Chapter Twenty-Four
It was not fun. It was wonderful.
At first, all Yihui wanted was to remain seated upon this strange creature. She was a child who had run the streets of Canton, bringing medicines to one customer or another. But never had she sat atop a large animal and tried to match her movement to it.
Just going down the front steps had her terrified, but with Max holding her steady, she managed without tumbling headfirst down the stairs.
“See? Easy as dancing a jig.”
She had no idea what a jig was. Neither would she be dancing anytime soon. But she didn’t argue. He was too happy with his gift for her to dash his excitement. Plus, it felt good to have the sun on her face though she had to tilt her head back to a ridiculous degree to feel it beneath her bonnet.
Unfortunately, she didn’t have time to relax into the situation. They already had drawn attention from servant and dignitary alike.
“We’ll walk down the lane a ways. Let you get the hang of sitting astride.”
She nodded as if she understood. She did not. Instead, she focused on the sun in his hair, the light in his eyes, and the grin on his face. The man was excited to be walking with her.
“Tell me about this rickshaw thing. Do people really run in front of carriages like a mule?”
She spoke slowly, working for the English words.
“Horses are costly. Rich men pay for people to pull them in a chair.”
She started to explain more about the lives of wealthy men, but he seemed more interested in the runners. He was fascinated by the idea of old men run to exhaustion. He grinned when she spoke about young men strutting in their strength.
“I should love to see it one day.”
She would enjoy showing it to him, but that would never be. She would not return to China. By now her father would have figured out that her brothers did not know nearly as much as they pretended. He would know, to his shame, that he had traded away the one child who could run his business.
If she returned to China, he would find a way to capture her again.
And as much as she missed her mother and her younger brothers, her duty to her ancestors was done.
When she was sold to the Wong patriarch, she had cleared her father’s debts.
No child could be expected to do more. She would not return and risk falling under her father’s thumb again.
“I hope you get there one day,” she said.
“You will not show it to me?”
“I will never return.”
“But why?” he gestured about him. “Don’t you long for home?”
She looked at his bright eyes and happy smile. He truly did not understand his fortune.
“Not every home is as pleasant as yours.”
His expression sobered. “I am sorry.”
His statement took her by surprise. His words were said with a good heart and a kind face, but the disparity between them had never been larger.
He was a leader among his people, a man who was respected simply for breathing.
Even now, people all around them were angling for a way to speak to him.
She could see their intrigued looks and their prancing about to get his attention.
She was nobody. Even her own father had no idea of her worth. And yet, looking into his gentle eyes, she felt some of her fury fade. It was like looking at the sun and being annoyed that he did not understand she was a shadow.
She wanted to be in his light forever.
Then she lost the chance to respond. A couple walked up to them with bright words and false smiles. Max greeted them with matching brightness, bowing over the lady’s hand and saying things like, “What ho” to the man.
What did “What ho” mean?
She was introduced next and with Max’s help, she returned the welcome much as the other lady had. Her hand was kissed and when she turned to the woman, she said what he had said to the man.
“What ho, my lady?”
Laughter greeted her words. Clearly, she had made a mistake. She looked nervously at Max, but he patted her hand.
“What ho, indeed.”
There was more conversation which she could not completely follow. Something about the weather, she thought. And a party? There were several surreptitious glances at her feet, but Max had made sure that her gown covered them.
Then it was over. He nodded politely to them and walked on, bringing her with him.
“You handled that very well,” he said when they were out of earshot.
“They laughed at me.”
“They laughed because you are delightful. They are kind people or I would not have allowed them to approach.”
She fell silent. She did not like being the center of so much attention, even with his protection. She had no idea how to function in his world, and this felt very difficult. And yet he was smiling at her as if she had passed a great exam.
“Tell me more about your country,” he pressed. “You come from a working family, yes? Apothecaries. Did your brothers learn as well? Or did they choose something different?”
“Something different?”
“Well, yes. Perhaps the law or doctoring.”
“They will become apothecaries if they can, carrying on my father’s work. Neither of them seemed fit to take the government exam.”
“The government exam? That sounds fascinating.”
She thought of all the medicines she had brought to young men whose entire life would be determined by how they performed on one exam.
“It is a difficult test given to young men who study their entire lives for their moment. Those who pass will serve in the government. Their families will have honor, their life assured.”
“For government jobs? You mean like a barrister or a minister?”
She did not know those words. “It is a system that brings the smartest minds to serve the emperor.”
He gaped at her. “That’s extraordinary.”
“Even a shopkeeper can sire a brilliant child.”
He nodded slowly. “And all are given the opportunity?”
“Yes. Though only the wealthy can afford to teach their children what is required to pass the exam.”
“No doubt. No doubt.” He frowned at her. “But everyone may take the exam? Even a servant’s child?”
She was silent a moment, trying to judge his interest. “Doesn’t England have a way for the poor to advance? If the child is very, very smart?”
“Of course, we do. I mean, there are all sorts of ways for a child to have a better life than his parents.”
She watched his face carefully. She was in too precarious a position to argue with the man who controlled every aspect of her life.
And yet, as a daughter of China, she had seen so much that she had not been allowed to say.
She had slipped into sickrooms, hidden in the back counting houses, addressed the poor who could not afford a man’s services.
Her father had not wanted to spend his time on such people, so he had sent his daughter to get them away from the shop door. And she had gone to them and learned to listen. Like them, she’d had no power to change her circumstances, but they taught her how to listen.
“Tell me what you are thinking,” he commanded.
“Only that I am grateful—”
“No, don’t do that. Yihui, if I wanted flattery, I would be surrounded by very different people.”
Very well. If he wanted honesty, then she would give it to him. And if he did not like what she said, then she would judge him harsher for it. And perhaps, love him a little less.
“Why do you not teach your people to read?”
“What? We read and write.”
“Your servants do not.”
“Well, they can if they want. I don’t stop them from learning.”
She didn’t speak, but she was very well aware that she had to lie to the housekeeper to give Millie time to read with her. Millie wanted to better herself but had been given no time or opportunity.
Fortunately, he was thinking ahead, his mind already guessing her thoughts.
“I suppose there is little time for most of them. And who would teach them? Tutors are expensive.”
She nodded, not daring to speak.
“You know, Mother speaks of how I hated doing my lessons as a boy. Ran like the devil himself was on my tail. But a gentleman must know his letters.” He cut a hard glance at her. “Do you say that everyone reads in China?”
“No. But even the poorest know a few words. Our language is done in pictures. Everyone recognizes a few words.”
“It’s the same here. Most know their name. A few letters here and there. Numbers are more common.”
“But you value it, yes? Reading and writing is the basis of advancement, yes?”
He didn’t answer. They were distracted as another couple came to greet them. Yihui did better this time. She didn’t say anything but the barest hello and though the newcomers seemed disappointed by this, no one laughed at her.
They moved on a moment later and Max went straight back to their discussion.
“There was a boy in my village who was very smart. Mother allowed him to sit with me when the tutor came.” He gave a self-conscious shrug.
“It was the only way I would sit for instruction.” He sighed.
“It worked for months until Father stopped it. I was furious that I had to stay in and study when I didn’t want to, and my friend got to play when he wanted to study. ”
“What happened to the child?”
“He farms pigs just like his father. Does a good job of it. He’s very smart.”
“Can he read and write?”
“Some, I think.”
“You don’t know?”
He shrugged. “He’s one boy out of dozens on an estate we lived at for a few summers.
I have not kept track of them all.” And that thought troubled him.
She could tell by his tight expression. “I should find out. He was clever. Moreso than I.” He glanced at her.
“In China, he could have taken an exam, then? And gotten a government job?”
“If someone sponsored his education, yes. He would not be limited by his father’s occupation.”
“Yes, yes. We do that as well. If the boy catches our attention.”
There were more people on the street, more interruptions as they greeted every well-dressed soul who came by. She remained silent most of the time. So many words came too fast for her, but she was getting better.
And then, when it was time to return home, he demonstrated that he was still thinking on her words.
“You believe my servants want to read and write?”
Did she tell him about Millie? Did she risk—
“There must be someone,” he continued. “You would not bring this up if you didn’t know.”
It was the truth, and it was proof that he was clever in his own right.
“Who is it?”
“Max…” She didn’t know if it would get the girl in trouble.
“No, no, let me think.” A moment later he snapped his fingers. “What’s that maid’s name?”
“Millie.”
“She wants to learn?”
“She has been very helpful to me. We have been learning together.”
“Hmmm. Then I should get you both a proper tutor.”
She looked at him in surprise. A real teacher would make a world of difference. There were so many things she could not learn just by listening hard.
“I would be—”
“Very grateful. Yes, you say that a lot.”
“I am grateful.”
“And I am getting an education alongside you. Very well, any other servant who wants to read will be tutored as well.” He sighed. “Even if it means that the food is not always hot and my boots are not always black.”
She stared at him, her heart beating in her throat. How could she not love a man who listened? One who thought about his actions and changed them because of her words?
She had spoken her mind honestly and expected him to disappoint her. And yet now, she was deeper in love than ever before.
“Don’t look at me like that,” he grumbled. “It’s just a tutor. It’s nothing of import.”
“Millie will think it is a very great deal.”
He smiled, apparently pleased by her words. His step was jaunty as they climbed the stairs back to the house. He was jolly as they waited by the door and a stable hand held the pony. Then he scooped her up, but the moment they stepped into the house, his expression tightened into chagrin.
There, just coming down the stairs, was his mother with a furious expression on her powdered face.
“Have you taken leave of your senses?” the lady demanded.
Max sighed. “I’m mad as a hatter, Mother.” If his levity was meant to disarm her, he missed the mark badly. The lady pointed one long finger at the parlor.
“You will explain yourself right now!”
Yihui had so enjoyed her time with Max that his mother’s fury was very jarring.
It was not customary for her to say anything in these situations.
She had been trained since birth to hide in shadows.
But this short walk on a pony had changed her in some fundamental way.
She did not like to see the cloud come over Max’s face.
And though she did not know his mother well enough to understand how to divert her rage, she still took the risk.
She squeezed Max’s shoulder such that he looked directly at her.
“Are you mad,” she asked, “like the king is mad?” Millie had explained that the prince regent led the country because the king was very ill in his mind. “If so, you cannot be questioned. Everything you do is as if done by the Emperor of Heaven?”
She knew it wasn’t true, but it was the best joke she could come up with. Fortunately, it worked. Max grinned back at her, and his eyes seemed to dance with delight.
“Absolutely,” he said. “That’s exactly what it means.”