My Splendid Concubine

by Lofthouse, Lloyd

  She reacted as if she’d been expecting him. They stared into each other’s eyes—both nervous. Robert touched her arm with his fingertips. When his fingers made contact, she looked away and examined the garden as if seeing it for the first time.

  Was she here to meet her lover? Robert thought. After all, she was every man’s dream.

  Without warning, she led the way deeper into the garden. He followed. Soon they were lost in the darkness.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked.

  “I wanted to see you.” He stammered and was relieved that the words found their way out of the prison that his mouth had become. She made him feel so alive that he wanted to climb the nearest building and fly off the roof. Thank heaven the moon was full and bright so he could see her clearly. Her dark eyes with their long lashes studied him. He could not fill his lungs. It was as if someone had tied a rope around his chest constricting his ability to breathe. He found it difficult to believe this girl had stood without fear by his side in battle.

  “How old are you?” he asked, wanting to start a conversation.

  “How old are you?” She shot back.

  “Twenty,” he said, and waited for her answer.

  “Old enough,” she said.

  “By the way, I haven’t told you my last name. It is Hart—Robert Hart. I’m Irish.”

  “That still makes you a foreign devil!”

  “Sure, you’re right,” he said, gathering his courage to continue. “But does that mean I can’t talk to you?”

  “Meet me in the root cellar,” she said quickly.

  His insides fluttered and jumped.

  “You haven’t had much to drink,” she said, as if she had to let Robert know her feelings. “I also saw that you were staying away from the others. Don’t you like them?”

  “No,” he replied, and was glad she had noticed.

  “That’s good,” she said. “Wait a moment after I leave, and then go through the kitchen. You will find a wood hatch that blends with the floor beside the back door. It is dark there. You will have to feel for the recessed iron ring that will allow you to pull it open. The stairs are narrow and steep so be careful. Make sure no one sees you.”

  When she pulled away, their arms touched. A sweet electric shock raced throughout his body. She hesitated like a startled doe and glanced back at him, which told him she too had felt the electricity pass between them. She disappeared.

  It took an effort to walk back inside the house and glance into the main room. Ward, Patridge, Takee and two others were standing close to Chou Luk. Ward said something to Chou Luk. Takee scowled, shook his head, reached behind him, grabbed the hand of one of the painted whores, and dragged her from the room.

  They had to be talking about Ayaou’s price. This alarmed Robert. He moved closer to eavesdrop.

  Chou Luk said, “I am open to offers until noon tomorrow. The man that offers the most will have Ayaou for his concubine.”

  “And she is a virgin?” Ward said.

  “Yes,” Chou Luk replied.

  “She better be.” Ward left with his woman.

  Robert was glad that he still had time to find enough money to win. If he entered the bidding now, he would not beat the others. These men did not like to lose. Robert decided to wait until noon the next day to top the highest bidder. If he did that, he felt he had a chance. To get Ayaou he had to be tricky. Robert turned and walked through the kitchen thinking that if he’d never met Patridge, he wouldn’t have seen Ayaou dance or hear her sing.

  Once Robert was by the back door, he searched the floor for the wooden hatch, but the light was too gloomy. He had to get down on his hands and knees and feel for the iron pull ring with trembling hands. When he couldn’t find it, he worried that it wasn’t there—that she had lied to him and wasn’t waiting. Then his fingers touched the ring. He pulled.

  Chapter 5

  How well did he know this girl he’d exchanged a few words with in a foreign tongue? Since he did not understand much Mandarin, he didn’t know exactly what she had said to him. Was he a fool? What was waiting for him down there?

  Robert’s imagination conjured up her smile, the shape of her lips and the look in her eyes. She was an angel. Ayaou wouldn’t hurt him. No woman with her eyes could do injury to another person. After all, she stood beside him and killed Taipings. She was loyal and had courage.

  He lowered the hatch into the open position and stared at the narrow steps leading into what looked like a black, sinister abyss. With both hands on the walls on either side of him, he descended.

  Once his head dropped below the level of the floor, he closed the hatch behind him. All light vanished. He was blind. The air was cool and dry. He smelled ripe peaches and pears and the musty sweet smell of grain. He fumbled in his pocket for a match but couldn’t find one.

  After his eyes adjusted, the room wasn’t as dark. There were baskets of yams and bags of rice. Manure clung to the produce. The low ceiling sloped down toward the far end of the cellar where a dim light leaked around a stack of burlap bags filled with rice. Robert gasped and jumped when a rat the size of a small cat ran across his boots. While he waited for the shocked pounding of his heart to subside, he questioned his reasons for coming down here.

  With reluctant legs that grew heavier with each step, he walked the length of that narrow root cellar and had to get down on all fours to squeeze around the fifty-pound bags of rice and into the narrow space beyond. He stopped. What if she wasn’t there? What if this was a trap? What if there was someone else waiting on the other side to chop his head off?

  One of his younger sisters had crawled into a hollow tree once when she was four. That dead space in the tree had extended into one of the larger branches. She jammed herself in there. Robert and his father heard her screams and used saws to cut away the end of that dead branch, so they could pluck her like a tooth from a jaw. He now knew what she must have felt, but unlike her, he still had time to escape. Shaking off his doubts, Robert moved forward.

  Once he crawled beyond the bags of rice, light brushed away the gloom. He saw Ayaou sitting against a wall with her knees pulled to her chest. He breathed with relief. The top of her head was inches from the close ceiling. She turned the lantern at her feet to its softest illumination and put the light on top of a small barrel of wine nestled in the corner behind her.

  “Robert Hart,” she said, chewing the syllables, “I know why you’re here.”

  Guilt burned his face. He didn’t know what to say. If she were reading his mind, she knew how much he wanted her. He shifted uncomfortably in the tight space until he faced her.

  “I believe you are here to make me your concubine,” she said.

  “Are you playing games?” Robert asked. He had no idea what she was up to. “I’m not here to cause you unhappiness.” Defensiveness crept into his voice.

  “My father is up there negotiating my price and the price of my two sisters,” she said. “I will be seventeen soon. My sisters are fourteen and thirteen. How do you think this makes me feel?” She looked sad.

  “I’d hate it if I were you.” He reached for her hand, and there was no resistance.

  “I do not hate those men,” she said, shaking her head. “My father hates what he does to feed his family. He has to sell us. He is not the only man in the village who does that. He has to treat us like hens and fish in the market. He cannot afford to be soft hearted.” Tears glittered in her eyes.

  “But he’s selling you to a stranger.” Robert stammered.

  “That is my fate.” She lowered her head to stare at the ground.

  “No, it’s not!” He burned with anger.

  She looked up. “I do not know what it is like where you come from, but in China a girl is born to be a foot warmer for a man.”

  “Any man?”

  “It makes no difference. You cannot understand. After all, you are not Chinese.” Her chin came up as if challenging him.

  “I’d like to try,” he said.
“How much will your price be?” Her hand felt lifeless like cold, dead rubber.

  “I do not know. My father said I am no beauty. My skin is too dark. I am too thin. My chest is a washboard.” She lifted a foot. “My feet were never bound. I do not have a pale moon face, and that is the requirement for selling at a high price to a Chinese man.” She extracted her hand from his grasp. “My father has done what he can. My sisters and I are healthy as sows. My family needs the money, so he can see a doctor for his intestine problem. If he has any money left, he will provide educations for my brothers and buy them wives. That way they can carry on the family name.”

  A rice bag touched Robert’s left knee. The stone wall touched his right. She changed position, folded her legs under her and their knees kissed.

  “There is an empty rice bag in the corner behind you,” she said. “Hang it in the opening so no light leaks out.”

  He twisted around to do it.

  “Do you think,” as if having difficulty expressing her thoughts, she paused and bit her lower lip, “that you would like to be my master? I mean, would you buy me?”

  Robert reached for her hand again and held it between both of his. Her flesh was alive now, because she was trembling. “I want to talk about this another time?” Getting to know her was more important.

  “I do not have time,” she replied, and a tear escaped onto her cheek. “My father will decide soon to which man I will be sold. Do you work for Patridge?”

  Robert shook his head. “No, I’m an interpreter, a provisional assistant at the British Consulate in Ningpo. Captain Patridge invited me to his home during the summer.”

  “You do not sell opium,” Ayaou said. “I like that. My father says opium is not good for people but times are bad. We have to survive. My father says Captain Patridge is interested in nothing but money.” She took her hand back and crossed her arms over her chest. “Did you know that he keeps eight concubines in Shanghai and another four at the Lookong receiving station? I heard that when foreigners leave China, they sell their concubines to be whores.”

  “I’ll never abandon you,” he said.

  Her tears started to flow, and Robert’s heart went out to her. It took an effort for him not to make more promises he might not be able to keep.

  “You are a good man,” she said. “You risked your life to save us. No Chinese man or any other foreign devil would have done that. Boat people are unworthy. I want you to be my master. Have you got money?”

  “Not enough to compete with men like Ward and Patridge.” He sounded frustrated.

  “That is too bad.” She started to cry in earnest now, and she sobbed.

  He felt desire spreading through him. He pulled her closer. “But I want you to be mine. I’ll do anything.”

  “Then you must hurry,” she said, throwing her arms around his neck. Robert felt her hot tears against his face. The floor creaked above them and dust drifted down. Startled, they looked up and listened to the heavy footsteps.

  Once it was quiet again, he turned back to her. “You must forgive me, because I’m going to kiss you,” he replied. They talked in whispers afraid someone might hear them.

  She leaned away from him. “I am not sure I will like that.” She pouted, and her lips looked inviting. “My father had me practice kissing by sucking a carrot.”

  “A carrot.”

  “Yes, he said barbarians liked it.”

  “What did he mean?” Robert was having trouble swallowing. His heart was pounding like a drum ready to burst.

  “He said the carrot is the barbarian’s tongue.”

  “I see. So, you didn’t like it.” It was a struggle not to smile.

  “No, my father ruined my appetite for carrots for good.”

  “That’s a pity.” He almost laughed.

  “How are you going to kiss me?”

  “I’ll show you.”

  “Do I have to suck?”

  “You don’t have to do anything.” Her obvious innocence captivated him. He hoped she was the woman he’d always dreamed of.

  “That will be nice,” she said.

  She jerked as Robert moved toward her. Her head ended in an awkward angle, and he kissed the side of her nose. Robert took her face between both hands, held her still, and kissed her again. Her lips were stiff and dry at first. After she relaxed, they were soft, warm, and moist. The moment turned serious. When Robert slipped his tongue into her mouth, she gasped, and said, “I like it, Robert Hart.”

  “Kiss me back,” he whispered.

  She was cautious like a chick ready to leave its nest for the first time but once their lips met, she became the aggressor and her tongue the invader. His hands moved to her clothes. He peeled off the thin layers of silk. There was no resistance as he stripped her.

  She unbuttoned his shirt and slipped her hands inside to explore his chest and back. Her eyes opened wide with surprise. She pushed away from him and stared at his chest. “So much hair,” she said. She ran her fingers through it. “It feels strange to touch and looks like dark grass.” She laughed and threw herself on top of him pushing him onto his back. She pressed her lips against his. Their tongues danced.

  His hands explored her muscular, naked legs and ended on her bottom. There wasn’t much room, but he managed to pull off his shirt and crawl out of his pants and for an instant, their lips parted.

  “Do not stop,” she said, and fear flared in her eyes. Her voice sounded frantic and demanding. “Touch me everywhere.”

  They rolled over, and their naked bodies mingled. He kissed her neck and ran his tongue along her smooth flesh. She tasted like the ocean.

  “Make me yours before my father sells me,” she said, whispering.

  Her words brought back reality. Her father was taking bids on her virginity. In a moment, Robert was going to steal it. His conscience screamed no, but it could not fight his desire.

  “Take me.” She begged and pulled him toward her.

  “But your father—”

  “I want you, Robert Hart! Pity me! It is my last wish before I’m sold. I will never forget how you carried my father to safety.” She sobbed and tears wet her face. “You are making me a happy woman. My life is worth this moment.”

  Heat flooded him. He held her with both hands while he grunted like a stag in rut. He thrust into her for a long time. After she gasped and her body convulsed, his orgasm quickly followed.

  Once it was over, sweaty and exhausted, they slept in each other’s arms.

  When Robert awoke, she was gone. He felt lost. For a moment, he wondered if he had imagined it all, but the sexual scent of their encounter filled the space. He was glad that Guan-jiah had not been there watching from the shadows. It wouldn’t have been the same. He cradled the back of his head in his hands and stared at the ceiling basking in the memories of his time with Ayaou. His mood suddenly shifted to one of regret, and he was confused. Both Me-ta-tae and Willow had left him soon after making love too.

  A deep stabbing pain blossomed in the center of his sternum. It hurt and he rubbed at it. He wanted to wake just once with the woman he’d made love to next to him. He wanted to sit up and study her sleeping face. He wanted to kiss her lips and light the fire again. Every sexual encounter since his first time at fifteen had ended the same way. Robert was sick of these brief interludes.

  Chapter 6

  “Is there something bothering you?” Unwyn asked. He was the Maryann’s duty officer. “You’ve been pacing and watching the shore all morning. It’s too hot to be out here. The deck is like a frying pan. I’m about to have tea. You’re welcome to join me.”

  Robert didn’t look at him. “No, I’m fine.” What he said wasn’t true. He hadn’t slept. He had no appetite.

  “I shouldn’t have been so hard on you during the fight, but it was for your own good. It was foolish taking a risk for those boat people.”

  “It was no bother,” Robert replied. He still didn’t look at Unwyn. He couldn’t take his eyes off the shoreline
and the city. Where was Chou Luk? It was almost noon and the deadline for bidding on Ayaou was ending.

  “Patridge was wrong about you.” Unwyn snapped. “You are a prig. I detest people like you. Rot in hell!” He spat over the side.

  “What?” Robert turned to Unwyn, whose face was red and swollen from anger. “Don’t take that tone with me!” Robert said. “I’ve done nothing to deserve it.”

  “People like us come to places like China for one thing—to become rich or powerful or both.” Unwyn leaned closer until Robert smelled his sour breath. “You won’t achieve that by risking your life to save peasants.”

  “What I did was the right thing to do,” Robert replied. “Get out of my face.”

  “You are a fool and fools deserve what they get. Patridge was wrong taking you to Ward’s celebration. He will gain nothing from it.” Unwyn walked away with stiff, angry steps.

  Robert didn’t understand why Unwyn was so upset. Later he realized that by ignoring the man, Unwyn must have felt slighted, but Robert could think of only one thing then, Ayaou.

  When Captain Patridge finished his business in Shanghai, he expected to sail back to his summerhouse on Zhoushan Island. Robert wanted to pay Chou Luk and take Ayaou with him. If needed, he’d use the money in his Hong Kong bank account. He was ready to sell everything he owned and ask for an advance on his pay. He was willing to offer as much as four hundred yuan to beat the others. However, if Chou Luk had changed his plans and didn’t come to the ship, what was he to do?

  Robert had a tin flask with whiskey in it. He took a swallow to calm his nerves. The whiskey burned as it went down. It started a fire in his empty stomach. He should’ve taken Unwyn up on his offer and mended the rift between them. He regretted not doing so but made no attempt to go after Unwyn and explain himself.

  Captain Patridge walked up. “Since I have business to finish, I’m going ashore for a short time. Would you care to join me?”