The Palace of Heavenly Pleasure

by Adam Williams

  She watched him as he fussily lit his pipe and puffed away. ‘It can’t be worse news than we already know,’ she said, after a while.

  ‘No, my dear, no. It’s the opposite. It’s good news.’

  ‘You don’t look very happy about it,’ she said.

  ‘Oh, I am. I am. It’s just—I don’t know the best way to tell you. And bits of it may come as a shock.’

  She waited, a little bored.

  ‘It’s—you see—it seems that there may be a chance of a rescue.’

  ‘I don’t want to be rescued,’ she said.

  ‘There you go again,’ he said. ‘You don’t mean that. Well, I’ve received a letter—very secret, you mustn’t tell the others, not immediately—but it seems that some of us have been chosen to be spared.’

  ‘Some of us?’

  ‘Yes, unfortunately only some were named, but there it is. Some is better than none. Well, you were one of the lucky ones. With my wife and Jenny and George, thank goodness. And, of course, Tom. Yes, Tom is one of the lucky ones. Yes, definitely Tom was one of the names mentioned. In the letter.’

  ‘The letter from whom, Doctor? Can I see it?’

  ‘No, I’ve burned it. Better that way. Can’t let this slip out just yet, get into the wrong hands. In fact,’ he lowered his voice, ‘I haven’t told anyone else except you.’

  ‘You’re being very mysterious, Doctor. Why only me?’

  ‘I want your help, Helen Frances. With Nellie. She’s very headstrong, as you know, and—well, she may refuse to go if she knows that I’m not escaping with her.’

  ‘You’re not one of the lucky ones, then?’

  ‘No. No, alas, not. No, nobody would want a silly old man like me along. Strictly women and children. That’s as it should be. Right and proper.’

  ‘But it’s not just women and children, is it? What about Laetitia Millward and her children? You didn’t mention they were on the list, did you? And why is it that Tom is? Look, I don’t want to go. Doctor, you must take my place. I mean it.’

  She was startled to see Airton’s agonised look.

  ‘Oh, Helen Frances. Don’t you think I want to live? But I can’t. I can’t go with you. My place is here, with my—with my flock, for want of a better word. I can’t leave them. Don’t you see that?’

  Helen Frances suddenly realised the truth. ‘Your name was on the list, wasn’t it? And you’re trying to save me instead of yourself.’

  ‘You’re a silly girl,’ the doctor snapped, but his cheeks had flushed a deep red. ‘Who do you think I am? God? To choose who will live and who will die? You think that I’m capable of such—blasphemy?’

  Helen Frances reached out for his hand. ‘No, Doctor, I think you’re a very kind, brave and generous man. But I’m not worth saving. And you have a wife and children to protect.’

  Airton pulled his hand away. ‘Listen to me, lassie. I did not substitute your name. You were specifically chosen. And you are going, if not for your own sake, for the sake of your unborn babe. And Tom. And I need you to go, because otherwise Nellie might not. She’ll go to look after you.’

  ‘She’ll go to look after her own children. Doctor, you’re not telling me everything. The Mandarin wouldn’t want to save me. He doesn’t even know who I am. Why? Why me?’

  Airton’s trembling fingers fiddled with his pipe. ‘It wasn’t the Mandarin who sent the letter,’ he brought himself to say, after a while. ‘It was Manners. He’s alive.’

  Everything suddenly shone with a still clarity, as if a phosphorescent lamp had illuminated the room. She noticed the thread on the sleeve where the doctor had lost one of his buttons. She saw the stitching in the rug where it had been frayed away, and the blue enamel washbasin and jug on the stand, and the dust on the mirror, and the little framed watercolour of the Hebridean islands on the whitewashed wall. It was as if time had stopped, and she and the doctor had become figures in a photograph, frozen in an eternal moment. Then, with a crash, the noise of drums returned, and she felt the blood rushing to her head, and the still room began to turn, and the worried look on the doctor’s face was almost comical as he reached out to steady her. ‘I’m all right,’ she heard herself say, from a far distance, and then she was floating above a tropical sea where, in the black starlit night, a lightning storm began to rage.

  * * *

  ‘How is she, Edward?’ Nellie asked. She had been waiting in their bedroom.

  ‘Oh, shocked. What do you expect? But she’ll be fine.’

  ‘You told her the story, then? That she must come to persuade me?’

  ‘Aye.’

  He sat on the bed beside her and reached for her hand. The two of them sat in silence.

  ‘You’re determined, then?’ Nellie asked, after a while. ‘To abandon your good wife and wee bairns? Nobody will think the worse of you, you know, if you come with us.’

  ‘I have my duty, woman. You know that.’

  ‘Self-important and selfish to the last.’

  ‘Oh, how can you say that?’ He turned to her with sorrowful eyes. ‘We discussed it and agreed. Helen Frances needs Tom to protect her from Manners, and I’m needed here. We went over it again and again.’

  ‘I’m teasing you, you silly man.’ She reached out for him, and he nestled his head on her expansive breast, which soon began to shake, as unbidden tears streamed down her strong features. ‘Oh, but how I wish, Edward, how I wish.’

  ‘I know. I know,’ he whispered, moving her head to rest in turn on his chest. He kissed her auburn hair with its streaks of grey.

  They held onto each other for some time. Then Nellie roused herself and dabbed her cheeks with a handkerchief, which she kept up her sleeve. ‘Look at me,’ she said. ‘I’m becoming as silly and sentimental as you are. And I’ll have to retidy my hair.’

  ‘You’re fine as you are,’ said Airton.

  ‘No, I’m not, I’m old,’ said Nellie. ‘What a pair we are. How have we lasted so long together?’

  ‘Habit?’ suggested the doctor, and Nellie laughed, but then her brows furrowed, and she turned to her husband with an intent expression.

  ‘You know I’m only going because of the children? You know I’d stay with you, Edward, if it weren’t for the bairns?’

  ‘If I’d let you stay,’ said Airton.

  ‘You couldn’t stop me, you dolt. I’d stay with you, I’d stay with you…’

  ‘Till a’ the seas gang dry?’

  ‘Oh, aye, Edward. Sing that for me. Sing “The Rose”.’

  And rising above the noise of the drums outside, Edward Airton’s voice rang, a surprisingly strong baritone:

  ‘Till a’ the seas gang dry, my dear,

  And the rocks melt wi’ the sun:

  And I will love thee still, my dear,

  While the sands o’ life shall run.’

  It was already night when the yamen gates opened and, under Major Lin’s supervision, the coffin was carried out to the cart. The usual yamen Runners had long been replaced by two of Iron Man’s bandits, who demanded to know what it contained.

  Henry, cramped inside, chilled when he heard Major Lin’s languid reply. ‘Open it and find out for yourselves.’

  He heard the rasp as the coffin lid was prised open, then felt cool air and saw lamplight through the straw and offal that covered him.

  ‘It stinks,’ said one of the guards. ‘What is it?’

  ‘A traitor,’ said Lin. ‘They all stink, don’t they?’

  ‘Ta made, he doesn’t even look human. Not much left of him. What did you do to him?’

  ‘Interrogated him,’ said Lin.

  ‘You were thorough about it,’ said the guard. ‘That’s all I can say. Where are you taking him?’

  ‘To his family. For burial.’

  ‘They’ll love you for that. You’d better get on with it, then. Exterminate the foreigners.’

  ‘And save the Ch’ing,’ finished Lin.

  Henry heard the lid replaced, and tightened the hand
kerchief round his face, which even so could not keep out the rotten, fetid smell. In a moment he was being jostled as the cart moved down the hill. He felt blood dripping onto his forehead, and it took every measure of self-control not to retch.

  There was another inspection at the city gates, and only after they had left the city walls behind them did Lin order the small convoy to stop. As soon as the coffin lid was open, Henry clambered out, desperately pushing aside the sheep entrails and the pork hanks that were wrapped in the remains of his clothes. He knelt in the mud, swallowing big gulps of clean air. His naked body covered from head to foot with blood and muck was black in the moonlight.

  Major Lin surveyed him with contempt. ‘Ma Na Si, now you actually look like the animal you are. There’s a stream by the side of the road where you can wash. Take these clothes. Be quick. And don’t try to run. My fingers are just itching for an opportunity to shoot you down.’

  ‘And Fan Yimei, she is also well?’ Henry called, over his shoulder.

  ‘Don’t tempt me, Ma Na Si. Please don’t tempt me,’ said Lin.

  * * *

  The chamberlain was smoking a pipe of opium with Mother Liu. He was tired, after a strenuous hour with a peasant boy who still stank of the farm. He had not enjoyed it. Perhaps he was getting old. Perhaps it was the times. Mother Liu was really dredging the wine pot, these days, for her regular customers. All her talented chickens, boys and girls, were now fully occupied with entertaining Iron Man Wang’s brutes, poor things. He could hear them, even from Mother Liu’s secluded room, roaring in the teahouse, and roistering in the dining rooms below them. Animals. He forced himself to listen to what his old friend was saying. These tedious negotiations—but it was important to see this one through.

  ‘Yes, there will be six of them. Two children,’ he repeated, for at least the tenth time that evening. ‘You’ll easily be able to hide them on your secret floor.’

  ‘But the danger, Jin Lao…’

  ‘That’s exactly why you will be paid so very high a fee. And you will have the gratitude of the Mandarin on top of it. That’s invaluable.’

  ‘Nothing’s invaluable, these days. And think of the compromise to Ren Ren. He’s a high official now, a Boxer captain. What will happen to him if Iron Man Wang finds out?’

  ‘Nobody will find out.’

  ‘I’ll do it for twice what you’re offering.’

  ‘That’s absurd. You could establish five more brothels with the money I’m already giving you.’

  ‘Three-quarters then.’

  ‘Half.’

  ‘All right. But the girl stays after, and maybe the two children, if I like them.’

  ‘I can’t promise that. This is the Mandarin’s affair.’

  ‘How long will he remain a mandarin if I tell Iron Man that he’s hiding six foreign devils in the attic?’

  ‘How long do you expect to enjoy your ill-gotten earnings if you do so? Who do you think it is who’s protecting you? How long will you last with Iron Man Wang as your patron? Don’t threaten me, old friend. You know I have your interests at heart.’

  ‘Your own, you mean. I have just as much dirt on you as you have on me.’

  ‘Mother Liu, why do you have to be so unpleasant on such a delightful evening?

  “Idly I watch the cassia flowers fall

  Still is the night, empty the hill in spring

  Up comes the moon, startling mountain birds,

  Once in a while in the spring brook they sing.”’

  ‘Jin Lao. Do control yourself. This isn’t the time for poetry. Look, I can persuade Ren Ren. The money’s enough—but he’ll want something more for his pains. Give him the girl. What’s she to anyone after the Mandarin is finished with her? Be practical, Jin Lao. Think of a poor old woman and her difficulties with her unruly child.’

  ‘Give me another pipe and let’s be done with this haggling.’

  ‘Then you agree?’

  ‘I didn’t say that. I’ll consider your request.’

  ‘That’s not good enough.’

  ‘All right, then. I’ll consider your request kindly.’

  ‘Oh, Jin Lao, you are, as always, the fountain of generosity. How do I, a poor old woman, deserve such a friendship? Now, what was that delightful poem you were reciting to me?’

  ‘Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;

  The darkness deepens; Lord with me abide.

  When other helpers fail and comforts flee,

  Help of the helpless, O abide with me.’

  The doctor watched Nellie sitting at the piano, the light from the gas lamp lighting her hair, and her beautiful neck rising from her necklace of pearls. The sad music of the hymn crumbled his self-control and he felt hot tears running down his cheeks. Across the room he saw Helen Frances, one hand in Jenny’s, the other holding her hymnal. She noticed his distress and smiled at him. He nodded gratefully. Gradually he pulled himself together. He knew that he must show strength—but his heart was breaking. Perhaps his son, George, sensed that something was troubling his father. His little hand reached upwards, and Airton held it tightly, his eyes misting again.

  Oh, let it be soon, he was thinking, let midnight come. I can’t bear this much longer. At least let this hymn end soon, but verse followed verse, each plonking note from the piano like a dart piercing his soul.

  ‘I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;

  Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness.

  Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory?

  I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.’

  Septimus Millward stood erect, one arm raised to his breast, his beard lifted, singing with vigour. His wife Laetitia’s shrill voice accompanied him. His children were arrayed, in order of size downwards, in two neat rows on either side of their parents, Hiram standing proudly next to his father. Look at them, thought the doctor. They will die as a family, together, and happily. He felt a surge of envy, wondering how he would be able to go on once Nellie and his own children had left him. He had a moment of terror as he imagined himself kneeling alone in the sand under the executioner’s sword. Would he blubber? Would he disgrace his family, his name, his God, and die like the coward he knew himself in his darkest moments to be? Then he saw Burton Fielding standing away from the others, head turning from side to side, with distracted eyes. There but for the grace of God, he thought bitterly. No, he would be strong. He would not be like Fielding. This was the right choice, the right thing to do, the only thing to do. The Tempter had offered him a chance to escape his duty, and he had spurned the temptation. He was doing what was right. Oh, but it was hard.

  The dirgelike hymn rolled to its last stanza. Airton tightened his hold on his hymnbook, and his baritone rose above the others, stronger if it was possible even than Millward’s rich, confident tones:

  ‘Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;

  Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies.

  Heaven’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee;

  In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.’

  They took the children into their own bedroom for this last night. George and Jenny slept fretfully under the sheet, the noise of the drums disturbing their dreams. Dr Airton and Nellie had long ago said whatever they had to say to each other. There were no more words. They sat side by side, holding hands and looking at their children. A small leather suitcase lay on the floor, packed with clothes.

  Just after midnight the doctor thought that he heard a sound, but opening the shutter he saw nothing but the bare lawn. They waited. The hall clock struck one.

  ‘Do you think it was a hoax, Nellie?’ he whispered. ‘Or that something’s happened to him?’

  She squeezed his hand. They waited. The hall clock struck two.

  ‘Oh, I can’t bear this any longer,’ muttered Airton. ‘I want to scream.’

  ‘Be brave, Edward. Be brave,’ said Nellie.

  ‘You don’t know how much I love you,’ he s
aid.

  ‘I do,’ she said. ‘I do.’

  They both started at the brisk tap on the window. Each froze. Neither wished to admit that the moment had come. There was another loud rap. It was Nellie who roused herself and briskly opened the shutters. She stood back, her hands to her mouth. A figure dressed in black climbed quickly into the room. They watched him stride purposefully to the door, open it a fraction and look out. He seemed satisfied by the silence in the corridor, and turned towards the Airtons, stepping into the lamplight as he did so. Nellie gasped, and Airton started. ‘My God, man, what’s happened to your face?’ whispered the doctor.

  ‘Not a pretty sight, I suppose. I’ve been enjoying yamen hospitality for the last few weeks,’ said Manners. ‘Have you a mirror? Yes, I see what you mean. Very ugly. But never mind all that. Where’s Helen Frances?’

  ‘In her room,’ said Nellie.

  ‘Well, get her. As quietly as you can. We haven’t much time.’

  Nellie slipped out.

  ‘So, Doctor, I trust you are well.’

  ‘As well as could be expected,’ said Airton.

  ‘I’m pleased to hear it,’ said Henry.

  ‘I’m not coming with you,’ said Airton.

  ‘Are you not?’ asked Henry.

  ‘No, my place is here, with the others. They need me.’

  ‘You know what’s going to happen to those who stay behind?’

  ‘I have a good idea, yes.’

  ‘Then you’re either very noble, very brave or very stupid. In any case it doesn’t matter. You’re coming.’

  ‘You can’t force me.’

  ‘No, I can’t—but if you don’t come neither do any of the others.’

  ‘You can’t mean that, man. You’ll take the women and children with you. A barbarian would do no less.’

  ‘No, Doctor, it doesn’t work that way. All come, or none do.’

  ‘I’ve given my place to Tom Cabot.’

  ‘I’m afraid it’s not yours to give. Seriously, Doctor, if you don’t come with me, I’m leaving without any of you. You’d better make up your mind quickly.’

  ‘You’ll leave without Helen Frances?’

  ‘Try me.’

  ‘But what does it matter to you whether I come or not?’