A "Man From U.N.C.L.E." (#13) novel in which Thrush courts Fu Manchu.
"... a tall, thin Chinese, wearing robes of silk which
shimmered in the candlelight. His face was unlined, but his eyes were old with
ancient wisdom, and seemed oddly veiled, like those of a drowsing cat. Above an
imposing brow, he wore a black skullcap with a single coral bead which indicated the rank
of Mandarin. A marmoset perched on his shoulder, occasionally nuzzling his
ear."
At a later meeting, the offer of alliance is rejected:
" 'I know what you desire from me, and perhaps someday you
may find something for which I would exchange it. I will know when you do.' "
The man in the gray suit felt a touch on his arm, and turned to find two great,
bare-chested, turbaned guards. He accompanied them out, pausing a moment at the door
to look back into the hazed interior of that enigmatic room, where an old Chinese with a
brow like Shakespeare, a face like Satan, and eyes of the true tiger green, lay
dreaming."
The dustjacket describes the book: "In the shadowy company of a
remarkable detective by the name of Sir Hugh Fitz-Hyffen, scraps of evidence
are collected relating to an intricate chain of events that stretches from the
mountains of Romania to the ancient strongholds of Scotland, to the tenements
of Newark, N.J. An enormous diamond, a mask said to have been that of Fu
Manchu, and a series of brutal ‘Zodiac’ murders are but three of the
strands in the complex net of this thoroughly modern and highly entertaining
mystery."
Excerpts:
"For one thing, the forbidden Jong Tong has raised its head again, led by the
mysterious Madame Fang-Loos, although I must admit that she has dropped from sight in
recent weeks. But, even more frightening, dare I suggest that Madame Fang-Loos is none
other than Fah Lo Suee and that the renascence of the Jong Tong may be attributed to none
other than the Counil of Seven of the Si-Fan?" He paused, then said carefully,
"Gentlemen, I do so dare." The small hairs on the back of my neck prickled and
rose. (83)
Disturbed by the disfigurement, Kalergis had a gold mask
fashioned during his stay in London. The mask covered the top halfof his face, a gold
domino concealing both the good ear and the ghastly scar where the other had grown and
gone. After Kalergis' death, the mask disappeared for a time, but in its absence, its
legend grew. Its wearer, so legend said, would hold dominion over the earth, would be
absolute monarch of all he chose to survey, would be able to cause the very heavens to
sway to his command. But the maskhas never reappeared, fortunately or unfortunately for
mankind.
There have been rumors. One has it that the gold mask of the
veiled prophet Al Mokanna was never actually rediscovered and that the mask which Dr. Fu
Manchu used in 1932 to instigate his abortive Arab revolt was in fact the mask of
Dimitrios. (213)