The Japanese Lantern (3 page)

“But it
’
s late,” she reminded him.
“
I mean to dine out without dressing.”

She cast her mind’s eye over her dresses, wondering if any of them would do for such a treat.

“They don’t keep Australian hours here. It’s still wonderfully early in Manila,” he reassured her.

Jonquil needed no further persuasion. The strange smells and the polyglot people pulled her back outside. She had completely fallen
in
love with the Filipinos.

Jason was mysterious as to where he was taking her. She had learned during the afternoon that he knew the city well, speaking excellent Spanish and even getting along in the Tagalog dialect, left behind in Manila by a people long since vanished.

So the big building meant nothing to her. A notice over the door told her that they were entering the Sky Room and she was very satisfied with that, but Jason did no more than make sure of their table, before insisting that they should go up to the third floor to have a drink before they ate.

Upstairs, she was astonished to see one whole wall was made of glass, revealing a court below, where two teams of players were playing the most strenuous game that she had ever seen.

“What’s this?” she asked Jason, sinking into a chair.

“Jai-alai. The best game in the world.”

For a moment she watched in silence. The ball, the pelote, seemed to have a life all of its own, and the players, with their gloves shaped like wicker mudguards, leapt higher and higher in their efforts to catch the ball and fling it back again at the granite wall.

Then other things began to catch her attention. Bookies were lined up against the wall and Filipinos squashed each other, pushed and shoved in their anxiety to place their bets.

“Do look!” Jonquil cried out. “The odds are higher on red. Let’s go down and put something on them.”

They turned out their pockets, found that they had more than sufficient pesos between them and gave them to the smiling barman who agreed to see that their bet was sent down before the game ended.

“Reds not very lucky tonight,” he warned them. “I support Blue.”

“You’ll lose,” Jonquil assured him equally solemnly.

He waved his hands in the air in shocked surprise.

“But I am Filipino!”

“And I’m Australian!”

“Ah!” His smile broadened. “So, we shall see! And still laughing he turned away to serve some
other customers.

Jason took her to a table where she could see the game more clearly and they watched fascinated as the game went on.

So engrossed did they become that they failed to notice the arrival of another European in the bar until he had come right up to them. He was a pleasant-looking young man, with hair as fair as Jason’s was dark and a younger look around the mouth and chin.

“It is Mr. Jason Tate?” he asked in deprecatory tones.

Jason looked up and nodded, half rising to his f
eet.

“My name is Edward Keeving,” the young man went on. “I was told to look out for you by my father. He’s sending me to Japan later in the month to broaden our contacts with your firm.” The two men shook hands and Jason introduced him to Jonquil.

“I didn’t know Keeving Chemicals had become interested in Manila,” Jason said thoughtfully. “You must be expanding pretty rapidly.”

“We are,” Edward replied gently. “But this is no time to discuss business. I’m afraid that I’ve interrupted the game you were wat
c
hing.”

“It’s not important.” Jason dismissed it as though he had no interest whatever in which of the two sides was winning. “We are going down to dinner in a moment. Perhaps you would care to join us?”

“I should be delighted,” Mr. Keeving smiled. “I had forgotten your reputation as a work-eater,” he said smoothly. “Does Miss Kennedy also work in your department?”

Jonquil’s lips twitched into a mischievous smile.

“Why, no,”
she said. “We were only recently
introduced—by
—by a Japanese lady, Mitchi Boko.
”
She cast a quick, almost scared look of apology at Jason, wondering why she should have said such a thing.

Mr. Keeving’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully. “Indeed,” he said. “I too have the pleasure of knowing Miss Mitchi. She’s very lovely, don’t you think? And extremely clever.”

“She’s certainly very beautiful,” Jonquil agreed readily. “I don’t know how she manages to look so fragile.”

Mr. Keeving laughed at that, his fa
c
e looking even more boyish now that he was feeling more at home.

“That’s a Japanese secret,” he told her. “Their women must be the most feminine in the world!” He sat back in his chair and grinned. “But you must tell me how you persuaded Tate to leave his test-tubes. They were more than half expecting him at the laboratory I visited this morning.” Jonquil gave Jason a quick look of enquiry and was surprised to see him looking a little sheepish.

“Even a scientist wants an occasional day off,” he said defensively. “Besides, you would have got lost if I’d let you explore Manila on your own.”

They
smiled at each other—a secret smile, reminding each other how much they had enjoyed their day.

“It was fun,” Jonquil said reminiscently. “I almost wish we didn’t have to fly on to Japan tomorrow.”

Edward Keeving laughed again.

“But that wouldn’t agree with your plans, would it, Tate?” he asked slyly.

“No,” Jason agreed readily. “I have to be in Japan tomorrow night.”

It seemed odd to Jonquil that Mr. Keeving should know so much about Jason’s plans. He was obviously not a friend, indeed she doubted if he were even an acquaintance, for he had had to make sure that Jason was really the man he had thought he was. Of course if they both worked in the same circle he was bound to know roughly what Jason’s position would be, but not the details of where he would be in his off-duty times. Now, for instance, how had he known that he would find him here, at the Jai-alai building?

The questions in her mind showed in her eyes as she opened her mouth to ask him, but Jason shook his head, very quietly, at her and she relapsed into silence, more curious than ever.

“You mustn’t let me distract you from the game, Miss Kennedy. Which side are you backing?” Edward Keeving leant forward in his chair to get a closer look at the players. “I understand that local opinion favours the Blues.”

“That barman does,” Jonquil admitted
. “
But we’ve decided on the Reds.”

He nodded wisely. “You may be right,” he said. “The man who’s just come on looks good for anything.”
Jonquil looked down where he was pointing and saw that the Reds had indeed pulled something out of the bag. The young man was taller than the others and could jump much higher, giving him a tremendous advantage.

“These young men are very highly valued
in
the Philippines,” Mr. Keeving told her. “They are not allowed to perform if they are at all unwell. It’s rather like greyhound racing at home; vets swarming all over the place before the match begins.”

“You haven’t wasted much time
in
learning all the local customs,” Jason put in admiringly. “I lived once in Manila for a few months, but I never
knew that.”

Mr. Keeving coloured modestly, retiring hastily back into the recesses of his chair.

“I know very little really, he said hurriedly.
“Someone happened to tell me at the hotel where I’m staying.”

That led Jonquil to ask him whether he had seen the Jungle Bar, and, when he admitted that he hadn’t, she recommended it to him, and then it was time to go down to dinner.

“But what about our winnings?” Jonquil asked Jason as they were passing the bar.

Jason looked enquiringly at the barman.

“They will be brought to your table,” he assured them. “But the Blues, they will win!”

The dinner was excellent. Oysters were eaten by the two men, but Jonquil settled for shellfish cooked with rice and butter to such perfection that they melted in her mouth. It was difficult therefore to see why she should resent Mr. Keeving’s presence quite so much as she did. He was charming and she made all the motions of responding to that charm, while inwardly her whole body tingled with warnings that she could only put down to intuition. She didn’t like him. But she couldn’t say why.

At last it was over and she was able to plead that she was too tired to do anything but go back to her hotel.

“I shall hope to see something of you in Tokyo, Miss Kennedy,” Mr. Keeving said pleasantly.
“
You must let me take you to Boko’s restaurant. Perhaps she will introduce us both to Japanese cooking.”

“I should like that very much,” she said as warmly as she could.

“Then may I be permitted to know your address in Tokyo?”

Jonquil frowned. Did Englishmen still use such a formal mode of address, or was it just that Edward Keeving had been brought up in a particularly old-fashioned household?

“I shall be staying with a Mr. and Mrs. Buckmaster,” she told him. “I’m looking after their little boy while they are away in America,” She searched in her handbag. “I have the address somewhere here,” she said. “No, I haven
’t. I
gave it to you, with my passport!” She turned impulsively to Jason and then looked a little dismayed. “He’s looking after it for me as we
’
re travelling together,” she explained, wondering how she had ever allowed herself into such a situation that she had to explain her actions to someone like Mr. Keeving.

“Very wise! I only wish I had someone to look after my papers. However, there’s no need for Tate to turn out his pocket
s
. I know Mr. Buckmaster’s house quite well. I have a friend who lives next door.”

He smiled pleasantly and accompanied them out into the street.

“I shall stay on here for a while,” he said. “There is another game beginning and I should like to see it.”

Jonquil turned quickly to Jason.

“Is the previous game over, then?” she asked.

“Some time ago, I should imagine. I think Blue must have won after all, or we should have heard from our friend the barman.”

“I suppose so,” she agreed dejectedly. It was disappointing out of all proportion to its importance
.
It had been the last thing that she and Jason had been able to do together in Manila before Edward Keeving had joined them, and tomorrow they would be flying on to Japan and she might never see him again.

“Don’t be too upset,” he said gently. “Think how happy he will be that the Filipino luck was stronger than the Australian!”

Jonquil laughed, picturing the barman’s gratified triumph.

“I’ll bet he’s hugging himself with glee,” she said.

They walked slowly through the lit streets where the Spanish and American colonizers had left so deep a mark, but which nevertheless were all Filipino.

“It’s been a lovely day,” Jonquil yawned. “Thank you very much. It was nice of you to give it up to me instead of going to that laboratory.”

“
Wasn't it?”

He escorted her into the lift and pressed the button that took them whizzing up to the floor on
w
hich her room was situated.

“Have you got your key?” he asked her.

She nodded, sliding it into the lock.

Surely, she thought, he isn’t going to kiss me? Breathlessly she wondered what she would do if he did. He took the key from her and turned it in the lock, pushing the door open. She held her breath, astonished at how much she wanted him to kiss her. And yet, at the same time, she didn’t.
It was too soon.

They both heard the footsteps coming along the corridor and looked up enquiringly at the porter as he came hurrying towards them.

“There is a note for you, Madame,” he said breathlessly.

“For me?” She took it from him and tore it open. “Oh, Jason, we won!” she exclaimed. “Look!” She held out to him several notes, each one worth several pesos. “We actually won!”

His smile was very gentle.

“So we did!” he said, and gave her a push into her room.

It wasn’t until much later that she realized that he hadn’t seemed particularly pleased at all!

Jason had spent the whole flight to Japan deep in a scientific journal. It had looked very dull to Jonquil, but once she had seen the name of Keeving Chemicals and had tried to get a glimpse of what it was about. It was too technical for her to understand, however, and she came to the conclusion that he was reading up about the firm before he met Edward Keeving officially in Tokyo.

In a way she was glad that he didn’t want to talk. She had too much to think about herself. Never before had she wanted a man to kiss her, and it was difficult to believe, even now, the restless happiness that had been with her all night long. She had no means of knowing whether he had actually been going to embrace her, but the very thought of such a thing disturbed her. She didn’t want to get involved with romance while she was in Japan. She wanted her time to see as much as she could of the country. She wouldn’t have time for anything else—though she had to admit that Jason had seriously shaken
that
resolution
!