Sylvester’s pleasure in being in Hong Kong and in seeing Tobias Grantham was obvious. He was delighted too that Adam had come to meet us. He had, I knew, always deplored the rift in the family and was pleased at any sign of bridging it.

Adam was cool to me but Tobias Grantham was most deferential. He remarked that Sylvester would find everything in order at The House. This I was to discover was the manner in which The House of a Thousand Lanterns was always referred to.

Two men in black trousers and tunics, their hair in pigtails with conical straw hats on their heads waited at a respectful distance. When Tobias gave a sign they collected the baggage which was available—most of it was in the hold and would be brought to us later—and put it into a rickshaw.

Jason clutching my hand watched everything with wondering eyes.

It was Tobias Grantham who spoke first to him. He said: “Is this young sir then?”

Jason replied: “I’m not a young sir. I’m a boy. I’m Jason.”

“Could be a young sir too,” replied Tobias.

The idea seemed to please Jason. Tobias knelt down so that their eyes were on a level. “Welcome to Hong Kong, young sir.”

“Are you a Chinaman?” asked Jason.

“No. As English as yourself.”

“Why aren’t you a Chinaman?”

“Because I’m not Chinese.”

Tobias stood up and smiled at me. “I hope you’ll be happy here, Mrs. Milner.”

“You’ll find it very different from England,” said Adam.

“I’m prepared for that,” I replied.

Adam handed me into the waiting rickshaw, then Sylvester was helped in and Jason sat between us.

“We’ll follow you when we’ve seen to the luggage,” said Tobias Grantham.

The rickshaw man took the shafts and we were off. Jason was roundeyed with wonder; I was more or less the same.

Sylvester smiled at me. “So we’re here, Jane.”

“It’s fantastic,” I said.

It was indeed. Everywhere there seemed to be rickshaws pulled by fragile-looking men, barefooted in the thin cotton trousers and tunics, their pigtails flapping as they ran.

We skirted the teeming streets with their beautiful signs rippling in the slight breeze; the air was full of strange smells the main ingredient of which seemed to be fish. It was like a series of colorful images flashing before the eyes but when I think back to that first day in Hong Kong the picture which dominates all others is that of The House of a Thousand Lanterns.

It was on the outskirts of Kowloon and surrounded by gardens so that it appeared to be more isolated than it was. We first came to a wall with a gate on either side of which was a stone dragon. An old man in the inevitable cotton trousers and tunic squatted at the side of this gate and as we drew up he stood up sharply, opened the gate and bowed low.

Sylvester called a greeting. There was almost a lilt in his voice. I could tell how excited he was to be here.

Our rickshaw man took us through the gate and we were in what appeared to be a courtyard; a path in delicately colored stones led to another wall and a door. We passed through this and were in a similar courtyard. I later discovered that the grounds were like a series of boxes without lids which fitted into each other. At the center of these was the house.

We had reached that center square and there it was: The House of a Thousand Lanterns. Before it was a lawn on which grew miniature shrubs and there was a small stream over which a little bridge had been set. It was like a doll’s garden. At the side of the house scattering petals from its purple blossoms stood a fully grown tree. It looked enormous in comparison with the miniatures. I had never seen such a tree before and later discovered it to be the Bauhinia.

I took all this in during a few seconds for I was aware of little else but the house. It was imposing and bore a resemblance to the houses I had seen on painted scrolls. It stood on a sort of platform paved with marble slabs of pink and white. There were four stories, each one protruding over the others; and it was made of some kind of golden stone which glittered when the sun caught it. It was built in the Chinese style with gilding and carving and there was a pergola over which myrtle was growing.

Lanterns had been set up at intervals along this pergola; there was one on either side of the porch and a big one hanging down over the center. I immediately thought: There must be a thousand such lanterns in this house.

“Mama, look,” screeched Jason. He had discovered the dragons on either side of the porch. “They’re like the ones at Roland’s Croft only bigger.”

I told him that he would probably see a great many dragons now. He put his finger into the mouth of one of the dragons and looked up at me to see if I were watching. He shivered with pleasure.

We mounted three steps and were on the marble platform where a Chinese servant appeared to materialize like the genii of the lamp; he opened the door.

We were in a hall which was paved with marble. Two wooden columns supported the roof it seemed for they disappeared through the ceiling on which a delicate design had been traced. The wooden pillars were painted red and there was a delicate tracery of gold. I looked closer and saw that the tracing represented the ubiquitous dragon.

The alien quality of the place enveloped me. I was not sure whether there really was an atmosphere of unfriendliness or whether it was merely the strangeness of everything that made me imagine this.

About the hall hung six lanterns. I found myself counting them. A thousand is a great many, I told myself. Where will they put them all?

A strange smell of something like incense was in the air and as we stood in the hall silent figures appeared. There were twelve of them—Sylvester’s servants who took care of this house when he was away.

They arranged themselves in a neat line and one by one they bowed first to Sylvester and then to me. Then they all knelt and bowed their heads so low that they touched the floor.

Sylvester stood for a moment surveying them; then he clapped his hands and they rose. He said: “Haou? Tsing, tsing!” which meant: “Are you well? Hail and Hail.” It was the conventional Chinese greeting. Then he said in English: “I am glad to be here. Peace be with you.” He took my hand and it was as though he were presenting me to them.

They bowed and inclined their heads acknowledging me.

Then they bowed to Jason.

“You shall be taken to the rooms which have been prepared for us,” said Sylvester. “You will get to know the servants in time.”

I thought I never would for they all looked alike to me.

Sylvester’s rooms were on the ground floor owing to his disability which prevented his mounting stairs easily. Leaving him and gripping Jason’s hand I followed a servant up the stairs. We came to a corridor. Lanterns hung from the ceiling. There were still more stairs to climb before we reached the apartment which had been allotted to me. I was pleased to find a small room leading from it which was to be Jason’s temporarily.

These rooms had been furnished in the European style, but there were one or two touches to remind me that I was far from home. The draperies were of blue satin embroidered in white silk. The bed was European with silk cushions and a coverlet to match. There were low stools instead of chairs, and a few delicately etched scrolls on the wall. There was a very fine mirror in a gilded wooden frame on a dressing table but it looked alien in this room. In fact the touches which I learned had been put there for my comfort seemed out of place. The carpet was rich Chinese depicting a fire-breathing dragon. Jason noticed it first of all and was on his knees studying it.

The room which led from mine and which was to be his for a time at least was a kind of dressing room. It was very simply furnished and I learned afterwards that Tobias had had these quarters prepared for us when he knew we were coming.

“I hope you will not be too tired to join me for dinner,” Sylvester had said.

Indeed I was not tired. My mind was stimulated by my new surroundings and I wanted to absorb as much as I could as quickly as possible.

Some of my bags arrived and I started to unpack as I faced a barrage of questions from Jason. This was a funny house, he said. He liked Roland’s Croft better. He wondered what Mrs. Couch was doing. Would she come here? He was momentarily sad when I told him this was unlikely but his mood soon passed. Like me he had too much that was new to interest him.

Some food was brought for him by one of the servants. He frowned at it; it wasn’t like the food he had had at Roland’s Croft nor on the ship, but he must have been hungry for he ate it. It was some kind of fish cooked with rice and there was fruit.

I wondered how he would feel about being left alone in his room while I dined with Sylvester. He was intrigued by the lantern which hung from the ceiling and which could be pulled down on a chain and then went up again on its own accord when released. I said it should be left burning all night. He would be perfectly safe with the communicating door left open.

This knowledge comforted him and he was asleep almost before he was undressed.

I left the door open, unpacked a few things, changed my dress and went down to find Sylvester.

When I shut my bedroom door the alien quality seemed to close round me.

I looked along the corridor at the rows of lanterns and was not sure which way to turn. There must have been about ten lanterns suspended from the ceiling. Every other one was alight. As I stood there a figure seemed to materialize at the end of the corridor.