board ship, but dies on their wedding night when his wound hemorrhages. His mother is now officially taipan. Angelique is at first hysterical and nearly goes mad. When she recovers, she find she has gained wisdom and an icy calm and lost all fear. She plans to outwit Tess Struan, with the help of Edward Gornt, who hopes to marry her and also obtain revenge on Tess' family. Tyrer discovers his "friend" is a dangerous assassin wanted by Lord Yoshi and must be handed over as part of a deal, but the shishi disappears. He hides out with his "sensei" and others in the brothel district. As the government samurai close their net, the sensei decides on a suicide mission: to set fire to the Yokohama settlement and sink the largest foreign ship in the harbour. Tyrer's friend is horrified but cannot disobey. The firebombs go off, the shishi saves Tyrer's life while the French spy dies in the flames. Though the brothel district and native village are destroyed, the foreign settlement and military camp are relatively undamaged, so the foreigners do not leave, thus subverting the purpose of the arson. To escape certain death and also to further his study of the source of foreign power, the shishi gets himself shipped off to England with Tyrer's help. The story closes with a brief narration of the bombardment of Kagoshima and its aftermath. Historical basis As with Clavell's other novels, the setting and many characters are based on actual events, which set the stage for the novel. Gai-jin characters and firms Struan and Company (the "Noble House" trading company of the novel) is based on Jardine Matheson Holdings, a massive Scottish trading company that continues to this day as an Asia-based trading company. Malcolm Struan: loosely based on the real-life Jardine taipan William Keswick. Jamie McFay: based on Thomas Blake Glover. Edward Gornt: loosely based on John Samuel Swire, founder of John Swire & Sons Limited and Swire Pacific. Angelique Richaud: based on Amelia Dubeux, who was married to William Keswick. Sir William Aylesbury: based upon Edward St. John Neale Phillip Tyrer: loosely based upon Ernest Mason Satow George Babcott: Dr. William Willis (1837–1894) John Canterbury – based on the real-life Charles Lennox Richardson, murdered by Satsuma samurai Japanese characters Lord Toranaga Yoshi, Guardian of the Heir: Tokugawa Yoshinobu (1837–1913) Lady Hisako (Hosaki), his wife: Ichijō Mikako (1835–1894) Misamoto, his