Homecoming Girls (34 page)

‘Did you never want to go back home?’ Clara asked. ‘To see your family?’

‘Nope,’ he answered laconically. ‘Don’t have any. I’ve gotta nice little place here. I’ve got Dolly to talk to, she’s bin a good friend, and, well,’ he cast an eye towards Jewel, ‘I guess I allus wanted to hang around in case this little lady came back.’

Jewel felt very touched. She felt as if she had suddenly acquired many members of a family that she had barely known
about. Dolly too was thrilled to have her here, just like a warm and friendly aunt, and together they were all fitting together the pieces of the jigsaw of her life to make her whole.

Federico Cavalli appeared at their hotel, enquiring if he might be allowed to show them around San Francisco. Clara came down to meet him in the foyer. He seemed to have recovered from his excesses and made no mention of the fact that he hadn’t been seen at the Gallis’ restaurant. In fact, from his smiling face it was as if he had only seen them recently. He did not mention the earthquake or Jewel’s disappearance, and appeared genuinely disappointed when Clara refused his offer on behalf of them both, giving him the explanation that they had already done a tour with a friend.

‘Oh!’ he said in a high-handed manner. ‘But I’m very familiar with the entire city. I was born here; I’m a true San Franciscan.’

‘Thank you, but no,’ Clara said calmly. ‘And forgive me, Mr Cavalli, but it would not be proper for us to do so without an escort.’

He laughed. ‘What nonsense! You came once before, and’ – his eyes narrowed – ‘I also escorted you into Chinatown.’

‘Lorenzo came too, and it was only a brief visit.’ Clara hesitated, embarrassed that he should point it out. ‘And with hindsight even that was perhaps unwise, although it was an emergency.’

He clicked his tongue. ‘You’re not in England now, with its pious ways and conventions.’ His eyes searched Clara’s face. ‘I do believe you are making an excuse.’

She gazed back at him. ‘I do believe you may be right.’

‘Clara!’ He reached for her hand.
‘Please!
I want to see you.
Must
see you! You’ve heard, haven’t you, that I became involved with some villains in Chinatown? They plied me with drink and took my money. Who told you?’ His voice rose. ‘That Chink Pinyin.’

Clara lifted her chin. ‘I don’t wish to discuss anything further with you. Your manners are a disgrace. Excuse me.’

She turned to leave, but he grabbed her arm. ‘Clara! I’m
mad for you. You’re perfect. Beautiful! I adore you. You alone can save me from myself.’

Clara pulled her arm away. ‘Don’t be so dramatic. You need help, Federico,’ she added, ‘but not from me. I’m sorry.’ She took a breath. ‘And besides, I shall be leaving soon to begin my journey home.’

She didn’t know why she had said it, but the second the statement popped out of her mouth she realized that that was what she wanted to do. She wanted to go home. Home to be safe; to be away from temptation and to be with those who really did care for her.

‘You can’t,’ he pleaded. ‘Don’t, please! Don’t deny me. I’ll do anything. Anything to keep you here.’ His eyes searched her face and she saw the entreaty there and something else: bafflement, she thought. He’s not used to rejection or conflict. He is only accustomed to having his wants and needs indulged. ‘What is there in England that you can’t find here? There is everything and more that anyone can want.’

Clara turned on her heel. ‘Not for me!’ She walked swiftly away from him and up the stairs before he could say anything more, though he rushed after her to the bottom stair. She reached the top landing and ran along it and into her room, where she leaned against the door, panting, not with exertion but with exasperation.

There came a sharp tapping on the door. ‘Go away! Leave me alone,’ she called. ‘I don’t wish to speak to you.’

There was a hushed silence and then Jewel’s voice said softly, ‘Clara? Are you all right? It’s only me.’

Clara cracked the door and saw Jewel’s anxious face. ‘Sorry,’ she said, opening wide to admit her. ‘I thought it was Federico Cavalli.’

‘What? Here? At our door?’

Clara explained what had happened. ‘I suppose I was rather rude and rushed away. I really didn’t want to discuss anything with him. He’s so persuasive, Jewel. I feel sure that he would talk me out of my better judgement and persuade me to meet him again.’

Jewel raised her fine eyebrows. ‘What temptations, Clara! But you are quite right,’ she said seriously. ‘He’s very handsome and I admit he can be charming, but there is something about him that makes me uneasy; something dark and moody and, dare I say it, rather sinful.’

‘Yes,’ Clara agreed, and walked to the window. ‘Jewel!’ she said, turning round. ‘I need to talk to you.’

‘And I want to talk to you!’ Jewel waved the letter she held in her hand. ‘This is from Mama! Such news you’d never believe!’ She gave a little hop and skip and danced round the room, a whirl of skirt and petticoats.

‘Good,’ Clara said. ‘Jewel. About going home—’

‘Yes, but not yet. Mama and Papa are both in Dreumel’s Creek.’ Jewel beamed.

‘Yes, I know.’ Clara felt thwarted. She really did want to discuss the journey home and whether or not Jewel would be making it with her.

Jewel shook the letter in her hand. ‘I
must
tell you the news. It’s central to any decisions we might be contemplating.’

‘Really?’ Perhaps Aunt Gianna and Uncle Wilhelm have decided to stay in America, Clara thought, and if so then so will Jewel, and in that case how will I get home? I’ll travel alone, she decided, before Jewel had time to say another word.

‘Clara.’ Jewel sat on her bed and spoke softly. ‘Mama was ill coming over in the ship. She thought she was seasick. But she wasn’t. She’s
expecting
a
child
!’

Clara sank down beside her. ‘Oh!’ she breathed. ‘Oh, how wonderful!’

‘Yes!’ Jewel was ecstatic. ‘But will she be all right, Clara? She’s quite old to be having a first child.’ She bit on her lip. ‘I couldn’t bear it if she—’

‘I’m quite sure she’ll be all right, Jewel,’ Clara assured her. ‘Mama knows women older than her who have had children. Not their first, admittedly, but then neither were they well fed or under a doctor’s care as I’m sure Aunt Gianna will be.’

‘Mama says she hopes to see me soon; oh, Clara, I must go to her,’ Jewel spoke earnestly. ‘I must look after her. She’s
my mother, after all.’ Her eyes flooded with tears. ‘How must she feel? I’ve been selfishly pursuing my birth mother, when Gianna has brought me up and been as much my mother as anyone could be. And Wilhelm too – he has been my father in every sense of the word.’ She began to sob. ‘I’ve been so self-absorbed. I never thought that I might have hurt them by leaving on this mission.’

Clara put her arm round her shoulder. ‘They won’t have been hurt. They have always spoken about your birth parents. They’ve never hidden from you that you were born in America to two other people. And they are the ones who have brought you up to question and enquire, and never objected when you said that you were ready to come here and discover your past.’

Jewel wiped her eyes. ‘Yes, you’re right. I do know. It’s just that I suddenly felt guilty; but, Clara, I’ve been so happy since I came, except of course when I was caught up in the earthquake and even that turned out so well. And what will Mama and Papa expect of me now? I shall be torn.’ She swallowed hard, and put her fingers to her mouth. ‘And then there’s Lorenzo!’

Ah, Clara thought – Lorenzo is the issue. He is the cause of all this emotion. ‘Has he spoken of his feelings for you?’ she asked.

Jewel shook her head. ‘No, he hasn’t, and I don’t think that he will, not yet. I believe that he has been brought up in a traditional manner, rather as we have. It’s too soon – but if I go away—’

‘If he cares for you, then he’ll wait,’ Clara said patiently, ‘and if you tell him the reason—’

‘That’s just it,’Jewel broke in. ‘I can’t. Mama has asked me not to write of the news to anyone back in England – not that I would; or to speak of it, except to you of course. She’ll write to your mother herself in a week or two. I suppose she wants to get used to the idea first,’ she said, with a watery smile. ‘So what will I say to Renzo when I tell him we’re leaving?’

Clara contemplated. ‘I have just now told Federico Cavalli
that I’m going home soon, so if he sees Lorenzo first he’s sure to tell him.’

Jewel slipped off the bed. ‘Then I must go and speak to him immediately. Will you come with me, Clara? I shall think of some reason to explain why we are going.’

Perhaps Lorenzo might be galvanized into action when he learns Jewel is leaving, Clara thought. But it is too soon for her to make a lifetime’s decision. How goes the old saying –
marry in haste, repent at leisure?

When they arrived at the restaurant in the early evening, Lorenzo was singing as he set the tables, and from the kitchen they could hear Maria joining in.

‘How he loves to sing,’ Jewel whispered to Clara. ‘It reminds me of something.’

‘What?’ Clara asked, but Jewel didn’t answer as Lorenzo came towards them, his hands outstretched to them both in greeting but his eyes only for Jewel.

‘You’ve come at last!’ he cried. ‘I’ve missed you – both. Where have you been?’

‘Sightseeing,’ Clara answered for them. ‘Seeing the city.’

His eyebrows rose in query.

‘With Larkin and Dolly,’ Jewel said.

‘Ah.’ He smiled. ‘I see.’ He gazed at her and said, ‘Madre was asking when you might move into the house next door.’ He saw Jewel’s hesitation. ‘You will come to live there, won’t you?’

He looked from Jewel to Clara and it was as if he was suddenly struck by the possibility that perhaps she wouldn’t, that neither of them would stay, and the idea was totally appalling to him.

Pinyin came through from the kitchen and his face lit up in a beam of delight. ‘Miss Jewel, Miss Clara. Very good to see you! Miss Jewel, my sister would like to come and talk to you. Would that be possible?’

‘Yes, that would be lovely,’Jewel said. ‘When?’

‘Tomorrow. Chen will bring her. It is his day off. He works at a restaurant in Chinatown.’

They agreed on a time and Pinyin went back to the kitchen. Lorenzo then suggested that maybe they should open the house next door and light a fire and make it cosy. Clara was sure that he was suggesting it so that Jewel would become used to the idea that the house was hers. But when Jewel took him to one side to tell him that they would shortly be leaving for Dreumel’s Creek, Clara saw his face drop and his hands catch hold of Jewel’s as if in earnest supplication, and realized that his intentions were real and trustworthy.

‘Why?’ he asked Jewel. ‘Why now?’

‘Not immediately,’ she responded. ‘Perhaps in a week or two. I’m sorry,’ she said miserably. ‘I’ll come back just as soon as I can.’

‘But how long will you be away?’ His expression was anguished as she shook her head. ‘I shall miss you, Jewel.’

‘And I shall miss you too, Renzo.’

The use of his childhood name seemed to convince him that she really was going, and yet still he pressed for the reason why, which she couldn’t give, except to say that her parents were in Dreumel’s Creek and she was needed there.

‘And I need you here,’ he groaned. ‘Yet we have only just met. You don’t know me. We are almost strangers. We need more time to get to know one another again.’

‘I don’t,’ Jewel said, and saw his sudden smile.

The next day Maria lit a fire in the house next door. Although the weather wasn’t cold, it was foggy, and the fire in the hearth gave the house a welcoming atmosphere. When Chen arrived with Soong Daiyu, it was here that they came. Jewel had plumped up cushions and tied back the beaded curtain and Maria had brought a kettle, a teapot, tea and china cups and saucers so that she could make refreshments for her guests.

Soong Daiyu gave a low bow from the waist. ‘I bring you gift,’ she said, and handed Jewel a parcel wrapped in soft paper decorated with Chinese lettering.

Jewel unwrapped the parcel and found inside a red silk brocade cheongsam and matching slippers. The svelte fitted
dress was sleeveless and had a mandarin collar and slits at each side of the skirt. Also in the parcel were several silver and jade bracelets, two of which were for Clara, and a silk flower for Jewel’s hair.

‘How beautiful,’ Jewel whispered, and impulsively kissed Soong Daiyu’s cheek.

Soong Daiyu clasped her fingers together, obviously quite overcome by the gesture, and murmured something Jewel couldn’t understand. Chen was hovering by the door and Jewel turned to him questioningly.

‘My mother says: now you are real Chinese daughter.’

They were persuaded to stay another month. It seemed churlish to refuse, and an opportunity not to be missed, when Larkin offered to show them more of California and took them on a trip to the tree-lined city of Sacramento.

Sacramento had been a trading colony on the Sacramento river when gold was discovered by John Marshall at Sutter’s Mill in nearby Coloma and the city was inundated by miners. In spite of being half drowned by floods twenty years before, it had now grown into a city of fine buildings with parks and riverside walks.