After Noel's party, Willie inscribes copies of his books in Noel's library. Gerald drives the Hamlyns home, where Lesley locks up while Willie helps a tipsy Robert to bed. In her room, Lesley finds a note from Geoff saying he could not obtain Sun Yat Sen's address; she discards it. Lying in bed with Loh's copy of The Trembling of a Leaf, she recalls her earlier encounter at Istana.

In flashback, Lesley had sought out the elderly philanthropist Loh Swee Tiong at the party and followed him to a deck overlooking the sea. Loh explained he wanted Willie to sign the book for his son, who had followed Sun Yat Sen to China and not been heard from in two years. He bitterly told Lesley that Sun "stole" his son and others' children, despite Loh's secret donations to the Tong Meng Hui. Lesley took the book, promising to get it signed and deliver it. Loh, suspicious, asked how she knew of his secret donations, then left without waiting for an answer.

Unable to sleep, Lesley goes downstairs and finds Willie reading. He reluctantly admits he made an unwise investment and urgently needs a new book; he confesses that good stories must demand to be written, with him merely a conduit. He explains the hamsa symbol in his books came from his father, who engraved it on a Seine summer house he died before inhabiting.

At Willie's request, Lesley plays the piano: a Chopin nocturne, then Reynaldo Hahn's L'heure exquise. Willie recognizes it and recites Verlaine's poem from memory without stammering. In the charged silence afterwards, Lesley asks where a story begins. Willie answers with a question of his own about waves. Lesley resolves to tell Willie her story and let him write it for the world.