A Most Immoral Woman Read Online Free PDF

to my countrymen, that feeling has long since given way to one of lively sympathy, even gratitude. In spite of the Boxers. For the most part, I have experienced uniform kindness and hospitality from the Chinese, not to mention the most charming courtesy.’
    Mrs Nisbet looked as though she was trying to smile through a mouthful of lemon juice. Reverend Nisbet studiously fumbled lumps of sugar into his coffee.
    Miss Perkins, who had scarcely uttered a word in all this time, caught Morrison’s eye. A complicit twinkle passed between them. Turning to the others, she said, ‘I find what you say quite fascinating, Mrs Nisbet.’
    Mrs Nisbet’s eyes filled with dewy gratitude. Both Nisbets glowed devotionally at Miss Perkins. Like many who laboured involuble service for the poor, the Nisbets lived in tacit awe of the rich.
    ‘I, for one, adore native cultures,’ Miss Perkins continued. ‘They can be so clever. I think the Chinese are perfectly marvellous for inventing silk and gunpowder and printing, and for those lovely scrolls they do. In fact,’ she said, pausing for effect, ‘sometimes I think it would be wonderfully instructive to take a native husband.’
    Reverend Nisbet had been sipping his coffee as Miss Perkins spoke. The quantity he did not instantly expel, he sucked down the wrong set of pipes. It took some muscular back-thumping on the part of the surprisingly strong Mrs Nisbet before he fully recovered.
    Dumas let out another squeak, and both he and Morrison found themselves beset by minor fits of throat-clearing.
    ‘Oh, Miss Perkins has such a sense of humour,’ Mrs Ragsdale rushed to say, her smile tight. It was clear that, entrusted as she was with Miss Perkins’s moral as well as material welfare, Mrs Ragsdale was near palpitations at the thought it could all end in miscegenation.
    Morrison would have found such an outcome equally scandalous. But he believed that which Mrs Ragsdale only willed to be true: the maiden was having a joke. He told himself that he should never fear boredom in the company of one so audacious.
    ‘Dr Morrison,’ Miss Perkins said. ‘You are so very knowledgeable about this fascinating country. I have many questions I would like to ask you. We two shall go sit over there by the window. That way, we will not bother the others, who, not being as interested in the topic, might find our conversation tedious.’
    Moments later, her heels were clicking over the parquet in the direction of the window seat. Morrison, bowing a half-hearted apology to the others, followed post-haste.
    As they seated themselves, he said, ‘I fear I’m not that much of an expert, Miss Perkins. But what would you like to know?’
    She leaned forward, smiling mischievously. ‘Nothing really. I just wanted to escape that dull conversation and have you to myself. Goodness, but don’t the missionaries speak badly of the natives!’
    ‘You should hear how the natives speak of the missionaries.’
    She laughed. ‘You are not fond of missionaries either?’
    She has a naughty giggle . ‘It has been my observation that the primary effect of civilising by the missionaries is to make the natives of any country lying, fawning, cringing, deceitful and as bad as possible. The only time I ever found myself in agreement with the Empress Dowager was when she asked why missionaries didn’t stay in their own countries and be useful to their own people.’
    Miss Perkins’s eyes filled with horror. ‘Oh, but dear God, no! Then we should never be free of them. I don’t think I would be able to take it. You know,’ she said, glancing back at the Nisbets, ‘Mrs Nisbet’s irritation with the Philippines may stem from disappointment at not being sent somewhere like Africa, where she at least would have had the chance of seeing Reverend Nisbet boiled and eaten.’
    Morrison chuckled. He had not expected such a wicked wit in one already so blessed with beauty and sensuality.
    She leaned towards him, breasts straining