Three days after departing Seoul with the package from Mr. Rhee safely ensconced in the bottom of her luggage, Jisoo arrived back at the academy just before dinner. On entering the front hall, she ran into Madame Park, who had obvious been waiting for her.

"Jisoo, my dear," Madame Park said with one of her rare unforced smiled. "So good to see you back. You were, I trust, successful in your mission."

"Yes ma'am," Jisoo said. She dug around until she reached the package at the bottom of her luggage, fished it out, and handed it to Madame Park.

Madame Park turned the package over and over in her hands, examining it from all angles.

"And you didn't open it?" Madame Park asked.

"No ma'am," Jisoo assured her. "Even if I had been tempted, there's the matter of the elaborate knot that Mr. Rhee used to tie the package shut. I could never hope to duplicate that, which would make it obvious that the package had been opened."

Madame Park nodded. "Very good. Knotwork will be added to your coursework soon - not because I want you opening my packages, of course, but because during the course of a mission you may need to be able to open a package without your tampering having been evident." Having finished her examination of the package, Madame Park handed it back to Jisoo. "You may open it now."

Unsure of what was happening, wondering if this was some sort of test, Jisoo began untying the knot holding the package closed, then unwrapped the paper. Inside was a riding costume like Madame Young's students wore, with a coat and breeches. Jisoo's confused must have been evident on her face. "I don't understand," she said.

"I heard about your experiment with riding astride the other day. Since it seems that that is to be the way of the future, and since you seemed to ride much better that way than you do sidesaddle, henceforth you shall be allowed to wear this riding costume and ride astride."

"But, I thought. . . " Jisoo's voice trailed off.

"You thought you were getting books?" Madame Park asked with a laugh. "No, dear girl. It served my purposes to have you think you were getting books, and so I sent you to Mr. Rhee's shop, with instructions for him to procure the necessary items. You now know one agent in Seoul who works for our society. Remember that, should you find yourself in trouble."

"Yes ma'am," Jisoo replied.

"Well, go hang up your new clothes. You've got just enough time to wash up and put on a clean uniform before dinner," Madame Park turned away, dismissing Jisoo.

When Jisoo came down for dinner, feeling refreshed after having gotten cleaned up, she saw that everyone else was already lined up. Seulgi was the first one to notice her, and signalled for the others to scoot down to make room for Jisoo. The movement caught Jennie's eye. When she turned and saw Jisoo, Jisoo saw the surprise in her face and noted that only a supreme effort of will kept Jennie from getting out of line and running to her. What had Madame Park told them about Jisoo's absence?

Jisoo got into line between Seulgi and Joy, quietly settling into the routine of waiting for Madame Park to appear and lead the way into the dining room.

When Madame Park did appear, she smiled at Jisoo, then looked inquisitively at Jennie, before opening the dining room door and leading the way in.

When they were all seated, the servants started bringing in dinner. They were apparently starting with French onion soup tonight. Jisoo took a bite, and enjoyed it; as good as it was, though, it wasn't as good as the soup she'd had at the restaurant in Seoul. Conversation was quiet and far-ranging, covering every topic except the one that everyone seemed to want to talk about: Jisoo's mission. Jisoo waited, hoping Madame Park would bring it up, which would allow her to talk about it, but since Madame Park seemed dis