by Gai-Jin(Lit)
I've got to leave the bugger alive when I'd planned to take the Old Man's cream: "... but Norbert, don't thee be a telling Morgan, he's agin any killing, he be wanting to see young
Struan in't shit, his ma too! Remember, or I'll have thy guts for garters."
Must I stop the duel? I'll think about that.
Careful. I need the extra bonus.
Just like Morgan to give Gornt secret instructions and keep me in the dark. What else has he told Gornt he hasn't told me?
Never mind, Morgan's the clever one, with all of his Old Man's nerves but smooth with it, modern, no madness, and no risk--none of his
Dad's brutal, merciless obsessions.
Morgan's our real tai-pan, and he'll be the tai-pan of the new Noble House. It's only taken twenty years to crush Dirk's company, the biggest that's ever been in Asia.
Satisfied he finished his drink, turned down the wick, and settled himself with a yawn. Sorry
I never saw the Old Man in his heyday, or the tai-pan, old Green-eyed Devil himself, whom only the devil winds of the Great Typhoon could kill. Lucky that young fool inherited none of his qualities.
END OF VOLUME VIII
GAI-JIN
A Novel of Japan by
JAMES CLAVELL
Volume IX of Twelve Volumes
Pages i-ii and 1807-2026
For special distribution as authorized by Act of
Congress under Public Law 89-522, andwiththe permission of the copyright holder.
Produced in braille for the Library of Congress,
National Library Service for the Blind and
Physically Handicapped, by Braille International,
Inc., 1994.
Copyright 1993 by James Clavell
All rights reserved.
GAI-JIN
BOOK THREE
Monday, 8th December: (continued)
Now the last guest had gone. Only
Angelique, Jamie McFay, and Malcolm remained. The embers in the huge inglenook fireplace glowed as drafts came down the chimney and went away. Silently Malcolm was frowning at the fire, watching pictures in the coals. She sat on the arm of his chair, unsettled. McFay was leaning against the table.
"I'll say good night, Tai-pan," he said.
Malcolm came out of his reverie. "Oh...
Hang on a moment." He smiled up at
Angelique. "Sorry, Angel, I've a few things to discuss with Jamie, do you mind?"
"Of course not. 'night, Jamie." She bent and kissed Struan affectionately. "Good night, Malcolm, sleep well."
"Good night, darling, we should leave early."
"Yes... but Malcolm, please can I ask, what was all the shouting about? I didn't understand, could you explain?"
"It was jealousy. Nothing more."
"Oh! Of course, how strong you were and how modern! How right you are about guns and opium... oh la la, ch@eri, and wise. Thank you. Of course." She kissed him again. "What time do we leave in the morning? I'm so excited, the voyage will be such a change superbe."
"Just after dawn. I'll see you're awakened in good time, but, but don't be surprised if... if there's a change of plan--Marlowe said the weather might change."
"But he swore the wind would drop and it would be a grand day for a voyage."
"I said, "might change," Angel." He gave her a hug. "If not tomorrow the earliest possible day, he promised."
"I do hope it's tomorrow. Je t'aime, ch@eri."
"Je t'aime."
When she was gone the silence in the room congealed.
Chen peered around the door again. Malcolm said,
"Close the bloody door and don't come back." It closed with alacrity. Jamie began to talk but he held up his hand.
"Don't say a thing about ships or cannon or opium. Please."
"Very well."
"Sit down, Jamie." Malcolm had thought all around the corners of the Admiral and devised a plan for each of the various possibilities: if the Admiral decided they could make the trip with his blessing, or if they could make the trip but
Marlowe was forbidden to perform the ceremony, or if the trip was postponed till sometime in the future.
For the moment he put countermeasures aside.
"Would you have our steam cutter alongside Pearl just before dawn, the Bosun to find out from Marlowe if our trip's on or not. If it is or if it isn't, tell the Bosun to report to me here with the answer. All right?"
"Of course."
"I wrote the letter for Norbert and gave it to Gornt tonight, so that's done. Have I forgotten anything?"
"About Wednesday?"
"Yes."
"Nothing I know of. Routes and times you know about, the pistols are standard, no doctors will be present as both Babcott and Hoag are considered unsafe. The letters are your only defense. No witnesses except Gornt and me."
"Good. You're ready to leave with Prancing
Cloud?"
"I'll send a valise aboard with our mails tomorrow, no one should notice. What about your trunks?"
"I'm only taking one. Sneak it aboard tomorrow
--if anyone says anything it's some clothes
I'm sending on ahead, pending my move back to Hong Kong for Christmas."
"Chen will pack for you?"
"He'll have to, I'll swear him to secrecy but that'll only work with our society, not with the
Chinese. I'll have to take him with me. Ah
Tok's a problem but she can stay here pending our
"real move." I'll have to let Ah Soh into the secret. She'll come with us to Hong Kong."
"Angelique?"
"No need to tell her. If we go aboard
Pearl, Ah Soh can pack a trunk of clothes and send that aboard with the same excuse, after nightfall tomorrow for safety. All right?"
"Yes."
"Wednesday morning we, you and I, will sneak out the back way as planned. A little later Chen,
Ah Soh and Angelique, well cloaked, will go across the road to our wharf where you'll have the steam cutter waiting to take them to the clipper--"
"Excuse me butting in but if this is the final plan, better to use an oared cutter, less noise. For safety, the steam cutter should be waiting for us at Drunk Town wharf."
"That's better, Jamie. Thank you. An oared cutter then. After dealing with Norbert, we get aboard as fast as we can. Tomorrow tell
Vargas to organize a meeting with our
Japanese silk dealers for Friday, make it look as if we've a heavy schedule for the rest of this week and next, all right?"
"Yes."
"Anything else, Jamie?"
"May I make a suggestion?"
"Of course."
"After tomorrow's trip in Pearl..." McFay hesitated. "You said there might be a change of plan--because of weather? Weather's forecast as good, isn't it?"
"Yes. That was just in case Marlowe has to stay in port," he said easily. "With all the fleet preparations to savage Yedo, or threaten it, you never know what Ketterer or Sir William might decide. What's your suggestion,
Jamie?"
"Actually I've a couple. After you come back tomorrow--Marlowe said you'd be back by sunset
--why don't you and Angelique go aboard
Prancing Cloud for dinner with Captain
Strongbow, even stay aboard overnight. At dawn you and I could come ashore an--"
"That's a much better plan," Struan said at once, jumping ahead with a beam, "much better.
Then Angelique's already aboard, so's her luggage, so we don't have to worry about her, and after Norbert we can come straight back. Great thinking, Jamie. Our stuff can be sent aboard with
Chen and Ah Soh, no reason why they shouldn't stay aboard too, no one should suspect anything." His smile was fine and genuine. "You're very clever to think of that, you're very clever, which is why
I don't want you to leave Struan's."
Jamie smiled ruefully. "We'll see."
"By the way, in case there's an accident,"
&nbs
p; Malcolm said calmly, eyes level and without fear. "If I'm wounded but mobile enough to get aboard, that's what I want to do. If there's a real emergency, well, just fetch either
Babcott or Hoag. Plan to bring Hoag aboard anyway, we'll take him back to Hong
Kong."
"I checked their Kanagawa clinic but that's on Thursday so they'll both be here."
"You think of everything."
"No. Wish I could, and wish you'd cancel the duel."
"There won't be any accident."
"I pray you're right. But whatever happens it's better that I stay here until you get back, or you send for me."
"But Mother said in her letter th--"
"I know. Let's be honest, Tai-pan.
I'm out, one way or another. It's best I'm here to cover your tail, if Norbert's all right or if he isn't, and to keep an eye on
Gornt. Sorry I still don't trust that fellow. My job's here not in Hong Kong. In the spring I'll quit. That's best, and we should agree it now--but not before your twenty-first."
The two men looked at each other, eyes locked. Both broke off sharply as coals fell onto the hearth. The coals flickered and died without danger. "You're a wonderful friend,"
Malcolm said quietly. "Truly."
"No, just trying to keep my oath--to the tai-pan of the Noble House."
Andr`e and Phillip Tyrer were outside the
British Legation. "Malcolm's idea of an embargo, however moral, would be a disaster for every trading company in Asia," Tyrer said,
"including yours, not that you'd follow suit or the
Germans or Russians or Yanks." The wind ruffled his hair but he was not cold, with all the alcohol he had consumed and the excitement.
"Sir William doubts if the Governor in
Hong Kong will approve, could approve whatever
Parliament orders, he'd prevaricate, not that
I can officially speak for either of them.
Parliament's a law unto itself," he added with a yawn. "I'm beat, aren't you?"
"I have a date."
"Ah!" Tyrer had seen the flash of expectation. "Lucky man! You've certainly seemed a lot happier recently, a very lot happier. We were all quite worried."
Andr`e changed to French and dropped his voice.
"I'm fine now, the best I've ever been. Can't tell you how happy I am and the girl, well, she treats me like a king--best I've ever had.
No more wandering for me. I have an exclusive."
"Wonderful."
"Listen, talking of that, what about Fujiko?
Raiko's getting nervous and so is she. I hear the poor girl's crushed, cries all the time."
"Oh?" Tyrer felt a shaft in his loins.
"Then your advice was right," he said, hardly noticing that he replied in French--most of the evening he had been speaking to Seratard,
Zergeyev and other ministers, English intermingled with French.
"I'd say you've been tough enough and it's time.
No point in hurting anyone, they're nice people.
They're both sorry for irritating you."
A few nights ago Raiko had intercepted him and again asked if he had his overdue payment.
After he had put her off with the promise that he was expecting funds any day--gambling that
Angelique would find the money--Raiko had questioned him about Tyrer. "What's wrong with the man?
It would be a service to him, to me, to Fujiko, and to you, old friend, to correct whatever needs to be corrected. Obviously he's been seduced by the whores at the Inn of the Lily. In these bad times it would help us, and you, if you would convince him to return. The poor girl is near suicide."
He had not believed that but Raiko had been ready to twist the knife called Hinodeh.
"Phillip, you've played the game perfectly," he said. "I'll arrange a rendezvous and we'll reopen negotiations."
"Well, Andr`e, I don't know about that,"
Tyrer said. "I, er, I must say I did try another girl, once--the Inn you recommended is not bad at all--and I've been thinking perhaps having a permanent girl is not a good idea. I mean it's a large expense and well, I need a polo pony..."
"There are good points and bad points to having your own girl," Andr`e said, hiding his angst.
"Perhaps the best idea would be to shelve contract talks pending "an improvement in relations.""
"You mean have your cake and eat it?"
"Why not? They're all there for our pleasure, aren't they--though Fujiko and Raiko are very special." Andr`e was persuasive, not wanting Tyrer off the Fujiko hook any more than he wanted to be on Raiko's. To be secret partners with her was one thing. To be at her mercy was another. He would make the date, the rest would be up to them to seduce Tyrer back to his previous state of passion. "Leave them to me. How about tomorrow? I can promise your welcome will be enthusiastic."
"Oh, really? Well, all right."
"Phillip..." Andr`e glanced around again.
"Henri is more than anxious to support Sir
William in moves to rap this fool Tair@o
Anjo severely--the cretin went too far this time. Could Sir William have a private discussion tomorrow? Henri has a few ideas he would like to pass on, privately."
"I'm sure he would." Tyrer was at once attentive and pleasantly surprised, his tiredness leaving him. Usually Seratard would launch a French initiative and they would only hear of it when it was in full force. Like the secret invitation to Lord Yoshi to visit the French flagship that they had just heard about through their own sources--Chinese servants in the French
Legation had overheard Andr`e and Seratard planning, they had passed it on to Number One
Chen, who had told Struan who had told him who had told Sir William. "A council of war? The two of them?"
Andr`e said, "I suggest the four of us--they'll need assistants to put their ideas into motion, but the fewer involved the better. If later they wanted to bring in the Admiral and General, all right. But later, eh?"
"An Entente Cordiale! I'll take it up with the Old Man first thing in the morning. How about eleven?"
"Could we make it ten? I must keep a noon appointment." Andr`e had already cleared the idea with
Seratard the moment he had returned from seeing
Raiko: "Henri, this meeting could be very important, the more secret we keep it from other
Ministers the better. This time we've got to pretend to be a hundred percent with the British.
They have the warships, we haven't. This time we must encourage them to go to war."
"Why?"'
"I gather from Tyrer who gets it from his tame samurai Nakama--Henri,
Tyrer's Japanese is astonishingly good for the short time he's been here. He has a remarkable aptitude for it so we should seriously watch him, and befriend him. Tyrer has found out that there's no love lost between this Anjo and Toranaga Yoshi, who is a patrician like you, whereas Anjo is more of a commoner."
It had amused him to see Seratard puff up at the flattery--no more a patrician than he was himself. "We secretly encourage the
British to smash Anjo while distancing ourselves at the last moment from the actual conflict, while cultivating Yoshi as urgent, secret national policy. We make him an ally, we must, then through him we'll dump the British back in their sewer and control the foreign presence here."
"How do we do that, Andr`e? Cultivate him?"'
"Leave that to me," he had said, gambling again that, through Raiko and by providing her with first-rate intelligence, and money, he could make the right contacts to get close to Yoshi. "He's going to be our key to unlock Japan. We'll have to invest some money, not much. But, in the right pocket
..." with a little wandering into mine, he had chortled,
"I'll guarantee success. He's going to be our Knight in Shining Armor. We're going to help him become Sir Galahad to wreck
Wee Willie's King Arthur."
Why not, he told himself again, standing there on the promenade wit
h Tyrer, another key piece on the chessboard of French dominance in Asia.