My Splendid Concubine (96 page)

With an effort, Robert straightened. His voice was filled with pain.
“Did you go—to the foreign doctor—from the British legation—for help as I instructed?” An attack of vertigo threatened his balance. Putting a hand over his mouth, he swayed. Leopold was the first to reach him and put a steadying hand on his shoulder. Anwar, Cooper and the others came to stand on either side.

Guan-jiah wiped his eyes with both sleeves.
“That doctor said the Mistress lost too much blood.”

Remain calm, Robert thought. Stay in control. It took an effort to hold on. Letting go was a luxury he could not afford. He turned to Cooper, who stood to his right with a face that had turned chalky white.

“I want fourteen horses saddled and ready immediately.” His lips felt numb. His voice sounded strained and fragile.

“
The rain,” Cooper said.

“
Damn the rain!” Robert replied. “Just see to it. And wake my guards. Tell them we’re leaving for Peking immediately.”

Cooper and the others left the room for the stables behind the main building. Robert was the Godfather to Cooper
’s son.

“
Come with me,” he said to Guan-jiah. When they arrived at the stables, the horses were being saddled. The dozen troopers from his guard detail were spilling into the place pulling on uniforms. It was obvious they had been sleeping. He counted fifteen horses. “We don’t need that many, Cooper.”

“
You think I’m letting you go cross-country to Peking in this weather without me. You stood by me when I was wounded. Now I will stand by you.” Leopold and Anwar came with thick wool jackets piled in their arms.

“
Put this on, Inspector General,” Anwar said, and he held a full-length winter jacket for Robert. Leopold pulled a navy, wool watch cap over Robert’s head and around his ears.

He was overwhelmed and couldn
’t respond. He had to fight back tears and didn’t remember putting the jacket on. He was vaguely aware of the others dressing him while he stood like a statue. Dear God, he thought, please do not take my lover from me.

After the others helped him mount his horse, the gelding reared on its hind legs and pranced nervously as if it sensed his distress. That seemed to wake Robert from the emotions threatening to bury him.

Once he calmed the gelding, they were off at a gallop through the city streets. The horses made a sound like thunder sending a warning to get out of the way. Soon, they were all soaked and the cold penetrated deep as the rain pounded them.

The horses
’ hooves echoed as they crossed a wooden bridge, then they were racing cross-country toward Peking with the blinding, freezing rain beating against their faces. The bannermen rode in a tight pack behind Robert, Cooper and Guan-jiah.

Wind whipped the rain past his ears. He saw the fleeting images of people scattering to get out of the way. Fields, farmhouses, and trees all blurred past beyond that
wet curtain.

The horses were well lathered when
they reached the first station where fresh horses were brought out.

The stationmaster protested.
“It will be dark soon,” he said. “The road is not safe. It will freeze and there are bandits and because of the rain there might be places where the road will be washed out.”

Robert glared at him, and said,
“Don’t be a fool! Bandits will not be out in this.”

The station man looked startled.
“I understand you are in a great hurry. I just want you to know the dangers.”

Guan-jiah handed Robert a revolver, and he put it into a coat pocket. The long wool coat was dripping with water. He squeezed Guan-jiah
’s shoulder. It was like the old times when they had to watch out for Ward. “Let’s get back on the road,” he said.

“
We have to warm up, Inspector General,” Cooper said. “We cannot go on until we dry out. Give us half-an-hour, then we will be on our way. It won’t do any good if we freeze before we get there.”

A half-hour later, they mounted fresh horses. Robert
’s new mount whinnied and tossed its head. Gaining control, he squeezed his legs against the beast’s sides, and they burst from the stable and were in the rain again. The horses’ hooves hitting the wet ground sounded like the muffled roar of cannons.

He lost sense of time. Night came and the terrain on either side of the road vanished in the darkness and the unrelenting rain beat on them and still they rode. The cold reached inside with icy fingers and he lost touch with his nose, toes and fingers.

Twice more Cooper took charge and they stopped to crowd around a fire to get warm while new mounts were readied. Cooper, Guan-jiah and the bannermen did all the work at each station.

A colorful kaleidoscope of memories crowded into Robert
’s brain. He saw Shao-mei and Ayaou going outside in their wooden shoes during the summer holding paper umbrellas over their heads. He jerked when grisly images of Shao-mei’s death at Ward’s hands pushed the good memories aside. He couldn’t remember if Ward was dead or alive.

“
Are you okay, Master?” Guan-jiah asked, but Robert didn’t hear him. Instead, he heard Ayaou singing. Then the sisters were reciting favorite poems together. Tears blinded him and froze on his eyelashes.

It was as if he
was tottering on the edge of hell ready to fall into the endless fires and his girls were reaching for him. “
Don’t let us go alone
.” Their voices screeched like black crows. “
Come with us, Robert. We love you. We’re afraid
.”

“
You need to eat, Master,” Guan-jiah said at one of the stations.

Robert looked around and found himself standing inside st
ables. He couldn’t remember arriving or dismounting. Ice had formed on his clothes and face. As it melted, the water dripped and formed a puddle around his feet. The numb parts of his body started to feel as if someone were jabbing his toes and fingers with needles. Steam came off the horses. He took a shuddering breath and searched for Guan-jiah to discover the eunuch standing beside him. He had no idea where he was.

The bannermen stood around stuffing food in their mouths. Guan-jiah had a bun of steamed bread. He tore off a piece and pushed it against Robert
’s lips. “Get that out of my face. I’m not hungry,” he said. “Are the horses ready?”

“
Not yet,” Cooper said. “You are going to eat, Inspector General, even if these bannermen have to sit on you while I feed you. Guan-jiah is right. A bit of hot porridge will do you good. It will warm your innards and about now I suspect they need warming.”

He glared at Cooper but the man refused to back down, so he ate wit
hout tasting a thing.

Once they were in the mud again, Robert leaned forward and wrapped his arms around the horse
’s neck. The rain and the darkness were so thick that he could not see the ground. He felt the horse’s neck heaving beneath him like a boat in a storm, and he treasured the heat radiating from the horse’s body. It was as if he were riding the crest of a giant wave that was carrying him toward a rocky shore where he would be smashed into a bloody pulp.

Maybe that was what he wanted
—an end to this horrid suffering that came from loving another person as much as he loved Ayaou.

Then dawn broke along the horizon piercing the clouds with a d
efused light, and they were riding through Peking’s open city gates and through that long tunnel beneath the wall. They had arrived, and with his guard detail trailing behind, Robert reached his mansion not far from The Forbidden City.

The servants came running and threw themselves at his feet and knocked their heads on the ground repeatedly.
“Don’t let them do that, Guan-jiah,” he said, and hurried through the house toward the backstairs that would take him to the bedroom he shared with Ayaou on the second floor. A trail of wet, muddy footprints followed him.

In the bedroom, there was a nurse from the British consulate si
tting on a stool at the foot of the bed. She stood and stared at Robert as if he were a crazy man. He sensed others in the shadows but ignored them. He hadn’t had a haircut in weeks and his long hair was plastered to his face. He’d been waiting to get home and have Ayaou cut it. He loved the way she cut his hair. His drenched clothing clung heavy and limp from his body. His shoes made wet squishy sounds as he walked toward the bed.

Ayaou had her back to him. She was on her side facing the wall. Her long dark hair spread across the pillow like floating seaweed. He knelt by the bed and reached out to touch her.
“Ayaou.” It was a struggle to keep the urgency out of his voice and make the word sound gentle. He didn’t know if she were still alive.

She turned slowly. Her eyes were sunken like two black rocks in wet sand. The brown
had fled from her complexion, and she was pale like cold snow. Her colorless lips had peeled and flaked.

She smiled.
“You made it.” Then she squinted and struggled to sit up but failed. With a wheeze, she dropped back and worry poured into her face. Every word she said took an effort. “You are soaking wet—you will catch your death—Guan-jiah,” she struggled to breathe, “see that he changes into something dry—make sure he does it right away.”

Trying to control his tears, Robert buried his face in the bla
nkets. Hands plucked at his wet clothing. His jacket came off. Then his pants and his shirt. Someone dried him with a towel. Then they dressed him in dry clothes.

“
Do not be sad,” Ayaou said weakly. “It is not like I did not get any of you.”

He choked not knowing
if he were going to cry or laugh then took her hand and climbed on the bed beside her.

“
Sir, you shouldn’t do that,” the nurse said. “She needs rest.”

Guan-jiah stopped her, and Cooper stepped forward. They hadn
’t changed and were still in their wet, half-frozen clothing. Cooper ordered everyone to leave the room and went out last with Guan-jiah. They closed the door leaving Ayaou and Robert alone.

“
I held on because I knew you would come.” Every word took an effort. “I get to say good-bye—I—trust you with the children. I am sorry, Robert—do not let them grow up in China where they will be abused.”

“
You’re not leaving, Ayaou!” His voice broke on a desperate note.

Looking startled, fear appeared in her voice.
“I am—trying not to.” Her breath grew thin, and she shivered violently. “Hold me.”

He
discovered that her body was frail and cold as if life were already leaving to join the winter winds that had chased him to Peking.

“
I guess I am going to see Shao-mei tonight.” Her voice started to fade. “I can see her waving. I will tell her everything about you. We are going to stay up real late—”

With a smile frozen on her fac
e, the life flew from her eyes, and he could only hear one empty heart beating, his.

Chapter 62

1908

Old Buddha, as many called the Dowager Empress Tzu Hsi, met Robert in The Palace of Benev
olent Tranquility for the last time. Other than Robert, she had never met with a Western man before. The audience was private with a few ministers and trusted palace eunuchs present.

He admired the empress and knew she was strong-willed and hot te
mpered. She was clever too. She had competed against thousands of women for the attention and affections of an emperor. She was the only concubine to give the emperor a son.

In 1861, she
’d seen her husband, Emperor Hsien-feng, die, then spent decades struggling against corruption and stifling court etiquette to guide two emperors onto the throne—first her son, whom she watched die, and now a nephew.

“
How long have you been in China?” the empress asked.

“
Fifty-four years, your Majesty.”

She nodded.
“You have served China well. The Dynasty has been depending on you for our survival. Our only regret is that we did not take more of your advice. It is amazing that everything you predicted took place as you said it would. If we had listened more closely, we would have avoided many tragedies, and China would be better off today. With all the bad years, the chaos, opium, the Taipings, floods, drought, foreign invasions, your Customs has been the only department that produced a steady revenue.”

Robert was dressed in a Chinese ministerial robe. A mand
arin square known as a rank badge was on his chest and another on his back. Two embroidered peacocks were displayed on the badge—one walking and one in flight. The peacock was the symbol of a third grade civil official. He was Inspector General of Chinese Maritime Customs, chief adviser for the emperor, and the Senior Guardian of the Heir Apparent of the Ch’ing Dynasty.

Tzu Hsi put down her teacup.
“We were told there was a reason you asked for this private audience.” The empress sat on a couch in the center of a raised platform. Her gown of golden-yellow satin was embroidered with pink peonies. Her headdress was made of pearls and jade with flowers on the sides and a phoenix in the center. Over her gown, she wore a cape covered with pearls the size of canary eggs. What she wore was enough to make any man wealthy.