“Please, Matt, I don’t want your charity.”
He shook his head with a smile. “Don’t worry. I’m your husband’s lawyer. I’ll see that he gets the bill.”
She looked around the cavernous room. “I don’t belong here, but there’s nowhere else to go.”
He shrugged. “Jason will be gone at least a good week. You have until then to get your own life straightened out. Things will look different by then, and you can work on setting Jason straight.”
A vision from last night flashed before her eyes. She closed them momentarily until it passed. In a voice that was a mere whisper she said, “I don’t know if things will ever be the same again.”
“Do you love him?”
She searched his face, then let her gaze drop to the tabletop.
It was hard to face the truth, even after the way J.T. had treated her. “Yes,” she whispered.
She reminded herself so much of her mother then that she felt physically ill. She had become everything she had sworn she never would! How many times had she seen her mother weep over her father’s latest indiscretion? How many times had Melinda Douglas used tears and money to win back her husband’s love?
So many things were fast becoming clear to Jade. It had been easy to judge her mother, easy to be so very wrong. She understood now why Melinda Douglas had endured pain and heartache. The woman had truly loved Francis Douglas.
Jade wondered how far she would allow herself to go before she gave Jason up forever.
Matt reached out to pat her hand. “I’ll go to the bank today. Is there anything else you need right now? From everything you told me concerning the tong and your near-abduction, I would suggest you take care. Don’t go out. Buy whatever you need from the vendors that come to the door.”
Jade had a sudden thought and asked, “Will you get word to Detective Chang that I want to see him?”
“Of course.”
They stood and Jade reached out for his hands. “Thank you, Matt. I don’t know what I would have done without you. As I said before, I never expected you to believe me.”
“All we can do is hope Jason will be half as receptive when he gets back,” Matt replied.
JADE SPENT HER first day alone exploring the cavernous mansion. Aside from the drawing room, the kitchen, and the foyer—with its sixty-foot ceiling topped by a domed skylight—she found a small parlor and two servants’ bedrooms just off the kitchen. There was a pantry bigger than the help’s parlor, and a service porch that ran the length of the back of the house. Further exploration revealed a library, lined floor to ceiling with books so new their spines were still uncreased. Ebony-paneled walls inlaid with ivory gave the room a closed-in warmth that the rest of the house was lacking. The dining room was seventy-five feet long. With additional tables, sixty guests could easily be served. She gasped aloud when she threw open the double doors that led to the ballroom, then quickly closed them again.
As she roamed from room to room, she tried to imagine the house as it might have been when Jason’s father was alive. There was nothing in the mansion that told what manner of a man he had been—no personal items other than his clothing. The place was so devoid of personality that she wondered if he really ever lived here at all.
Everything in the house was of the finest quality. Cut velvet draperies covered the windows, plush Turkish carpets protected the floors. As she wandered through the upstairs, Jade decided on the bedroom she wanted for her own. It was the smallest and coziest of the lot, the walls covered in yellow and gold striped paper. Swagged emerald drapes revealed Belgian lace curtains beneath. It was not as ostentatious as some of the other rooms, but she liked it because it had wide corner windows that looked out over the back garden and the stables. When she removed the dust covers, she discovered a library table that she immediately shoved across the room until it stood beneath the windows. It would be a good place to read and study.
She found her belongings had been delivered to the bedroom adjoining the master suite, and hauled them to her room. Since she did not know how long she would be staying once Jason returned, she unpacked a minimum of clothing. Then she took the time to uncrate her favorite books and stack them on the desk, along with some of her grandfather’s papers. Alongside them she placed her horsehair brushes and a bottle of ink. When she had her things in order, she would practice writing Chinese characters.
As she carried her things in from the other room, she found it impossible not to let her thoughts drift to Jason. Matt said the trip to and from the Monterey Peninsula would take him at least a week. Jade knew that the only way she would be able to wait out the days would be to keep herself busy. It would not be wise to spend the time speculating on whether or not Jason would be of a mind to hear her out when he returned.
She would take one day at a time. At the Barretts’s she had longed for peace and quiet. Now that her wish had been granted, the emptiness of the mansion threatened to close in on her.
By evening she had her room arranged and had even found time to read and practice writing her Chinese. It was dusk before she thought about having something to eat, and her head was beginning to ache. She realized she had taken nothing but coffee and some stale bread at noon. As she was walking along the upper hallway, she thought she heard someone knock on the door downstairs and called out for them to wait.
Peering through the stained glass panels beside the door, she recognized Matt Van Buren and quickly let him in.
“Hello!” He moved past her into the foyer and looked around. “You need some light in here.”
“I just came down,” she explained as he set down the box he was holding and began to light the lamps. There was an overwhelming scent of sesame oil in the room. “What have you done?” She peered into the box he had set on a side table.
“I hadn’t eaten and knew you were here alone without much in the pantry so I stopped by a Chinese restaurant and had them make up two covered plates for me.”
“Wonderful!” she cried. He could not have thought of anything that would please her more.
“Don’t let me forget the dishes though. They charged me a deposit, which will be returned if and when I take the dishes back.”
“Whatever you paid, it was worth it,” she said after inhaling the delicious odor again. “Is the kitchen all right? Or would you like to eat in the dining room?”
“The kitchen is fine.”
Jade was relieved with his choice. She found the dining room far too imposing. The long, shining stretch of mahogany table surrounded by empty chairs would only call attention to the cavernous loneliness of the house.
Once they had eaten, both relishing the food and praising the cook, Matt gave Jade the news of his visit to the bank. “You’ll be happy to know the property your grandfather left you is worth five times what he paid for it thirty years ago. And there’s no problem as to his claim to it and his right to pass it on to you. Oftentimes land titles granted before statehood are found to be invalid, but your grandfather had new papers registered in 1850.”
“Will it be enough to pay off the debts?”
Matt smiled and relaxed against the back of the chair. “The land is close enough to town to be highly desirable. Arvin says he even has a buyer interested in it. The bank is willing to accept it as payment for the debt and will return the art collection to you. And, you’ll even have a small nest egg left over for yourself. They promised to have the crates delivered to you before the week is out.” He crossed his arms and smiled a satisfied smile.
Instead of responding happily, Jade stared at him for a moment before she frowned and shook her head. Had she contacted a lawyer instead of listening to Babs or trying to find a way to save the collection on her own, she could have prevented this whole affair. But then, she thought sadly, she would have never met Jason.
“I would have thought you’d
be a lot happier with the news,” Matt said.
“I feel so ridiculous.” She looked around the room, indicating the mansion with a wave. “None of this would have happened if I had handed the property over to the bank when I first arrived.”
“You don’t know anything about land values, and with the house in such disrepair it’s no wonder you thought the place was worthless. Don’t berate yourself, Jade. Go on from here.”
“That’s all I can do, Matt. But at least your news has given me a chance to start over.” She did suddenly brighten as she realized she would have her own money and would not be beholden to Jason for anything.
“If all this hadn’t happened, you would never have met Jason.”
She traced the edge of the table with her thumbs. “No. No, I wouldn’t have.”
“And you love him, don’t you Jade?” he asked softly.
She was surprised by Matt’s frankness, but she answered again without hesitation. “Yes, I do.”
“Then I hope things work out for you.”
Matt stood up and prepared to leave, remembering to take the two covered dishes with him. Jade laughed when she walked him to the door, watching him balance the heavy china in both hands.
She opened the door for him, and he paused on the threshold to tell her that Detective Chang would be calling on her in the morning.
“Lock the door,” he admonished, “and by tomorrow night I’ll have someone here to help you.”
“Please, don’t worry with that. You’ve done so much for me already. Besides, I have the perfect servant in mind.”
“I hope you find him.”
“Oh, I will. I plan to ask Detective Chang to help.”
LIEUTENANT CHANG was as good as his word and arrived just after ten o’clock the next day. Jade told him of her recent marriage to Jason Harrington, which she learned he had already read about in the Chronicle. He congratulated her, then listened carefully as she made her request known. She asked for his help, described exactly the type of houseboy she was looking for, and was more than pleased when he said he thought he knew just the right man for the job.
Two hours later, she responded to a knock at the back door and ushered a young Chinese boy named Tao Ling into the house.
He was much younger than she had expected, and for a moment she doubted whether or not he had the special skills she would require of her house servant. He was tall, well-muscled, yet thin. He moved with supple grace. His face was unlined, his dark eyes reflecting his intelligence. She was pleased when he bowed low and introduced himself in flawless English.
“Detective Chang told you the requirements for the position?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“And you are qualified?”
“Yes.” He bowed again. “I can cook, manage a household, decoct medicine, read and write English, and if you wish I can keep your accounts.”
“And—”
“And I will serve as your personal bodyguard to see that no harm comes to you.”
“You look so young,” she said.
“I am twenty.” He bowed again. “Born right here in San Francisco. And,” he added with a broad grin, “I am wise for my years.”
Jade could not help but smile. She liked this young man immediately. “You are certain you can protect me?”
“Should I demonstrate my skill?”
She shook her head. “No. I’m sure Detective Chang would not have sent you unless he knew that you would meet all my requirements. Did he tell you why I need a bodyguard?”
“May I speak frankly?”
“Of course.”
“I know why you need a bodyguard. Your father’s death is the talk of Little China.”
“Are you a member of a tong?”
“Yes—”
She knew a moment of fear, but then she placed her trust in Detective Chang and relaxed.
Tao Ling continued, “—but the tong is not after you, Mrs. Harrington. The men who accosted you on the street work alone.”
“Why?”
He shrugged. “Chang recently learned that the tong is no longer involved, but he is having a hard time learning anything else about the case.”
“Consider yourself hired, Tao Ling. You may move into one of the bedrooms off the kitchen. The small parlor beside it is for your use.”
“Very good, Mrs. Harrington. Does this house have a library?”
“Yes, it does.”
“May I avail myself of the books?”
“Of course . . . if you’ll promise to speak to me in Chinese on occasion. I want to keep my skills alive.”
He bowed, and answered her in Cantonese. “I would be pleased. I would also like to teach you how to defend yourself, Mrs. Harrington. Some simple movements . . . ”
She hesitated. “I . . . I don’t know.”
“Please think about it.”
“I will,” she promised. “That’s all for now. You will need to get yourself settled.” Then Jade took a deep breath and looked him square in the eye. “Please remember that I am the one who has hired you. I will be paying your wages. You work for me. When my husband returns at the end of the week, I will expect you to sleep on a pallet outside my door. He is not to enter my room unless I give my permission.”
“I understand,” he said, his expression unreadable. “I will collect my humble belongings and return within the hour.”
Chapter Fifteen
While one misfortune is going,
To have another coming
Is like trying to drive a tiger out the front door
While a wolf is entering the back.
WITH THREE UNOPENED letters in one hand, Jade closed her bedroom door and then crossed the room to her desk. She was more than comfortable in the room she had chosen at Harrington House. The floral-brocade chaise near the corner window offered just the right comfort and light for reading. Her desk, standing beneath the opposite window, always beckoned. The cheerful yellow and deep forest green of the wall coverings, bedclothes, and drapes were peaceful colors that soothed her whenever she sought solace in the room. Thanks to Tao Ling’s efforts, everything was neat and tidy—except for her desk. Jade had told him not to bother with it, for she worked better surrounded by the familiar clutter of her books and papers.
Tao Ling proved to be a perfect houseboy. He attended to every task without having to question Jade as to how the work was to be performed. At the end of three days, the rooms they had decided to open were aired and dusted, the upstairs bedding changed. Cut flowers from the garden were distributed in the only rooms that they used—the foyer, drawing room, kitchen, and her own. She had also directed Tao to place cuttings in Jason’s suite so that he could enjoy them when he returned. The colorful blooms helped give life to the otherwise mournful rooms.
She glanced out the window at the stables and wondered when Jason would return. He had been gone five days now, and with each passing hour she felt her apprehension build. Jade found herself listening for the jingle of his spurs, for the even tread of his footsteps down the long hallway. Each day at sunset, she wondered if he would arrive sometime during the night. If so, would he come looking for her? Each morning at sunrise, she wondered if this would be the day he returned.
To take her mind off of Jason, she looked down at the letters in her hand and shook her head. Matt Van Buren had delivered them just minutes ago. Two were from Babs, the other was for Jason from New Mexico.
She set Jason’s letter atop a sheaf of papers on the desk. Then, she took up the heavier letter in a large vellum envelope that simply read, For Jade, in Babs’s distinctively embellished handwriting. When she slit the envelope open, she found another envelope inside. A cursory glance attested to the fact that it was a letter from her father addressed to her residence in Paris and then forwarded to th
e Barretts. Her hands shook as she slipped her letter opener beneath the flap and neatly sliced it open.
The single-page letter was penned in her father’s bold script, his words reaching out from the grave to haunt her. She tried to imagine his voice as she read aloud the words that had been written with an uncustomary tone of excitement and expectation:
Daughter,
I am writing to tell you that I am on the brink of possessing untold riches. I have devoted two years to this endeavor, and although I am nearly out of resources, I am confident that my present condition is merely temporary. I have discovered a way to achieve wealth beyond comprehension. Be advised that until I am able to acquire the capital I need to pay off certain debts, I am turning your grandfather’s accumulation of Chinese objects over to the Hibernia Bank. Knowing you expected to claim them as part of your own inheritance, I feel it necessary to alert you to the fact that the pieces were not mentioned in his will and so rightfully reverted to me, as your mother’s beneficiary.
Francis Douglas.
She let the curt letter drop to the tabletop. Wealth beyond comprehension. The phrase echoed in her mind. Riches. Gold.
Alchemy.
As bizarre as the story seemed, she had believed her father guilty of abducting the Chinese wizard the minute Lieutenant Chang had told her about the motive for Francis Douglas’s murder. Now, in his own words, her father alluded to some fantastic money-making scheme. She could only assume it involved the missing wizard.
But if the alchemist had arrived in California, where was he now? Had her father masterminded the plan alone, or was Li Po now in the hands of an accomplice?
She refolded her father’s letter, slipped it back into the envelope, and reminded herself to contact the detective. Then she picked up the enclosed letter and unfolded it. It was a note from Babs, begging her for forgiveness and asking for permission to call.
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