The House of Seven Fountains (10 page)

“What exactly are you warning me against, Mrs. Carshalton?” Vivien asked, suddenly impatient of such a lengthy preamble.

“Well, the fact is that certain barriers are better kept up. East is East and West is West
...”

“Yes, Julian has already quoted that to me,” Vivien said abruptly. “Would you care for some more tea?”

“Thank you ... so refreshing.” Mrs. Carshalton prepared to continue her lecture. She was not a perceptive woman and it did not occur to her that her well-meant strictures might not prove acceptable.

“I thought Julian might have said something to you,” she said, nodding her head approvingly. “Of course, the situation is not quite the same for him. Some of the Chinese girls are quite pretty little creatures, and naturally, with so few English girls about, the younger men amuse themselves in certain quarters. One must be broadminded and the girls don’t expect any social recognition, so it is quite harmless.”

“Shall we come to the point?” Vivien said bluntly.

Mrs. Carshalton was momentarily disconcerted. She flattered herself that she was the soul of tact (which in her vocabulary meant having a flair for implication and innuendo, a delicate skirting of the point at issue) and she disliked being hurried.

“Well—I happened to see you in town the other day. You were riding in a
trisha
with your
amah.
Now
I
daresay you did it just for the novelty, but it rather worried me. To be frank, my dear, it isn’t at all the thing for Europeans to use
trishas
.”

She set down her tea cup and wiped the
corner
s of her small mouth with a linen handkerchief.

“It would have been better if you had hired a separate
trisha
for the servant. It gives them ideas above their station if you too, er,
informal with them.”

“Ah Kim was helping me to shop, and we took a
trisha
because we had rather a lot of parcels,” Vivien said in a deceptively mild tone.

“I see. It was quite a natural mistake, and I’m sure you don’t intend to make a habit of it. Some of the army families—the lower ranks, you know—do use
trishas
and even travel on the native buses, I’m told. But then they don’t mix with us. Only the officers are allowed to join the club.”

“Why?”

Mrs. Carshalton looked flustered.

“My dear child, surely
...
?” Her gesture implied that the answer was so obvious it did not need expression.

“Why only the officers?” Vivien repeated quietly.

Mrs. Carshalton inspected her crimson nails with an expression reminiscent of someone faced with a question to which there was no delicate reply.

“We all know that the social strata are not as clearly defined as they were before the war, and no doubt that is an excellent thing in some ways. However, one cannot pretend that distinctions do not exist. Some of the lower ranks are
...
not quite
...
”

“They protect us from the terrorists,” Vivien said. Her
t
one was still level, but there was a dangerous glitter in her eyes.

“Yes, yes, of course they do. We all admire them tremendously, but I’m sure they would not be comfortable if we did admit them to the
cl
ub.”

“Is there anything else you wanted to tell me?”

“Just one other point. I noticed that you were playing Mah-Jongg when I arrived. I quite understand how dull it is for you while you are tied to your chair after this unfortunate accident, but take a tip from an older woman, my dear, don’t treat your servants as equals. They lose their respect for you.”

Vivien said nothing and after the silence had lasted a full minute Mrs. Carshalton began to wonder if in some mysterious way she had offended the girl. Young people were so sensitive and touchy.

“Don’t be offended, my dear. I assure you that your little errors are quite safe with me. I won’t say a word to anyone. After all, what are we older people for if not to advise you youngsters when you’re in difficulties.”

“I’m glad you told me,” Vivien said softly. “Now I know where I stand.

She rang the brass handbell that Chen had given her so that she could summon him without moving.

“Now, let me tell you something, Mrs. Carshalton. Not only do I disagree with all the narrow-minded and snobbish views that you have just expressed, but I have not the least intention of conforming with your ideas of suitable behavior. If the
trishas
and buses are good enough for the servicemen’s wives they are quite good enough for me, and I shouldn’t dream of humiliating my
amah
by riding in a separate vehicle. As for my giving the staff ideas above their station—that would be impossible, as I don’t regard them as inferiors. In fact, I shall be very proud if I can gain their friendship and respect. If I want advice on how to behave while I’m in Mauping, I shall consult Chen. He was a close friend of my godfather, and I can’t think of anyone better to advise me. One more point. Since the club isn’t open to ‘the lower ranks’ as you call them—the very people to whom we owe our safety while the Communists are fighting us—then I prefer not to go there. If you care to inform your friends of my attitude it will probably save me from any more interviews of this kind.”

Mrs. Carshalton looked as if she could not believe her ears. Then a look of outrage and fury convulsed her smug features.

“You don’t know what you are saying,” she exclaimed angrily.

“On the contrary, I think I have made myself perfectly clear,” Vivien returned evenly.

“So! You’re going to adopt your godfather’s high and mighty attitude, are you?” the older woman said nastily. Her gushing manner was replaced by a vindictive sneer. “Then let me tell you this, Miss Connell. Your precious godfather was ostracized by English society. He made such an exhibition of himself that none of us cared to mix with him. ”

“I imagine that didn’t perturb him unduly,” Vivien said dryly. “Ah, there you are, Chen. The
mem
is leaving. Will you show her out, please. Goodbye, Mrs. Carshalton. I doubt if we shall encounter each other very frequently. It was kind of you to inquire after my health.”

“You’ll be sorry for this. We don’t care for ill-mannered upstarts in Mauping!” Mrs. Carshalton snapped. Her tightly corseted figure quivered with outraged dignity, and her tone was so melodramatic that, had she been less sickened by the woman’s bigotry, Vivien would have laughed.

“I think I’ll survive,” she said coolly.

Livid with rage, her rouged lips compressed into a malevolent line, Mrs. Carshalton snatched up her handbag and almost ran across the courtyard. A few minutes later Vivien heard her car starting up and roaring down the drive as if she had vented her wrath on the innocent Malay driver.

Although she had managed to keep her voice down, Vivien was filled with a furious disgust equal to that felt by her adversary. To calm herself she took a cigarette from the sandalwood box and lighted it. Obviously the wretched woman would lose no time in spreading the story of their clash around her circle of cronies. Not that it mattered if she did. Vivien had no desire to sail under false colors. She was a little surprised to find how deeply the encounter had stirred her. She had never come up against racial prejudice before, and it was like finding some foul slithering creature beneath an innocent-looking stone.

“Chen, would you mind making another pot of tea? I didn’t enjoy that one very much,” she asked as he returned to say that mem Carshalton had gone.

By the time he brought fresh tea she was calm enough to be amused at the diverting spectacle of Mrs. Carshalton’s rear view as she stormed out.
Like an agitated turkey that is so cross it can scarcely gobble,
she thought, grinning.

“The
mem
has made an enemy. The Mem Carshalton is not pleased,” Chen said suddenly, handing her a cup of tea.

“Not at all pleased,” Vivien agreed. “I’m afraid I forgot the custom of courtesy, Chen. Did you understand what it was all about?”

He nodded. “It was for the same reason that Tuan Cunningham had few friends among the white races.”

“Oh, Chen, how can people be so stupid!” she said impatiently. “Are some of your race the same? Do they despise us?”

Again he nodded. “The proud heart is to be found in all races.
It breeds much bitterness.”

“The trouble is that it is infectious,” she murmured soberly. “I don’t care what the Carshalton crowd think of me, but I daresay some people might be forced to kowtow to them. Mrs. C. seems to be quite influential.”

“She has the tongue of an asp,” Chen said coldly. He saw the line of strain around Vivien’s mouth. “The foot is painful? The
mem
should rest on her bed. I will call Ah Kim.”

“No, no. I would rather stay here. I’ll listen to the fountains
for a while and forget about our unwelcome guest.” Vivien assured him. “I’m sorry our game was cut short. I was enjoying it.”

His sallow face warmed into a smile.

“The
tuan
did well not to choose the little
mem
to follow him,” he said gently.

“Thank you, Chen. I’ll do my best to live up to him,” she answered shyly, holding out her hand.

Chen took it in his own thin hand and bowed.

“The
mem
should sleep. Later the
tuan
doctor will come,” he said.

Vivien dozed
for an hour and awoke much refreshed. She had just combed her hair and repaired her lipstick when she heard another car coming up the drive.

“Oh, dear, I hope it isn’t Mrs. C. coming to tell me I’ve been struck off the residency guest list,” she thought wryly.

But when the youngest houseboy came through the arch leading from the entrance hall, it was to announce
Tuan
Barclay wished to see her.

“Bring him in,” Vivien said eagerly. Julian had been up-country for two days, and she had missed him.

“Hello, what’s this chapter of accidents I’ve been hearing about?” he greeted her, depositing an enormous box of chocolates tied with satin ribbon in her lap.

“The grapevine is efficient,” she said. “What gorgeous chocolates. Thank you very much—although I’m not really ill enough to merit extravagant presents, you know.”

“That’s a relief. I’ve been hearing all kinds of gruesome stories, but I guessed they would be a bit exaggerated. You crazy little idiot, did you really risk your neck for some sniveling brat?”

He pulled up a chair and sat down, appraising her slender figure in the brief white shorts and lime green shirt. “Your legs are much too pretty to be spoiled by bandages. How long do you think you’ll be laid up?”

“About two days. How was your trip?”

“Business trips are all the same,” he said with a grimace. “I had to put up at a rest house, which meant sleeping on one of those webbing beds that sag in the middle and being kept awake by some missionary snoring his head off in the next room.”

“Poor you!” She laughed. Julian was the antithesis of a keen businessman and made no bones about his lack of interest in his job.

“I was hoping we could celebrate my return to civilization, but this has put paid to it,” he said, eyeing her bandages. “Pity. There’s a tombola session at the club tonight. They’re usually quite amusing, and you might have had beginner’s luck and carried off the hundred dollar snowball.”

Vivien bit her lip. She would have to tell Julian about her row with Mrs. Carshalton sooner or later so she might as well get it over.

“I won’t be going to the club anymore,” she said evenly. He raised startled eyebrows. “Why on earth not?”

“Mrs. Carshalton was here earlier. I’m afraid we had a row, and I told her I wouldn’t go to the club again.”

“A row? With Madge? What about?” He frowned, his hand suspended in the act of lighting a cigarette.

Vivien shifted her position, wincing as a prick of pain caught her ankle.

“She wanted to advise me on how to behave while I was in Mauping. I didn’t agree with her views and said some things that made her very angry.”

“What sort of things? What is all this about?” he demanded.

“Look, Julian, the first night I was here you told me I was a greenhorn, that I didn’t know anything about Malaya. It was true. It still is. But there are some things that one knows instinctively. Mrs. Carshalton warned me against being friendly with the staff here and told me I shouldn’t have ridden in a
trisha
with Ah Kim.”

“So?”

“So I told her I wanted to be friendly with the Chinese, and I liked riding in
trishas
.”

“But how does the club come into it?”

“She happened to mention in a rather unpleasant way that only officers were admitted. I was annoyed by her attitude to men without commissions and told her I didn’t care to go there anymore, that’s all.”

Julian smoked in silence for some moments, his forehead puckered in a contemplative frown.

“I see,” he said at last. “It wasn’t very wise of you to clash with Madge. She is a leading light in our little community. She can make things darned awkward for you if she feels inclined.
“

“Possibly. I’m not particularly concerned with Mrs. Carshalton’s favorable opinion.”