt stepped up to the bronze masterwork and studied it closely, examining the inlaid gold that decorated the base.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" said Julia.
"Yes," Pitt said quietly. "The craftsmanship is quite unique."
"My father has a much smaller version that isn't nearly so ancient."
"The smell is a bit overwhelming."
"Not to me. I grew up surrounded by Chinese culture."
Pitt took Julia by the arm and led her into an immense room filled with Washington's rich and mighty. The scene reminded him of a Roman banquet out of a Cecil B. DeMille movie: slim women in designer dresses, congressmen, senators and the aristocracy of the city's attorneys, lobbyists and power brokers, all trying to look sophisticated and distinguished in their formal evening wear. There was such an ocean of fabrics between the guests and the furniture that the room was unnaturally silent despite a hundred voices talking at once.
If the furnishings had cost less than twenty million dollars, then Qin Shang had bought them at a discount house in New Jersey. The walls and ceiling were intricately carved and paneled in redwood, as was most of the furniture. The carpet alone must have taken twenty young girls half their adolescent lives to weave. It flowed in blue and gold like an ocean at sunset, and the depth of its pile made it seem as if one had to wade through it. The curtains alone would have put those in Buckingham Palace to shame. Julia had never seen so much silk in one space. The opulent upholstered chairs and settees looked like they might have been more at home in a museum.
No less than twenty stewards stood behind a buffet line whose mountains of lobster, crab and other seafood must have cleaned out the entire catch of a fishing fleet. Only the finest French champagne was served alongside vintage wines, none of which had labels from later than 1950. In one corner of the ornate room a string orchestra played themes from motion pictures. Though Julia had come from a wealthy family in San Francisco, she had seen nothing to compare with this affair. She stood in solemn awe as her eyes scanned the room. Finally, she recovered enough to say, "I can see what Peter meant when he said Qin Shang's invitation was the most desired in Washington aside from the White House."
"Frankly, I prefer the ambiance at the French-embassy parties. More elegant, more refined."
"I feel so ... so plain among all these beautifully dressed women."
Pitt gave Julia an adoring look and squeezed her around the waist. "Stop belittling yourself. You're a class act. You'd have to be blind not to notice that every man in the room is devouring you."
Julia blushed at the flattery. It embarrassed her to see that he was right. The men were staring at her openly, as were many of the women. She also observed a dozen exquisite Chinese women dressed in silk sheath dresses mingling with the male guests. "It seems I'm not the only woman with Chinese ancestry."
Pitt made a passing, offhand glance at the women Julia referred to. "Daughters of joy."
"I beg your pardon."
"Hookers."
"What are you suggesting?"
"Qin Shang hires them to work the men who came along without their wives. Yo
u might call it a subtle form of political patronage. What influence he can't buy, he slips through the back door with sexual favors."
Julia looked bewildered. "I have a lot to learn about government lobbying."
"They are exotic, aren't they? A good thing I'm with someone who puts them to shame or they might prove a temptation I couldn't resist."
"You've got nothing Qin Shang wants," Julia said testily. "
erhaps we should find him and make our presence known."
Pitt gazed at her as if shocked. "What, and miss out on all the free food and drink? Not on your life. First things first. Let's head to the bar for champagne, and then indulge ourselves at the buffet. Later, we'll enjoy a cognac before making ourselves known to the arch-villain of the Orient."
Julia said to him, "I think you're the craziest, most complex and reckless man I've ever met."
"You left out charming and cuddly."