My Splendid Concubine (44 page)

“
That’s a large amount to pay for a concubine,” Patridge said. “Who’d believe it? Not that I don’t.” He hastened to add. “But you should reconsider and return Ayaou to him. There are thousands of girls you can buy for less. Besides, you have Shao-mei. Isn’t she enough to satisfy you?”

“
I’ll go to Shanghai and convince Ward,” Robert said. His anger made him deaf. He wasn’t listening to Patridge. “He can’t hold it against me that circumstances robbed us of our chance to complete the transaction.”

“
It wouldn’t be safe for you to confront him. Ward has more scars than we can see. He acted crazy before his defeat. Now he’s a raving lunatic. He slaughters his enemies like pinching mosquitoes. He takes wild risks on the battlefield.”

“
Maybe he is the one behind the two attacks on me and the one on Ayaou,” Robert said.

Patridge looked stunned.
“What are you saying? What attacks?”

“
A man tried to hit me with a club outside my house one morning. The next incident was when a man tried to grab Ayaou when she was out shopping. She didn’t recognize him, but he knew her name. The last assault was by two men that attempted pressing me into a British naval ship bound for the Americas. I escaped in the fog.”

Patridge put a hand on Robert
’s arm, “Why didn’t you tell me this happened? You are an asset for my company. We would have done something to protect you. It’s not easy to recruit people with your skills in your position.”

“
How will you protect me against Ward?”

“
When did the first incident take place?” Patridge asked.

Robert told him.

“I don’t think Ward orchestrated any of this,” the captain said. “When the first encounter happened outside your house, he was delirious with a fever fighting for his life. He was in no shape to be plotting against you. Ward would not have you pressed into a naval ship to serve before the mast. If he wanted to make you suffer, he would do something worse. He would want to inflict the pain himself. He doesn’t pay someone else to do his dirty work. He does it himself.”

“
What about his second-in-command, Henry Burgevine? I had a run in with him before he took a shipment of coolies to California. He wasn’t happy with me. He could have arranged it.”

“
That’s a possibility,” Patridge replied, “but I believe those encounters were coincidences. You are imagining things, Robert. You were in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Robert shook his head.
“No, I’m not imagining things. I overheard the men who tried to kidnap me. There was a thick fog. I was standing close to them, but they couldn’t see me. I heard enough. Someone paid them to press me into that British man-of-war. Someone wants to ruin my life.”

Patridge was
quiet for a moment, before he said, “Have you made any other enemies. Have you run up gambling debts?”

Robert laughed.
“I do not gamble. I work and go home to my girls. Other than my Chinese language teacher, there is no one else in my life. I don’t even go to church anymore.”

“
I believe what happened to you and Ayaou were not related. Maybe Henry Burgevine was behind the one attempt to press you into the British navy. I will not accept that Ward was connected to any of them. Life can be like that, Robert. People are mugged and kidnapped daily. It can happen to anyone. Your current problem is with Ward. He wants Ayaou back. His ego won’t let him forget. Let’s solve this problem, and make it go away. Send her to him.”

“
I won’t send her back,” Robert said. “I’ll seek help. I’ll go to Governor Sir John Bowring in Hong Kong. I’ll enlist his support. Then I’ll confront Ward with the backing of the British navy. I’ll pay him the five hundred pounds. He will back off. He won’t want the governor angry with him. After all, I do work for the British, and Ward is an American. I talked to Bowring about Ward once, and the governor was not impressed with the man.”

“
Let me update you,” Patridge said. “Ward was wanted for some crime he committed. He was arrested and put in the brig of a warship called the
Chesapeake
. He escaped and managed to make a deal with Admiral Hope. I’ve no idea how he did it, but he did.”

Robert started to speak. He was determined to see the Bri
tish governor in Hong Kong. He refused to give up Ayaou.

Patridge held up a hand.
“Let me finish, Robert. There’s more. Ward raised another army of five thousand men and all his officers are American soldiers of fortune. Burgevine also returned from California and resumed his position as second-in-command.”

“
I’ll go to Shanghai and challenge him to a duel,” Robert said.

“
Don’t talk nonsense. He will have you killed. Then he will take both Ayaou and Shao-mei. Their lives will be unbearable, and where will you be?” he asked, then answered the question. “I’ll tell you where you’ll be. You will be dead and no use to me.” His face turned red.

Robert was struck speechless as he watched Patridge sit and take a few calming breaths.
“Listen,” Patridge said, “I don’t want to lose you. My company has increased its profits kindly because of your efforts to help smuggle goods into the country. You’ve made connections with the Chinese I could never have made. You’re gaining a reputation as a man whose word can be trusted. If no one learns you are working for me, you are going to gain rank quickly while working for the British consulate. The higher you go, the more valuable you will be. We will pay you twice as much. That’s four times what you are paid to work for the British.”

“When the time comes,” Robert said, “nothing will stop me from ending our agreement.” Feeling desperation clawing at him, he said, “Why, I’ll offer Ward twice the amount we agreed to.”

“
There isn’t a woman in China worth a thousand British pounds. Come on, Hart!That’s more than six thousand yuan!”

“
I’ve no choice.”

Patridge stood
and placed a hand on Robert’s shoulder. “Bob, in the last month with naval support from Admiral Hope, Ward took the Taiping city of Kaochiao. The Imperials gave Chinese citizenship to Ward and a third-rank mandarin’s button. He’s no longer just a mercenary general. The Chinese gave him the military rank of a colonel in the Imperial army. His army has been named the Ever Victorious Army. Ward has finally delivered where the Chinese generals couldn’t.”

“
You believe I have no power to fight him.”

“
Exactly my point.”

“
Thank you for your concern, Captain, but my mind remains set.”

“
You’re still going,” Patridge said. “You’re a fool! You have disappointed me. I’m sure your friends will feel the same.”

“
I have no friends in China,” he replied, and mentally corrected himself when he thought of William Martin, the American missionary in Ningpo, and William Lay in Shanghai. Too bad he couldn’t count on Horatio Lay as a friend.

Yes, those
two men were his friends. He believed that he could count on them if he needed help. There was also Guan-jiah. The eunuch’s loyalty was a blessing.

“
That’s not true,” Patridge said. “I’m your friend. I want what’s best for you.”

Rober
t didn’t trust Patridge but decided to use him anyway. The captain had given him another reason to keep his private life to himself. He believed Patridge wouldn’t be here if he didn’t think it benefited his pocket, so he said, “Then I need your support as a friend.”

Patridge nodded.
“I’ll do my best. I’ll keep Ward off your back if you agree to extend our arrangement for two years.”

Two more years. Robert hated the idea but what choice did he have?
“How do you intend to control Ward?” he asked. “If a thousand pounds isn’t enough to pay this bastard, what is? You just told me that Boss Takee is having trouble with him too.”

“
Boss Takee is losing his position in Shanghai,” Patridge replied. “I will deal with Ward. Leave it to me. Do we extend our business arrangement beyond the first year?”

If he didn
’t say yes, he stood a chance of losing Ayaou, Shao-mei and his life to Ward. On the other hand, how could he trust Patridge, who was using this situation with Ward to imprison Robert’s soul? The answer was that he couldn’t trust the man, but he had no choice. “How long will you be in Ningpo?” he asked.

“
Until tomorrow, when my ship returns to the Lookong receiving station. We’re picking up a cargo of rice. The price is high in Canton again.”

“
I’ll have an answer for you tomorrow morning before you leave. Which ship?”

“
I’ll show you,” Patridge said. He led the way to the riverbank and indicated a brig sitting in the anchorage. It was flying a British flag.

Robert already knew
he had to accept, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it then.

At two in the morning the next day, a noise woke Robert from a sound sleep. He listened carefully to identify it. It sounded like a stomach in distress. The grumbling was unmistakable. He listened to his stomach. It was quiet. He was careful not to wake Ayaou when he listened to her. It wasn’t her either. Shao-mei slept in the living room, so it couldn’t be her. Her small bed was in a far corner.

He heard the sound again. It must be her, but how could he hear her stomach when she was so far away? The bedroom door was also closed. He went to the open window and stood next to it with his back flat against the wall. He listened for the night so
unds. There was no breeze. The crickets were silent. That worried him. He depended on the insects as his first warning. He heard a frog, but it wasn’t close to the cottage.

Then he heard what sounded like someone standing outside the window. The sound was similar to a person shifting weight from foot t
o foot. His heart beat faster.

He didn
’t want to disturb Ayaou. What if he were imagining this? It had happened before. Episodes similar to this had started a few weeks after the battle with the Taipings. The first happened soon after the attempt from the lone assailant in the fog—the thug that tried to hit him with a club. Sometimes weeks went by and nothing happened before another nightmare arrived like a demon from hell. This was the first time at the cottage. He was disappointed. He had hoped the demons had stayed in Ningpo.

He
returned to the bed and sat. He glanced toward the closed door to the bedroom that led to the living room. There was the shadowy figure of a man standing there. The body shape looked like Ward. Robert’s heart started to pound. He fumbled for his pistol on the floor next to his side of the bed. He never felt safe without it. He always kept it close.

He cocked the pistol. He wanted to pull the trigger, but he didn
’t. What if the dark figure standing there was Shao-mei walking in her sleep? When he stood and walked toward the shadowy silhouette, it vanished. Then he stood in the middle of the room listening to the pounding of his heart and the rapid sound of his breathing.

“
Are you all right?” Ayaou said from the bed.

“
Yes,” he replied, and held the pistol against his chest so she couldn’t see it. He didn’t want to scare her. “I have to use the chamber pot. Go back to sleep.” He heard her sigh.

When he was sure she was sleeping, he went outside and searched around the house but found nothing. Before he went back inside, he looked toward Uncle Bark
’s sampan. Uncle Bark was sitting in the sampan watching him. His hair was a mess. He looked like he had been having a bad dream too. Robert waved and went into the cottage.

Uncle Bark had heard Robert leave the cottage. It didn
’t take much to wake Uncle Bark. He hadn’t slept through a night for decades. The slightest sound that was out of place could wake him. There had been too much violence and death in his life.

He had watched Robert come outside with the pistol in his hand. Once Robert was back inside the cottage, Uncle Bark put down the machete he was holding. He listened to the night sounds until he was satisfied that everything was as it should be.

Chapter 24

June 12
would be branded in Robert’s memory until death.

He had a lot on his mind
while Uncle Bark rowed the sampan upriver toward the cottage. The Chinese Imperial officials were nervous because a Taiping army was in the countryside near Ningpo and Robert should have been nervous too.

Instead, he yawned and checked his pocket watch. An hour r
emained until sunset and he was anxious to see his girls. Due to the rocking motion of the sampan, he felt as if he were a baby in a cradle being lulled to sleep. He closed his eyes.

The week had crawled since
Captain Patridge’s disagreeable visit. The business relationship continued with one change—when Ward was no longer a threat, it ended. Robert had insisted though Patridge might be motivated to keep Ward stirred up about Ayaou.