The Inverted House
took the lovely Liane at once to her heart. Unlike the majority of Chinese women, she had never had any children and it was rapture for her to be hostess to this lovely flower-girl. In due course, after Liane had become used to living above the ground, Ras Orla intended to marry her. He was rather worried about what effect the dawn would have upon her. It would be the first sunrise she had ever witnessed during the period of her remembrance. But his fears were baseless. The dawn made little impression upon her. She turned from it to view the lovely flowers that grew about the quaint house of Mee Num. After all, Ras Orla reflected, nothing above the ground could compare to those fragrant halls of the Inverted House which glowed in a soft green haze.
Of the days that followed much might be written. Ras Orla lived each moment to the full. It was like dwelling in a golden dream. And yet there was a feeling of foreboding hovering over the island. Despite her evident happiness Liane was wilting. The golden glow was dying from her hair, the rich redness from her lips, her cheeks were becoming wan. She was like a beautiful rose that had been plucked and was wilting, like a flower that had been torn from its garden home. He knew that unless something happened quickly she would fade utterly. He was in a quandary. All the dreams which he was building were floating off into nothingness.
And then one day Yuan Shi Kai came to the island.
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