‘Really?’ No one had ever mentioned that to Temperance, but then she hadn’t asked.
She had to admit that her father had been rather overzealous with regard to many things. It could be that this was another matter where his views had been a trifle extreme. Temperance cursed herself for never daring to ask Midori about matters of the flesh. Her cousin seemed not to mind when Nico touched her. In fact, they were forever close to each other as if they couldn’t bear to be apart. An image of Kazuo came into her mind – Kazuo holding her close in the water, his body soft and warm against hers. She knew that if he were the man she was sold to, she didn’t think she would object all that much to giving him her body.
She sighed. There was no chance of that. In fact, she doubted she would ever see him again now. If he came back at all, he would look for her in the little bay and on Dejima, but he would no more find her than Nico and Midori would.
She was lost.
Almost exactly two and a half weeks after her arrival at the Weeping Willow, Temperance was led into the best room in the house. She was teetering on lacquered geta sandals so high she thought she would surely fall flat on her face in front of her prospective buyer. She thought of him thus, not as her future master, since that would imply she wanted to work for him, whereas she knew she was nothing more than a chattel to be sold to the highest bidder.
She’d been scrubbed and polished from head to toe, her hair oiled and pulled into an intricate hairstyle which was held in place by pins and combs made of carved wood with little silk flowers and tassels attached to them.
‘It’s a shame it’s so short,’ old Mai had muttered. ‘But I suppose it will grow. At least it’s soft as goose down.’ She’d combed it almost reverently, but Temperance wasn’t in the mood to even reply to the old lady.
Her face had been powdered to remove any trace of colour and her eyes and mouth carefully outlined with paint. She was wearing a borrowed kimono of pink silk, a so called furisode with long hanging sleeves, which she’d been given to understand was the fashion for young unmarried women. There were several layers of thinner robes underneath, making her feel overheated. The kimono was embroidered to within an inch of its life with a riot of flowers and other nature motifs. Temperance thought it would have been much nicer had the seamstress kept it simple instead of loading as much onto it as was humanly possible. The kimono dipped low at the nape of her neck, which had also been powdered, exposing it to view. She’d been told that this was considered attractive to the opposite sex. Why, she had no idea, but it was certainly better than having any other parts of her displayed.
Nevertheless, her stomach roiled, a sick feeling making her want to spew its contents onto the beaten earth floor, but she knew there was nothing much inside her as she’d been unable to eat all day due to nervous tension. A headache nagged the top of her head, stabbing every now and then behind her eyes, but she tried to ignore it. She needed to keep her wits about her now.
A corner of the room had raised flooring covered in slightly grubby tatami mats, and Imada was seated there on a cushion next to a man whom he addressed as Tanaka-sama or simply o-tono, ‘my lord’. The latter was dressed splendidly, in clothes of shining azure silk with his clan motif embroidered on the shoulders, back and sleeves. The customary two swords of a samurai hung by his side, gleaming with deadly promise. Temperance knew they were kept razor-sharp at all times; so sharp they could cut the head or limb off a person effortlessly in the blink of an eye. A shiver ran up her spine, but she knew she had nothing to fear in that respect as long as she acted the meek maiden. The question was, could she make herself submit to this man?
‘Ah, now here she is, my latest acquisition, Tanaka-sama.’ Imada swept a hand to indicate Temperance, as if the other man couldn’t see for himself. She almost snorted. What a buffoon the landlord was.
She studied Tanaka covertly, from under her lashes. There was nothing physically repugnant about him, apart from the fact that he must be old enough to be her father. He was neither too fat nor too thin, and his features were pleasing enough, although she considered his eyes too deep set and narrow. Their calculating gaze made her uncomfortable. His hair was worn in the customary topknot, his forehead shaved to make it appear larger as was the fashion among the samurai. He had a moustache and a beard, trimmed and groomed into tidiness, and the rest of him appeared both clean and neat. Why then did he make her skin crawl, Temperance wondered?
If he decided to buy her from Imada, she would in effect be his possession, his slave, to do with as he wished. Unless she could somehow escape and return to Dejima she had no recourse to justice – not being Japanese, her fate would be even worse should she be apprehended by the authorities. It would seem she was well and truly caught in a trap, and if she wanted to live, her choice was clear. She took a deep breath and tried to make herself accept her fate, but couldn’t quite manage it.
Standing nearby were Tanaka’s servants or guards, while some of Imada’s maids scurried round serving refreshments as gracefully as they could. One of the powerful man’s retainers moved slightly, shifting from one foot to the other, which drew Temperance’s gaze. Something about him seemed familiar and at first she couldn’t think what that could be. Then suddenly he looked up briefly from under his straw hat and caught her eye, shaking his head just enough to warn her without anyone else noticing. Temperance swallowed a gasp and almost choked on her own breath.
Kazuo.
She felt as if she had been doused by a bucket of cold water, her lungs constricting in shock. What on earth was he doing here? And at this time? Had he come to save her? Or was he part of the deal? Dear Lord, what am I to do, to think?
She looked away from him quickly, having caught the warning glance that accompanied his gesture, but her limbs began to shake and she had to grit her teeth together to recover her composure. Her thoughts whirled and she blinked to try to focus her attention on the men in front of her instead. She would have to think about the implications of Kazuo’s presence later; now was not the time. Not by so much as a flicker of an eye must she reveal that she’d met him before. She didn’t know how she knew, but she was certain it would mean instant death for both of them. Taking another deep breath, she made her way slowly towards her present master. She stopped in front of him and his guest and bowed as gracefully as she could, exactly as she’d been taught. Imada smiled.
‘You see, my lord,’ he said to his guest, ‘strange-looking she may be, but she has manners, I’ve seen to that. Taught her myself much of the time.’
Temperance remained silent, not bothering to refute this blatant lie. It made no difference anyway. Her main problem was that Tanaka was looking her over with what appeared to be some interest. She had hoped he’d be put off by her foreign looks, but he beckoned her closer and she obeyed, after only a slight hesitation. Standing up, he touched her hair and then turned her face towards the light to study her eyes.
‘Extraordinary,’ he muttered, running his hand up her exposed neck, before poking a finger into her left eyeball. Temperance jumped and blinked back the tears that formed instantly, biting down on her tongue to stop from crying out. Her eye smarted, but he hadn’t poked very hard so there wasn’t any actual damage, only discomfort. It almost made her laugh that the man obviously trusted Imada so little he had to make sure there was no trickery involved. She derived some small satisfaction from the fact that she wasn’t the only one to think Imada a vile, lying toad.
‘So how much?’ Tanaka was saying, having resumed his seat.
Imada named his price, and Tanaka began to laugh, making Temperance wonder if there was hope after all. She was soon disillusioned as this turned out to be a mere prelude to fierce haggling that went on for what seemed like ages. At last, when Temperance felt she really couldn’t bear it any longer, a price was agreed and she became the official property of Tanaka.
As she was led out of the room, she wondered what was in store for her, but when two of her new master’s servants
were called forward to escort her out towards a waiting palanquin, she was slightly reassured as the one on her left breathed, ‘Have faith.’
Kazuo.
What in all the world was she doing here? His water sprite. The woman he’d been dreaming of each night since he left her on Dejima. It beggared belief.
Kazuo kept his head down and his gaze lowered, so as not to give away by so much as a glance that he’d met her before. He’d heard her referred to as Shinju, the name he’d teasingly given her, but how could that be?
Perhaps she’d been tricking him all along? Had she been sent to that bay expressly to attract susceptible males? But it was hundreds of leagues from the place they now found themselves. It made absolutely no sense for her to have travelled that far for such a purpose.
Kazuo shook his head, needing to clear it. Something was wrong. Every fibre of his being sensed it and Temi – or Shinju as he’d better think of her now – had looked cowed, almost desperate. Nothing like the laughing, happy woman he’d met all those weeks ago.
She must have been captured, taken prisoner, and now she was sold to the very man Kazuo had sworn to bring down. It seemed the strangest of coincidences and it was a damned nuisance. He needed to concentrate on the task at hand, not worry about a woman who wasn’t really his concern.
But how could he not? Just one look from those blue eyes made him want to protect her. He had to find a way.
Riding in a palanquin proved to be a strange mode of transport, comfortable and nauseating at the same time. Temperance had cushions to lean on and could while away the hours by looking at the countryside around them, but the swaying motion took a long time to get used to and her stomach refused to settle. It didn’t help, of course, that she was worried about what her duties would be once they reached their destination. Having listened to some of the other girls at the Weeping Willow, she was under no illusions. She would not remain a shojo for much longer.
Would she be able to bear Tanaka’s touch? She knew if she angered him he may well kill her on the spot, but perhaps that was preferable.
She caught only fleeting glimpses of Kazuo during the journey, but spent much of her time thinking about him. It was impossible not to wonder whether he’d had a hand in her capture. Perhaps he’d even sent Ryo and his men to keep watch on the little bay where he’d found her? He had, after all, lured her back with his promises, or so it seemed to her at the time. She couldn’t decide whether to believe that he’d been laying a trap for her, or if it was merely coincidence.
Have faith, he’d whispered, but perhaps they were only empty words, uttered to placate her so she wouldn’t give away the fact that she’d met him before. It made her angry to think how naïve she’d been, if indeed she had been ensnared. Young, inexperienced with men and ripe for adventure – how he must have laughed to himself to have found such an easy prey if this was his doing. Still, it didn’t make sense that he had refrained from taking their dalliance further, unless he too knew her value was higher while untouched?
‘Damnation!’ she muttered, berating herself yet again for her stupidity. This whole mess was entirely her own fault and she didn’t know what to believe any more. In the end, she decided only time would tell.
‘I’ve had a letter from my relative at last.’
Midori walked into the office waving a rolled up piece of paper. Noordholt and Haag, who had been busy with their ledgers, looked up.
‘And what does he have to say?’ Noordholt put down his quill, as did Haag. He resented being made to do the work of a junior clerk, but the Chief Factor was adamant he wouldn’t let him out of his sight and someone had to do Temperance’s tasks while she was gone.
‘He’s sent out spies to see if anyone has heard of a foreign lady, but he thinks we ought to go and report her disappearance to officials in Edo. Although he knows we shouldn’t have brought her here in the first place, he thinks that because she’s been going around pretending to be a youth we could get away with saying she had us fooled as well. If we made up a story that we’d only just found out she was a woman, and this made her run away, then no blame can attach to us.’
Noordholt rubbed his chin. ‘Hmm, I suppose that could work. It would at least serve as mitigating circumstances if they think we’d been duped too. I’ve never said we were closely related after all. I’ve been thinking I should bring my visit to Edo forward in any case. It’s the capital, after all, and it would be the best place to conceal someone among so many inhabitants. What do you think, Haag, can we be ready in a couple of days?’
As Haag knew, it was the duty of the Chief Factor of the Dutch trading post on Dejima to go to the capital, Edo, every so often to pay his respects to the Shogun. And Noordholt had been planning to go soon – a few weeks early wouldn’t make much difference. As it was a lengthy journey, however, it was something that needed careful planning and the preparations were nowhere near ready. If it meant finding Temperance sooner though, Haag would be happy to work much faster. He nodded.
‘Yes, if we get everyone to help.’
‘I’ll help too,’ Midori offered. ‘My maid can look after the children. What would you have me do?’
‘If you could look out suitable presents, please, as you’d promised, that would be wonderful.’ Nico sent her a grateful smile. ‘I’ll go and hire bearers and horses now. And obtain the necessary permissions from the mainland officials. Haag, can you find supplies for the journey and plan how many people we need to bring? I’ll send Bert with you to assist.’
Haag hurried off to the stores, for once not slacking, even though he was annoyed about having another clerk along with him. It was obvious the man was there to make sure Haag didn’t speak to any of the interpreters about anything other than supplies, but right now he didn’t care. He was as eager to reach Edo as the Chief Factor, but he’d make sure he was the one who found Temperance. Then perhaps she’d be grateful enough to agree to marry him, or if not, he would persuade her by other means.
Tanaka’s estate, when they finally reached it, proved to be situated near the shores of a lake, which Temperance was later told was called Lake Biwa. It was an enormous expanse of water overlooked by distant mountains and impenetrable forests. His holdings comprised thousands of acres of land and a vast compound of buildings of various sizes and shapes, including an imposing central tower four storeys high. High walls of grey stone with white painted render at the top enclosed his domain and they crossed a bridge over a deep moat before entering through an impressive gate flanked by two watch turrets.
Inside were courtyards and gardens, inner gates and walls and a veritable rabbit warren of buildings, all cross-timbered and painted white in between the beams, and all with the characteristic grey tiled roofs with tilted corners. Temperance was much impressed by the sheer size of some of them; indeed Tanaka’s home seemed more like a palace to her. He was obviously a man to be reckoned with, and as if to emphasise this fact, scores of men and women scurried back and forth between the houses and a large contingent came running to deal with their master’s arrival.
By the time their cavalcade stopped next to the largest building, which was fronted by an ornate entrance porch decorated with intricate carving and gilding the like of which Temperance had never seen before, it was pouring with rain. Tanaka dismounted swiftly, throwing the reins of his horse to the nearest retainer. He disappeared inside without so much as a glance in her direction and Temperance wasn’t asked to go with him. Kazuo too had vanished, presumably to attend to his duties, and Temperance was left sitting in the palanquin, trembling with nerves.
She didn’t have to wait long. A serving woman carrying a large, oiled paper parasol to shield her from the torrents of water, opened the little sliding door of the conveyance and beckoned for Temperance to follow her towards a building on the opposite side of the compound. A temporary reprieve, but a reprieve nonetheless and she drew a sigh of relief. They squelched their way through deep puddles and mud, quickly becoming soaked to the s
kin despite the protection of the strange parasol. Temperance was very happy to enter the building at last as the servant bowed her inside, bidding her welcome.
‘Dozo, onegai-shimasu. Please, enter. Irasshaimase. Welcome.’
As was the custom, they removed their shoes by the entrance and proceeded down a long corridor made of smooth, wide wooden planks that squeaked slightly as they trod on them. One side was covered with latticed windows made of rice paper, not see-through but still very thin. These let in a lot of light, making it a bright space where beautiful paintings on the walls opposite were shown to advantage. Doors led into various rooms and Temperance glimpsed yet more paintings, hangings and other embellishments. It was truly sumptuous and even the ceilings were highly decorated with symmetrical shapes picked out in gold leaf.
They turned several times before stopping by an open sliding door. As Temperance gazed inside, she couldn’t stop her eyes from widening at the sight. Several large rooms lay before her, all connected by sliding screen doors that were gilded and painted with lovely motifs from nature. The floors were all covered by fresh tatami matting which still emitted the sweet fragrance akin to new-mown hay.
One room had a large window like the ones in the corridor made of pieces of white rice paper fitted between squares of wood – a shoji. The servant went over to open it a fraction to show her that outside was a verandah and a small private garden. It was all breathtakingly beautiful in its simplicity, with smooth pebble stones immaculately raked into patterns around the edge of an arrangement of larger stones, interspersed with shrubs and flowers. Temperance marvelled that her new master thought her worthy of such fine accommodation.
But what will I have to do to earn it, she thought miserably to herself. She closed her mind to such musings and concentrated on her surroundings instead.
The Jade Lioness Page 10