The Concubine Affair

by Quig Shelby

  ‘Kay’s joined a gym,’ said Lawrence.

  ‘Well let me buy you Sunday lunch. They do a great roast beef, and perhaps we can talk.’

  The Pierrepoint was packed, but the dining room offered more space between tables.

  ‘Archie fetch us a bottle of port, and the luncheon menu,’ said Marcus.

  ‘So what is it you wanted to discuss in such a hurry?’ asked Marcus.

  ‘Well actually after your call I thought you might like to do the talking,’ answered Lawrence over their starter.

  ‘Ah yes, I was a little dramatic last night wasn’t I,’ said Marcus.

  ‘You said you wanted to kill her,’ said Lawrence referring to Verity.

  ‘Indeed I did.’

  Marcus didn’t wish to say too much, Tyrone was his hit man.

  ‘Have you changed your mind?’ asked Lawrence.

  ‘Why do you ask?’

  ‘Perhaps we could swap, Kay is becoming rather burdensome.’

  He was tired of cheating behind her back; he needed a bimbo.

  ‘I see, and then we both have an alibi,’ said Marcus.

  ‘Precisely.’

  ‘They would have to look like accidents,’ said Marcus.

  ‘Naturally.’

  ‘And there’d have to be a gap, of say six months.’

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘Let me think about it,’ said Marcus.

  First he wanted to see how Tyrone got on with Hui Lin.

  ‘Excellent,’ said Marcus as their dinner arrived ‘tuck in.’

  Verity opened the case she’d taken from the boot of her car.

  ‘I thought it was time I got a little religious,’ she said.

  ‘Speaking of which Reverend Turnbull noticed your wedding ring’ said Alain.

  ‘Well don’t worry I’m leaving Marcus next week, and as I once said I never change my mind.’

  ‘You mean it Verity, that’s great news.’

  He went to hug her but she pushed him away.

  ‘That is why we are going to celebrate my way,’ she said. ‘Go upstairs and wait, I’ll change down here.’

  He went to the bedroom salivating.

  ‘I should have brought some noradrenalin,’ said Alain.

  ‘Why?’

  ‘I think I’m going to have a heart attack.’

  Verity was standing at the door in a black latex nun’s outfit complete with a cornette and wimple.

  ‘Well I hope you’re feeling humble,’ she said.

  He knew what that meant, and undressed for the humbler. As for Verity, it was what you couldn’t see that was taking his breath away.

  She removed one device to closet him with another. Her pet was obediently on all fours on the bed, as she took a candle from the drawer.

  ‘Don’t worry I’m not going to light it, I’m sticking it somewhere,’ she said.

  She got a bowl; black to see the detail.

  ‘Let’s see how effective the cage has been,’ she said.

  Alain had his head in the pillow, and it muffled the groans and gasps, as Verity sat and stroked from the edge of the bed.

  The wax helped the candle to slide in and out, and the bowl was positioned to capture all of his joy. She unscrewed the humbler.

  ‘There now go and wash yourself before you go back in chastity. And Alain, take your mess and flush it away,’ said Verity looking disdainfully into the bowl.

  ‘Are you stopping tonight?’ asked Alain after his shower.

  ‘If only I could. Marcus has sent a text to say he’s back. Still I shall leave this hanging in your closet until next time,’ she said, referring to her deliriously deviant dress.

  ‘I bought you some chocolates,’ said Marcus.

  ‘You shouldn’t have,’ said Verity lifting off the lid.

  ‘I saw your so called friend tonight,’ he said.

  ‘And who might that be?’ she asked.

  ‘Ivy.’

  Verity looked shocked.

  ‘You shouldn’t be surprised, she’s a gold digger,’ said Marcus.

  Perhaps there was a silver lining though thought Verity.

  ‘Well she can have you,’ she said.

  ‘That’s a very generous offer my sweet.’

  ‘As long as you’re both happy,’ said Verity.

  ‘And will you be happy with your nurse?’ he asked.

  ‘She told you that?’

  ‘Verity you really should choose your friends more carefully.’

  ‘Well Marcus I hope you’re not going to get self-righteous on me. After all you’ve been screwing around for years.’

  ‘I prefer the term affairs of the heart,’ he said.

  ‘Of course you do dear.’

  ‘You know I could forgive you,’ said Marcus.

  ‘Perhaps I don’t want you to.’

  ‘Is he really that special?’ asked Marcus.

  ‘He’s certainly different,’ she replied.

  ‘He hasn’t got my money,’ said Marcus.

  ‘You forget darling, it’s our money. And you’d better tell that to Ivy’

  ‘I earned it.’

  ‘And what do you think I was doing all those years hosting your dinner parties?’

  Marcus looked aggrieved.

  ‘This doesn’t have to be difficult,’ said Verity ‘you can have Ivy, and I keep Alain.’

  ‘But I don’t want to lose you,’ he said, but lose half of his money would have been more accurate.

  ‘I’m afraid it’s too late Marcus.’

  She took another chocolate whilst waiting on his reaction. He’d never been violent; up to now.

  ‘We need time to think,’ he said.

  ‘Correct, and apart.’

  ‘So you’re running to him?’ he asked.

  ‘And in whose bed are you staying tonight?’ she retorted.

  ‘Look I’m going,’ she said ‘phone me in a couple of days.’

  Really she could have done with collecting some things from upstairs, but she didn’t want to give him the time to blow up. She went outside for some fresh air, relieved that at last it was over.

  ‘Alain, it’s me,’ she said on the phone ‘polish the humbler, I’m coming back tonight.’

  ‘Hi Ivy,’ said Marcus ‘good news, I’ve left Verity. I’ll be round in half an hour.’

  ‘Who was it?’ asked Grainger.

  ‘Sorry honey it’s him, you’ll have to leave, he’s on his way.’

  Grainger looked murderous as he slinked out.

  ‘Sofia likes you,’ said Karin.

  ‘Really?’ asked Orvid.

  They’d both been to visit earlier in the day, and Orvid had seen the hospital manager to discuss his upcoming performance.

  ‘I can tell.’

  He smiled.

  ‘Do you think you can pull it off?’ she asked.

  ‘If anyone can.’

  ‘Do you know the best thing about magic?’ she asked.

  ‘What’s that?’

  ‘It’s universal, it has no language.’

  ‘It was always my dream.’

  ‘I have a dream too,’ she said ‘to move away from here.’

  ‘With me’

  ‘And Sofia.’

  ‘Where too?’

  ‘France,’ she said.

  ‘Like Zhen and Fu?’ he asked.

  ‘Why not, we have the same souls don’t we?’

  ‘Yes.’

  He’d not really given it much thought, but now she had said it didn’t seem such a bad idea.

  ‘Can I show you my books?’ she asked.

  ‘Go ahead.’ />
  And she took them out of the overhead cupboard above their bed.

  ‘And which part of France would you like to go?’ asked Orvid.

  ‘You decide you’re the escapologist.’

  And the more Orvid thought about it the better it sounded. There was just one problem; he had to use his get out of jail card for him and Sofia.

  Somehow Alain felt guilty, although it didn’t stop the nurse swallowing his own medicine.

  ‘Where are you off too in such a hurry?’ asked Bertrand.

  ‘To see Fu,’ he replied.

  ‘Perhaps you should ask to be his assistant Alain; you seem more interested in this Fu fellow than your own duties.’

  ‘I thought my only duty was to set sail for France,’ said Alain, as he rushed to the stables.

  When Alain stepped into the Palace there were servants everywhere, and Heshen was overseeing them.

  ‘Alain Fontaney what brings you to Court today?’ asked Heshen.

  ‘My good friend Fu,’ he answered.

  ‘Master Fu is in the gardens with Zhen. He is getting some much needed air after his underwater trick,’ said Heshen.

  Even better thought Alain, he knew exactly where Fu hid the lantern.

  ‘Do you like the mirrors?’ asked Heshen.

  He was hanging them on every wall, and with good reason. In fact he could already see the nurse’s slightly blurred double image. And if Alain knew what to look for, he might have noticed Lawrence Calder was back in town.

  ‘I shall wait in his rooms,’ said Alain seeing his chance to steal or destroy the lantern.

  ‘I shall have none of it my dear priest,’ said Heshen.

  Whatever he was up to, Lawrence was determined to stop him.

  ‘You shall stay with me,’ said Heshen.

  ‘If you can forgive my rudeness I cannot, it is Fu I wish to see.’

  ‘Alain I can understand you are bedazzled by Fu’s wizardry, but I insist, you will accompany me to my quarters, and try and make a Christian out of me.’

  Alain really had no choice, and by the time he returned Heshen had not been saved but the lantern had. He didn’t have the nerve to tell Hui the latest bad news.

  Chapter Forty Six

  Heshen had never really struck him as the religious type, so why had he kept him talking for so long thought Alain? He looked at his notebooks, and considered the one that was missing. Had Lawrence cracked the code, and what was with all those mirrors in the Palace?

  There was only one way to find out, and he sighed. What would happen if the priest lost his life with this Alain also in his breast? He shuddered, for the first time he realised what Hui meant when he said time was running out.

  ‘Back so soon,’ said Heshen smiling.

  Did he know?

  Alain moved to the other side of Heshen, and checked the mirror. There was slight edgy blur around both of their bodies. Heshen or rather Lawrence looked at him knowingly, and smiled.

  ‘Drugs are a wonderful thing are they not; of course they are always better off in the hands of a doctor than a nurse. Wouldn’t you agree Alain?’

  ‘It’s you,’ said Alain.

  ‘Indeed it is. Admirable thing you did by the way, saving Miranda’s life. I’m sure the gardener is very grateful, or rather he would be if he knew.’

  ‘Isn’t that the point of drugs, to save lives?’ asked Alain.

  ‘My dear Alain how very naïve, the point of drugs is to make money.’

  ‘If only Marcus could join us,’ said Lawrence ‘he really would be in his element.’

  Alain looked perturbed.

  ‘Oh don’t worry, I wouldn’t share our little secret with him, besides I don’t have to, the Emperor will soon have Wa Yu’s pretty neck, and then Verity will slip away too. That’s how it works isn’t it?’ asked Lawrence.

  ‘Maybe.’

  ‘Well let’s see then shall we; Fu performs his last trick tonight.’

  Lawrence looked at his blurred image; it was fading.

  ‘Anyway I must go. Maybe we’ll meet in another life,’ and Heshen was back, although there really was no improvement.

  ‘You were saying Alain,’ said Heshen.

  ‘I can’t remember my liege.’

  ‘Funny, neither can I, it must be the weather. Anyway what do you think of the mirrors? The idea suddenly came to me as if in a dream.’

  ‘Excellent. One can see the true self,’ said Alain.

  ‘I hope your attending the show this evening Alain, Fu has promised to show us his greatest ever feat,’ said Heshen.

  ‘I wouldn’t miss it for the world,’ said Alain, or the next he thought.

  There was a knock at the front of the houseboat.

  ‘It’s Alain,’ said Orvid.

  ‘I’ll put the kettle on,’ said Karin.

  ‘I went back last night,’ said Alain.

  ‘You don’t look too happy about it,’ said Orvid.

  ‘It didn’t go too well,’ said Alain, as Karin put two cups of tea on the table in front of them.

  ‘You can stay,’ Orvid said to Karin as she put on her jacket.

  ‘I want to catch the sun,’ she said.

  She also didn’t want to hear any bad news; things were going so well.

  ‘So what happened?’ asked Orvid.

  ‘I went back to see Fu,’ said Alain.

  He hesitated; he couldn’t lie to Orvid or Fu.

  ‘That’s not entirely true,’ he said ‘Hui phoned me, and I’d gone to destroy the lantern.’

  ‘Perhaps he’s right,’ said Orvid.

  ‘Well it doesn’t matter, Heshen kept me talking and stopped me.’

  ‘So the show goes on.’

  ‘Exactly, but it’s worse, Lawrence Calder was Heshen; he’s trying to outwit us.’

  ‘How?’ asked Orvid.

  ‘He stole my notes.’

  ‘I see. Well I have one idea,’ said Orvid. ‘Let me go back.’

  ‘To fight Heshen?’

  ‘In a way; I want to give the priest the lock pick. Even if we could it’s too late to change the course of events, but maybe we can influence the outcome.’

  Alain smiled, and nodded. Sometimes it was the footnotes of history that were the most important.

  ‘And Alain let’s not tell Hui, after all we got ourselves into this mess, only we can get everyone out of it.’

  Yi was at Kings’ checking the vase for auction. He was glad to be alone; on one side the images were fading. He phoned Hui the first chance he got.

  ‘Maybe it’s not all bad news,’ said Yi.

  ‘And why is that?’ asked Hui.

  ‘The death of Wa Yu has vanished,’ he said.

  ‘And what of the priest?’

  ‘He is still being sliced.’

  ‘Then the outcome is unknown,’ said Hui.

  ‘What shall we do?’ asked Yi.

  It was difficult to say because they had trusted before, and paid a heavy price.

  ‘For now we will leave it in their hands. But let me know if the vase changes again,’ said Hui.

  ‘Alain do you still have the lock pick I gave you?’ asked Fu in the orchard.

  ‘Yes’

  ‘Then hide it well on your person.’

  ‘Are you expecting my arrest?’ asked Alain.

  ‘Aren’t you?’

  ‘Perhaps. But what of our escape to France?’

  ‘Then it may help.’

  ‘Good luck my brother,’ said Alain.

  There were only twenty in attendance plus the guards, and Alain for one felt hemmed in. He was the only barbarian present. Wa Yu and her eunuch Yi were there, but there were some strange additions; Hu
i Lin the tailor was present.

  The show was not inside the Palace, but in the Emperor’s new opera house, built for small private showings. It was erected in the gardens.

  The long red curtain drew back, and this time Fu was alone on stage; he wanted to keep Zhen out of it, although she was in the audience upon Heshen’s insistence. Fu lit a candle, and placed it inside the lantern.

  ‘Lantern reveal your secrets,’ he announced moving backwards, and then kneeling.

  A wisp of smoke emanated skywards. Then it thickened and whirled into a black cloud, hovering above the lantern. Fu turned a glass disc at the front, and a beam of light focused into the crowd.

  ‘Any volunteers?’ asked Fu.

  A giggling young concubine raised her hand; it was neither Wa Yu nor Bik. Bik was already worried what Hui and Yi would have to say, after pointing them out as accessories.

  ‘Thank you but I must decline your offer,’ said Fu ‘you are way too pretty and I haven’t got all night, you must have left a trail of sad and broken hearts behind.’

  The concubine smiled, and fanned her pretty face.

  ‘Another,’ asked Fu.

  ‘Alain Fontaney,’ shouted Heshen.

  ‘He has already helped me once before,’ shouted Fu ‘someone new please.’

  A scribe ventured his hand forth. He was only there to take notes on Heshen’s orders.

  Fu directed the beam at his heart, and a great skeleton rose forth from the smoke on stage.

  ‘What do you seek?’ asked Fu.

  ‘To serve the Emperor, and to be the greatest scribe in the Kingdom,’ answered the skeleton.

  There was a ripple of polite applause. So far so good, and Fu was ready to look elsewhere.

  ‘And marry,’ said the skeleton.

  ‘And who is it you seek to marry?’ shouted another from the audience.

  ‘Your wife when you are poisoned,’ replied the skeleton.

  ‘I knew it,’ said the voice, and the guards were quick to quell a disturbance.

  ‘Try the tailor,’ shouted Heshen.

  ‘Where is he?’ asked Fu.

  Hui nervously put up his hand. The smoke collapsed into a toad, and everyone but Hui laughed.

  ‘What is your name?’ asked Fu.

  ‘Hui Lin,’ replied the toad.

  ‘And what do you do?’

  ‘I am a tailor.’

  ‘And do you take pride in your work tailor?’