Clothes.
Henceforth Ruth would closely observe her fellow women and note the hang of their skirts.
Around her neck was a little gold chain.

She gathered up the chain, revealing a locket which had lain hidden in her bosom.

The locket contained the face of her mother--all the family album she had.

She studied the face and tried to visualize the body, clothed in the dress which had created the spinsters' astonishment.

Very well.
To-morrow, when she returned to Hong-Kong, she would purchase a simple but modern dress.