The Gilded Fan (Choc Lit) (34 page)

Plymouth continued to hold out and on the fourteenth of September the King’s frustration got the better of him and he withdrew to the north the following day, leaving Sir Richard Grenville to blockade the town once again.

‘Thank heavens for that! The fighting is over for now,’ Daniel exclaimed, barging into Midori’s sickroom with barely a knock. He was limping, but it didn’t seem to bother him and she couldn’t see anything else wrong with him, apart from bruises. Temperance, who was with her, frowned at him and tried to remonstrate, but he was bubbling over with the good news and he wasn’t alone. A great cheer went up from the exhausted defenders, which echoed through the town. Midori smiled at Daniel, sharing his joy despite her weariness.

‘You can have a well-earned rest now,’ she said.

‘Yes, the Lord knows we need it. The Royalists must have lost their will to win, else we should have had to give way soon. I’ve never felt so tired in all my life.’

‘Lucky for us they didn’t know that,’ Midori commented.

As Daniel turned to leave, Nico entered the room, looking as if he’d been running. ‘Daniel, Temperance, I’m so sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but … your father,’ he said. ‘He collapsed and died. I think it was all too much for him. He should never have fought in the first place.’

‘Father? Surely not?’ Temperance stared at Nico as if she didn’t believe him.

Daniel shook his head. ‘What? But the battle is over and …’

Nico sent his stepcousins a look of deepest sympathy. ‘Yes, but he had a seizure of some sort, so I’m told. They’ll be bringing him shortly.’

‘Oh, no!’ Midori felt sadness wash over her and in her weakened state she couldn’t stop a few tears from trickling down her cheeks.
When is all the dying going to end? I’m so tired of it.
She stretched out her arms to Temperance, who broke into noisy crying as she took in the news at last, and collapsed to lean her head on Midori’s shoulder. Midori held her close and looked at her other cousin. ‘Daniel, I’m so sorry, but at least he died doing what he believed was right,’ she said, hoping to comfort him.

Daniel visibly pulled himself together. ‘Yes, you’re right. When I last saw him he told me it was time for him to make a stand. Everyone was needed and he knew it.’

‘It was a desperate situation,’ Nico added. ‘And he always did what was right. I honestly didn’t think the town could withstand the King’s forces, but somehow it was accomplished and it was thanks to men like your father.’

Daniel nodded slowly. ‘Yes, we have to be grateful for our deliverance, however high a price we’ve had to pay for it.’

Midori’s recovery was slow, even though the dreaded wound fever never set in. Nico waited anxiously for the first few days, sitting by her side as much as he could. She was asleep for the most part, dosed with some concoction of Kate’s, and to her obvious sorrow wasn’t able to attend Jacob’s funeral. But she was clearly in pain. Nico found it hard to see her like that and would have liked to crawl into bed with her to just hold her in his arms. Out of respect for his late stepuncle, however, he did no such thing. For once, he decided, he was going to do things Jacob’s way – the right way.

Even when she began to heal she looked as weak as a newborn lamb, but her spirit returned and Nico had trouble persuading her to remain in bed for far longer than she would have liked to.

‘You’ll be up and about soon enough,’ he soothed. ‘Then we can be married and start our life together.’

‘In Amsterdam?’

‘Is that where you’d like to live? I thought you wanted to stay here,’ Nico said.

‘Well, you said I’d fit in better there, although as long as we’re together, I don’t mind where we are.’

‘That’s good to know, because I’ve had some news. The solicitor, Schuyler, has sent me a letter, enclosing one from the
Heeren XVII
.’

‘The VOC directors?’ Midori frowned. ‘What do they want with you?’

‘They wrote to inform me the position of chief factor in Dejima is becoming vacant soon as they’ve recalled that fool Corneliszoon. They’re wondering if I’d be interested in taking over.’

‘Dejima?’ Her whole face lit up and Nico could see he’d been right in thinking she’d be pleased.

‘Yes. I thought since we can’t live in Japan itself, this would be the best alternative. At least you’d be closer to your brother there. You may have to pretend to be my Japanese concubine, as females aren’t normally allowed at the trading post, but if you don’t mind that, I’m sure it could be done.’

Midori looked slightly dazed and a small frown appeared on her smooth brow. ‘Dejima?’ she repeated, and Nico began to get worried. Perhaps he’d misread the situation?

‘You don’t want to go back after all?’

‘No, I mean yes, of course I do! It would be wonderful to be closer to Ichiro and to Japan, but that means leaving everyone here behind. And what about you? Your home is in Holland. You have a house, you like it there.’

‘Don’t worry about that, it won’t be forever and we can come back for visits. I found Japan a fascinating place and I think I could be of more use to the company than the present chief factor. Especially if I bring my own translator.’ He grinned at her. ‘So do you want to go or not?’

Midori threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. ‘Oh yes, please. It sounds like a wonderful compromise. I wonder if we can visit Ichiro in secret?’

Nico laughed. ‘If I remember him rightly, he’ll arrange it somehow. He had the look of someone who brooks no opposition when he sets his mind to something. A bit like you, actually.’ He kissed her back before she could protest, then added, ‘You don’t think he’ll mind about our marriage?’

Midori shook her head. ‘He wanted me to be happy and I am. He’ll be pleased for me.’

‘Very well, I’ll go and send a reply to the
Heeren XVII
straight away, then. And don’t you dare leave that bed – I want you fully recovered as soon as possible.’

‘I won’t move so much as a muscle, I promise. Only hurry, before they change their minds!’

‘Well, this might keep you busy while I’m gone.’ He smiled and pulled something out of his sleeve, which he handed her. ‘Here’s the letter you’ve no doubt been waiting for. Let me know what news your brother sends you.’

‘At last!’ Midori seized on the missive and unrolled it, scanning the words as fast as she could.

When Temperance came into the room some time later Midori beamed at her. ‘I’ve finally had a message from my brother. Everyone is well and waiting for news from me. Thank the gods!’

As soon as Midori was able to stand on her leg again, they were married and Daniel, as the head of the Marstons, proudly gave her away. The entire family attended and even Nico’s siblings and stepsiblings came, which pleased Midori no end.

‘See, you do have a clan after all,’ she teased.

‘Yes, I suppose so,’ Nico agreed, ‘and now I’m older, they don’t seem quite as stuffy or, in the case of the younger ones, annoying.’

‘Nico!’ Midori protested, but she could see he got on well with them really.

Best of all, however, she found Harding and Jochem waiting to congratulate them after the service. She hadn’t seen Harding since before the siege and had feared the worst.

‘I invited the boy,’ Nico told her, although Jochem wasn’t so much a boy as a man grown now. ‘He’s to sail with us to Japan.’

‘My sailing days are over though,’ Harding said, ‘but I wish you the best of luck and hope to see you when you come back.’

In the end, it took over a year before they finally set sail for the Far East, as there were so many loose ends to tie up first, but Midori was glad because by then it was clear that her relatives would truly be safe from now on.

The town of Plymouth had continued to hold out and remained steadfast to the Parliamentary cause. It was attacked once more soon after the New Year in 1645, but the Royalists couldn’t breach the defences and in the middle of March they were ordered to march to Somerset. A small force was left behind, but they made no attempts to take the town. By the end of the summer, the war was all but over.

All over England the Royalists were being overwhelmed. There was fighting throughout Devon, but relief came at last in the shape of General Sir Thomas Fairfax and the so-called New Model Army, instigated by Oliver Cromwell, but trained by Fairfax. They proved unbeatable. As they drew nearer the desperate Royalists tried to bribe Plymouth into surrendering by offering its commander ten thousand pounds and command of a Royalist regiment, but he refused.

On the twenty-fifth of March 1646 General Fairfax rode into Plymouth. All the inhabitants turned out to watch, including Midori and Nico, who were leaving for Amsterdam the following day. They joined the other members of the Marston family in celebrating, while the sound of three hundred cannon echoed through the streets. It was a joyous sound this time, not the ominous herald of disaster it had been previously, and made everyone smile.

As Midori looked around at her relatives, she was pleased to note how happy they all seemed, apart from Aunt Hesketh. But then she knew her aunt was sad to see her stepson go, especially now there was a newfound rapport between them.

‘Don’t worry, we’ll be back in a few years,’ Nico had soothed her. ‘Time passes quickly and we promise to write to you. And who knows, we might even bring you back another grandchild or two?’

To Midori’s delight, Daniel had a new glow of confidence and maturity which had been lacking before, and seemed relaxed and at ease. She knew this was because he and Nico were now equal partners in the family business, and although Daniel would be running the English side of it, Nico would be sending him goods to trade with.

‘I can’t think of anyone I’d rather work with,’ Daniel had told her, and Midori could see Nico was as ecstatic as she was to finally feel a true sense of belonging within the family.

‘Is it really over? Is this the end of the fighting?’ Temperance’s cheeks were pink with excitement and relief as they stood watching the general passing by.

‘Indeed it is. You can sleep soundly in your bed now,’ Daniel reassured his sister. ‘The Royalists are well and truly beaten.’

‘It will almost seem a bit flat,’ Temperance said wistfully.

‘Are you mad?’ Daniel stared at her, but she was no longer looking at her brother. Instead she had turned to Midori and Nico with pleading eyes.

‘I want to go to Japan, too. Please may I come with you, Midori? I would so like to see your country and it would be such an adventure. Please, please?’

Midori didn’t know what to reply. ‘But we may be there a long time, Temperance. It’s not really the place for a young single woman. In fact, you wouldn’t be allowed.’ Midori didn’t add that her little cousin was turning into quite a beauty as well, and may be a temptation for the men sent to work in the East, far from their wives and family.

‘Couldn’t I dress as a boy, like your mother did? I don’t mind, only please let me come. I’ll do anything, help you with housework or, well, anything. I so want to see everything you’ve told me about. It sounds magical.’

Midori looked at Nico, who smiled back and shrugged. ‘It seems to me the young lady has made up her mind. If we don’t take her, she’ll find a way to go there by herself, as your mother did, so she’ll be safer with us.’ He shook his head ruefully. ‘The Marston women are a stubborn lot and I can only hope the good Lord gives me the patience to put up with it.’

Midori punched him lightly on the arm as everyone laughed, and he swept her into an embrace. ‘You’re sort of a Marston, too, and you know you’ll enjoy every minute,’ she murmured, and he didn’t deny it, because it was the truth.

One year later, almost to the day, the
Zwarte Zwaan
glided into its anchorage outside the strange, fan-shaped island of Dejima. The familiar sights, sounds and smells of Japan assailed them and, standing on deck, Midori felt a profound gratitude to the gods and spirits who had kept her safe throughout her adventure. Now she was embarking on another, of an entirely different kind, but she was ready to face anything as long as her husband was by her side. She squeezed his hand, too choked with emotion to say anything, but she didn’t need to say a word.

They understood each other perfectly.

This story is based on real historical events. By 1641, the Japanese ruler, the
Shogun
, had decided to evict all foreigners except the Dutch (the Portuguese, last to go, left in 1639). This included all the children of foreigners, whether half Japanese or not. Christianity had already been banned for some time and any Christians found hiding were executed, so although my heroine Midori is fictitious, her plight would have been all too real.

Whereas before, foreign traders had been based mostly in Hirado, a port slightly further north, this changed after the expulsions. The Dutch were forced to move to the small island of Dejima in Nagasaki’s harbour and they were not permitted to go anywhere else. Japan was, to all intents and purposes, closed to the outside world for the next two hundred years.

The events I describe happening in Plymouth during the Civil War are also historical facts. It was a time of great turmoil and it must have been incredibly difficult for the average Englishman to decide which side to support. Although I admit that personally I would have been on the side of the Royalists, I have tried to show what was occurring without any personal bias. Since my heroine and her family are staunchly Parliamentarian, I had to argue the case for the ‘opposition’, as it were, which was a very interesting exercise! However, I could see the point of view of both sides, and obviously they each considered that they were right at the time, which made it easier.

I have stuck to true events as much as possible (seen through the eyes of the Plymothians) and hope I’ve got it right – any mistakes are purely my own. I believe Plymouth was the only West Country town not to fall into Royalist hands and to remain Parliamentarian throughout the war, which was quite a feat. Of course, we all know their triumph was not to last, but although Charles II was reinstated, English royals never again had the same kind of power, so the way the country was governed changed forever. I only wish poor Charles I hadn’t had to lose his head for this to happen, so sad!

I tried not to use real people for this story, preferring to make them up, although some, like the various commanders during the war, had to be mentioned by name. The Chief Factor at Dejima wasn’t called Corneliszoon, but Antonio Van Diemen was the Dutch Governor-General of Batavia, and I used a little bit of ‘poetic licence’ in his conversations with Nico. I hope his descendants won’t mind!