Lucy Gordon
And the Bride Wore Red
A book in the Escape Around the World series, 2009
Dear Reader,
A couple of years ago I visited China and was overwhelmed by its beauty, its magnificence and above all its mystery. In Beijing I saw the Forbidden City, where the Emperors lived and where their concubines had their apartments. Later I visited the Terracotta Warriors. I’d heard so much about them, but nothing could have prepared me for their breathtaking, lifelike reality.
After that came a cruise along the Yangtze River, marveling at the high banks that rise on each side, giving the feeling of being enclosed in a separate world. It could be a perfect place for lovers, as my hero and heroine Lang and Olivia discovered. But at last the outside world intruded, facing them with decisions that threatened to tear them apart.
When they finally found their destiny it was because they were true to themselves and also because they had answered the magical call of China. It was a call that would always draw them back-just as it has drawn me back, and will do again.
Warm wishes,
Lucy Gordon
This book is dedicated to my friend Xin Ying,
who lives in Beijing and whose assistance with
Chinese social customs was invaluable.
CHAPTER ONE
‘OLIVIA, come quickly! There’s been a terrible disaster!’
Olivia looked up from the school books she was marking to where Helma, the young teaching assistant, stood in the doorway. She was only mildly alarmed by the girl’s agitated words. Helma had a wild sense of drama and ‘a terrible disaster’ might mean no more than the school cat making off with someone’s lunch.