The Shanghai Wife

by Emma Harcourt

  In the ladies’ lounge, she sipped on champagne and looked around the familiar room, busy with women finding friends while others stood together and swayed to the sounds of their piano-mad musician. There was an older Chinese lady standing in a group by the window, dressed in western style, and a few more Chinese women dotted amongst the Flues. None of them had an inkling of the tremors that shook Annie. This had been Alec’s favourite place and she felt off-balance without him beside her. She held her glass with two hands to stop the shaking. It felt like she’d drunk three champagnes in quick succession.

  The lounge was alive with people talking and drinking. Mrs Marsden was in a bright pink dress, amongst a group being entertained by a Chinese businessman. He said something which made Mrs Marsden hide her face behind a fan coquettishly. Annie looked more closely and saw it was the same man she had seen at the May Ball, dancing with Natalia. Mrs Marsden was putting on a very good show of enjoying his company, Annie thought. The man bowed and moved on to a group of gentlemen, where he accepted a cigar. Soft rings of smoke spiralled into the air.

  Admiral Marsden walked towards her and she didn’t offer her cheek in welcome.

  ‘Mrs Brand, I am extremely glad to see you up and about. The last time we met was …’ his voice trailed off. ‘Yes well, er, we won’t dwell on that.’

  ‘The last time you saw me was at Alec’s funeral, Admiral Marsden, correct.’ Annie drank her champagne quickly in the awkward silence that hung between them. She didn’t care that he saw how her hand shook. Admiral Marsden cleared his throat but didn’t speak. He lifted his glass to his lips but it was empty.

  ‘Go and get a real drink, Admiral.’ It was Natalia. The Admiral walked away quickly and Natalia chuckled. ‘Good riddance to him.’ Then she turned to Annie and gave her a stern look. ‘Why have I not seen you in these long weeks? I wanted to look after you. Why did you refuse my visits? I feel very hurt.’

  Annie held out her glass to be refilled by a hovering waiter. She closed her eyes a moment and focused on the music. Natalia poked her in the stomach.

  ‘Ouch!’

  ‘Well, you are ignoring me.’

  ‘No I’m not; it’s just that this is still difficult for me. All this,’ she flung her arms wide and champagne sloshed from the corner of her glass. ‘Alec is gone and you’d never know from all this fun. I’m the only one who cares.’

  ‘You are wrong. We all feel very sad, it was terrible—’

  Annie interrupted Natalia. ‘No, I correct myself.’ She pointed her finger in the air for effect. ‘There is one other who cares: Chow. Did you know he’s been visiting me every day?’

  ‘No, I did not. Is this such a good idea, my friend?’

  ‘Oh, don’t you start getting all judgemental as well. He’s the reason I’m here tonight. Without his support I’d probably still be in my bed.’

  ‘In that case, I suppose we must all thank him.’

  ‘Quite right!’ Annie took a fresh glass of champagne from a passing tray and leant into Natalia as she corrected her balance. ‘Have you seen the Chinese man over there? Isn’t that the fellow you were with at the May Ball?’

  Natalia turned her gaze to where Annie was pointing and if she felt embarrassed she didn’t show it. ‘He is someone I do business with occasionally. I prefer not to advertise the arrangement.’

  Annie frowned. ‘An arrangement?’

  ‘Don’t ask me anymore questions and I won’t have to tell you.’ Natalia made a slicing movement with her hand. ‘Do you like my stole—it is fox. Willie gave it to me. He’s such a darling. I’m very sad about how things have gone sour between us.’

  ‘If you like him very much I could have a word with him?’

  ‘It’s easy to like a man who is so generous.’

  In the tall mirror above the fireplace Annie caught sight of their reflection; the overdressed Russian and the pale brunette. She took another drink and scanned the room for Chow. Coat-tails disappeared through the adjoining door into the men’s smoking lounge. Another moment and she watched the back of a waiter walk the length of the corridor in case it might be Chow. But there were too many servants, too many identical dinner jackets, and in amongst it all there was a strange quiet which Annie noticed for the first time. In the noise of her friends’ conversations, while the music played and gentlemen argued, Annie felt the silence of the other people moving amongst them; taking orders, refilling glasses, emptying ashtrays.

  The Chinese man looked straight at Annie and she couldn’t help the shiver that ran down her spine. He was wearing a different suit tonight, but he held the silver-topped cane she’d seen him with at the ball and he tapped it on the ground as his gaze hovered on her. Something about him made Annie stare. A memory of Li Qiang being dragged to the doorway flashed into Annie’s mind. Then a fuller picture emerged; she remembered the man in the side room shouting orders to the thug holding Li Qiang, the flash of silver. He had used a cane with a silver top too. Annie’s chest began to pound very fast. She turned back to Natalia.

  ‘That Chinaman, how well do you know him?’

  ‘He is an acquaintance, nothing more. Willie will understand, I’m sure you can convince him.’

  ‘That’s not why I’m asking. He’s got an unusual silver cane. I think I’ve seen it before, at the house where I went to find Li Qiang.’

  ‘Who is this Li Qiang?’

  ‘A waiter at the Club and a friend of mine and of Chow.’ Annie spoke quickly. ‘He joined a gang and was killed. I think your friend might have had something to do with his death.’

  ‘And so the Club is now allowing murderers to its cocktail parties? I am worried about you; perhaps this evening is too much, too soon? Let me take you home?’ Natalia took hold of Annie’s elbow and began walking towards the door.

  ‘No, I’m fine, really I am. I just need some air.’ Annie pulled away.

  ‘Very well then, come and find me when you’re ready.’ Her friend walked straight over to where William Piper stood with a group of at least ten men, the Commissioner of Police amongst them. Natalia quickly joined the conversation, listening intently to whatever the men were discussing.

  Annie went out into the corridor, looking for Chow. He was standing at the main door, formally welcoming each guest, even these latecomers. For a moment she stood and watched him. He turned in surprise at her tap on his shoulder.

  ‘I must speak with you, it’s urgent.’

  Chow turned away from the door, first talking quickly to a member of staff to ensure that someone took his place. Then he led her to the cloakroom and sent the attendee to look for a coat. They were alone, for a few moments.

  ‘How are you faring this evening? Is something wrong?’

  ‘Yes, I think so, I’m not sure.’ She blinked as the room tilted. Chow moved to the opening of the doorway so they were in public view.

  ‘You are not well; it is time to go home.’ He began panelling through the coats, looking for Annie’s.

  ‘I’m fine. But I must talk to you.’ She took hold of Chow’s arm, but let go immediately when she saw him stiffen and the muscles in his neck tense.

  ‘Please, Mrs Brand,’ his whispered breath curved over her cheekbone. She raised her hand to touch the spot, and he grabbed at her wrist, continuing in a sterner tone. ‘You should not be so familiar with me in the Club. Here, we are two different worlds.’ Annie’s veins began to pulse with the pressure of his hold. Neither of them spoke. But in that moment she felt as though all of her was held within his grasp. Then Chow let her go, and at the very instant his arm dropped to his side she knew it was not what she wanted.

  Annie stepped back, confused and shocked. Where did these feelings come from? Her arm still throbbed where Chow had held her; she felt a warmth flood through her whole body.

  ‘Boy, I say you there, fetch my coat. Chop, chop.’

  A man’s voice broke the intimacy of the moment. Chow looked quickly at Annie, and then dropped his eyes to the ground as he disappeared
into the cloakroom.

  ‘Annie, I didn’t see you standing there. Don’t hide behind the counter, leave the coats to the coolies.’ Annie walked away, holding to the wall a moment before entering the lounge. She didn’t want to be there when Chow returned with Edward Mantree’s coat.

  Annie hovered by the door as she formed a smile on her lips and, reaching for a glass of champagne, joined Natalia. Her body swayed slightly as she listened to Willie Piper’s story. A waiter offered a tray of champagne and Annie took a fresh glass. She scanned the room for the Chinese man but couldn’t see him amongst the guests.

  The champagne fizzed and popped in her glass. She needed another drink.

  Her eyes searched the room, from the gentlemen leaning against the marble fireplace, to the ladies by the baby grand, swaying their hips to ‘Crazy Blues’. She spotted a waiter and raised her hand to get his attention, but someone else stopped the man.

  ‘Call him over would you, Willie, I’m dying of thirst here.’

  He snapped his fingers and whistled. It was garish but effective and for once Annie didn’t care. As long as there was more champagne she could cope. She lifted a glass for herself and one for Natalia. The champagne sent a welcome flush of heat to her head as Natalia turned her round in a pirouette. She stumbled and her head began to spin again. The waiter hovered a moment as though to help but she was too drunk to notice. It was only as Natalia walked her to the window for some fresh air that she saw it was Chow who stood aside to let them pass, tall and proud, one hand balancing the tray of crystal perfectly as he watched her.

  She couldn’t sleep that night. The sheets caught around her legs and under her back, knotting her into a mummified plank. She rolled herself out of the bed onto the floor. For a moment she lay there, legs pressed into the cold wood, wondering how long she could continue in this ghost of a life.

  In the kitchen she put some milk on the stove to heat and sat at the table waiting. The silence of the house was broken only by the flash and spit of the gas flames on the stovetop. Since last night when she’d recognised the Chinaman, the image of Li Qiang being dragged to fall at her feet wouldn’t leave her. If only she’d told Chow, but thinking about Chow made her feel even more jumbled. The milk murmured in the pot as it began a slow boil. Annie hoped it would help her to sleep. Warm milk had always been a comfort. It was part of the winter night’s ritual she’d shared with Judy when she’d let her little sister take the hot drink to bed and they’d snuggle together under the covers telling stories. Moving about the kitchen, picking a teaspoon from the drawer, turning off the stovetop, pouring the milk straight from the saucepan into her cup, all this made Annie feel better. The teaspoon hung in the air as she remembered the pained look in Chow’s eyes in the cloakroom. He had been there every day and he was there last night, worrying about her even when she’d behaved appallingly.

  It was well past breakfast when Annie eventually awoke the next morning. Her bedroom was a torrential mess; last night’s dress thrown over the wardrobe’s open door; her shoes haphazardly balanced against each other on the floor where she’d tipped out of them; the sheets pushed back and down in a heap.

  The house boy knocked nervously before entering.

  ‘Missy, Chow come look see.’

  Annie sat up quickly. What was Chow doing visiting her at this time? She hurriedly bathed and dressed. Chow was sitting in the sunroom, his glass of sarsaparilla finished by the time Annie appeared. He stood quickly and bowed.

  ‘Please excuse my uninvited intrusion. I came to see how you are? I think you were not well last night?’ Annie saw the veins on his arms pulse. She gestured to him to sit.

  ‘That’s one way of putting it. My behaviour was unacceptable, I’m so sorry. I was overwhelmed by memories and it was the first drink I’d had in ages. Can you forgive me?’

  ‘There is no need to ask.’ He handed her a pair of gloves. ‘May I return these?’

  She took her gloves; the silk felt cool and soft. ‘They’ve already been cleaned.’

  ‘I would not return dirty items to you.’

  Annie sat and as she did Chow came to stand beside her. His hand was on the back of her chair, she felt his body right there. As he leant in to pour her a glass of sarsaparilla, the ring on his finger clinked against the bottle. The sound made her catch her breath.

  ‘You have been so kind to me during these last few weeks.’ As she spoke she played with the gloves, lining up the fingers and smoothing the slippery silk. ‘There is something I wanted to tell you last night before we were interrupted.’

  ‘You had many glasses of champagne and it did not agree with you.’

  ‘No, there was something else …’ Annie paused. ‘Last night at the Club, I’m sure I saw a man who was in the house where I found Li Qiang. He was the boss, barking orders at the thug who was holding the boy.’

  Chow played with the ring on his finger before speaking, revealing a glimpse of tattoo ink as it spun. ‘This is a serious accusation.’

  Annie called for the house boy to clear their glasses. Then she turned back to Chow.

  ‘It was him, I’m sure of it.’

  ‘Then I will relay your information to Admiral Marsden and we will let the police take over from here.’

  ‘Thank god you believe me, Chow! You’ve no idea what a relief it is to finally do something right by Li Qiang, at least for his family.’

  Chow picked up the book of Yeats she had left on the table and opened the cover. Even with his jacket still on, she could see the pull of his muscles.

  ‘I have seen you many times with this book. Do you wish for cloths of heaven?’

  The question took her by surprise, but it was like a slip of silk in a line of poetry to bind them. She felt her breathing slow and a weight of certainty settled in her belly.

  ‘I didn’t know you liked poetry?’

  ‘There is much we do not know about each other.’ Chow spoke softly as he placed the book into her hands. ‘Of course, that is as it should be.’ He was so close, Annie held her breath. Then his finger grazed her palm. It was only a moment really, but she felt alive.

  ‘You must let me thank you for all you’ve done since Alec passed away.’

  ‘There is no need; I am here because I want to help you, not through any obligation.’ His words were polite but there was something in his gaze that made her insides flurry like snowflakes in a gathering storm.

  ‘I was considering going for a drive today.’ She hesitated for just a second. ‘Would you join me?’

  ‘Where would you like to go, Annie?’

  ‘Why don’t you decide, Chow, this is your city.’ Chow stood and ambled over to where the bird sat on its swing in the bamboo cage. He bent and whistled encouragingly through the bars, digging his hands into his pockets as he thought. Then he swung back to Annie and for a brief moment she was conscious of an inexplicable excitement.

  ‘Well then, we’d better get started.’ His eyes glinted with pleasure.

  She watched him follow her out to the car, tall and slim, legs swinging purposefully as he shrugged his jacket on and dug his hands into the pockets again. It was as though she was seeing the man for the first time; strong, confident, charming.

  The car wound its way through strange streets on the outskirts of the International Settlement. It reminded Annie of the area around the old town where Chow had taken her and Natalia. ‘We will soon be past these streets and out into the green of the riverside. I am taking you to a very special place for me, somewhere I have enjoyed visiting since I was a young man and first arrived in Shanghai. You will like it, I am confident.’

  He smiled and wound down the window. There was a freedom in the movement which Annie hadn’t seen before. Chow had taken off his jacket and his fitted linen shirt draped smoothly across his chest. He lit a cigarette, offering it to Annie. She shook her head and watched him smoke it instead. Outside the scenery shifted from dirty stone alleys to open grassland and Annie peered out of the window an
d breathed in deeply.

  They stopped at a deserted spot beside the river. The water spread like a vast living canvas before them. It was impossible to tell how fast the river moved; its glassy surface belied no current. Here there was no smog from factories, no sampans tied to the shoreline. Annie marvelled at the privacy of this locale.

  ‘How did you find such a secluded part of the river?’

  ‘This is a place very few ever find—you must know the right people to be brought here.’

  Beyond them the thicket of reeds whispered as a breeze rustled in the banks of the river. Annie breathed in the luxury of open space and took off her shoes. Her fine silk stockings caught the sunlight and glinted as she laid them out beside her. The sky was clear and high. She felt weightless below it, freed of expectations.

  Chow sat beside her and pointed towards the river, where it disappeared in the distance ahead. ‘My home is far away, a village many miles from here.’

  ‘Do you miss it?’

  ‘I cannot afford to, it’s my duty to work in Shanghai and send money to my family.’ Chow paused and turned to face Annie. ‘There are other reasons why I stay in Shanghai.’

  Annie ran her hands through the grass. The sensation was soft and tingled. She felt Chow watching her and she left her hand there, in the grass beside him¸ where her body waited.

  ‘Is the water cold?’

  His eyes creased as he laughed. ‘Oh yes, the water is cold and invigorating, good for the soul. Would you like me to test it for you?’ He stood and began to take off his shirt.

  ‘Enough, enough,’ Annie begged teasingly as she looked away. But when she turned back, Chow was already striding towards the reeds. He stopped and turned; lines of muscle moving thickly across his back as he stretched out his hand in invitation to join him. She shook her head, laughing with the shock of seeing his half-naked torso. Annie knew what she was feeling was forbidden. A heat flushed deep within her body. She couldn’t stop watching him.