Waiting alone in the Red Chamber, remembering its bloody history, with the renewed, amoral scent of almond blossoms and frangipani wafting in from outside, Becky — she who had always seemed so cold! — thought once more of tall Trader Zachary, the masterful tutor who had transformed her from a mere girl into a real woman. He was now, according to the message on the dagger, seeking a new life as a Foreign Legionnaire.
   Abruptly, came an eerie chill of premonition, and she gasped. He was here! “I’ve thought of you every minute I’ve been away, my darling!” he mumbled in that unforgettable hypnotic drawl.
   Then, without any warning, he went down on his knees and implored her to forgive him, and as the truth — the whole truth — slowly came home to her, she at last understood that for the two of them, life was only now really beginning.