Chapter Thirty-Nine
Yihui heard the noise upstairs and worried for Max.
In the week that she’d been coming here to be taught how to behave, she and Max had often discussed his father’s illness.
She knew he struggled to balance respect for his elder, duty to his title, and his own personal honor.
For Yihui as a female child, her responsibilities had been so much less.
She was to do what her father commanded, even to the point of being sent to marry a foreign king to pay his gambling debts.
Blind obedience was terrible, but she didn’t have to daily question her path the way Max did.
So when he headed upstairs to speak with his father, she worried about what would come. Even if Max won this battle, how would it hurt his spirit to discipline a parent that he had once respected?
Though she didn’t say it, the duchess worried as well. They heard the sounds coming from upstairs and exchanged worried glances. And neither said a word as they waited in taut silence.
Then it went quiet. No outbursts, no thrown dishes, no thuds, thunks, nor raised voices. Whatever was going on upstairs, it had reached a balance point. And that, apparently, was enough to recall the duchess to her task.
“Now then,” she said, “from the beginning. Whom did William the Conqueror marry and who were his children?”
Yihui tried to remember, but the foreign names were so much nonsense to her. The duchess couldn’t understand why she could barely pronounce Plantagenet, much less remember who begat whom. By the time the knocker sounded, they were both relieved by the distraction.
The duchess looked up with a frown when an unfamiliar voice introduced himself as Mr. Reginald Karr. Yihui could see the woman struggle to place the name somewhere, anywhere in her prodigious memory. In the end, she put on a bland expression as the man was announced in the parlor.
Mr. Reginald Karr had a broad face, a placid smile, and a stiff bow. Yihui thought him a harmless kind of man who might or might not be a good customer one day, depending upon his female relations. Then he turned to greet her and spoke in Cantonese.
Her jaw dropped open in shock. How wonderful to hear her native language again, even when spoken in an English accent. It was so delightful, it took her a moment to answer while she blinked back tears of surprise.
“Greetings,” she finally managed in the same language. The word fell across her tongue like an old nail. “How are you?” Those words came a bit faster.
“I am doing well. Lord Maximus said you would be kind enough to speak to me in Chinese. I am so grateful to be able to practice.”
“We are speaking Cantonese,” she corrected. She switched to the emperor’s dialect. “This is Mandarin,” she said. “It is for all formal conversations with Peking.”
“I am not well versed in that,” he said, continuing in Cantonese.
“No matter,” she said honestly, switching back. Her words were speeding up now and she had to consciously remember to speak slowly for him. “This is the language of commerce from Canton, and it is wonderful to hear it again.”
They exchanged a few more pleasantries until the duchess cleared her throat in obvious irritation. “It is impolite,” the lady said, “to exclude one member from a conversation.”
Mr. Karr immediately turned to her, his expression contrite. “I do apologize, Your Grace. My excitement over being able to practice Chinese has overwhelmed my good sense.”
“Very well, sir. Can you explain the reason for your visit—”
“Reggie! You made it!” Max strode into the room like a returning prince. His expression was filled with good cheer, and though Yihui studied him closely for signs of distress, she could detect nothing but an impish delight in seeing his friend.
Or perhaps it was delight in introducing Mr. Kerr to her because he very quickly turned that devastating grin her way.
“This was my surprise,” he said. “I thought about how I might feel thrust into a country that was in every way different from my own. I thought I might long for even the smallest thing from home.” He gestured for Mr. Kerr to sit down even as he settled on the chair closest to her. “Was I right?” he pressed.
Yihui nodded, her eyes brimming with silly tears of delight. How could something so small fill her with so much joy that she was literally overflowing with it?
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“Reggie and I met in school, though he was a few years ahead of me. Then off he went to Canton with the East India company, and I’ve only recently renewed our friendship.”
“I only got back a year ago.”
“I found him thanks to my inquiries at the company office after you entered my life.” He smiled as if her appearance hadn’t disrupted every aspect of his life, and she lost herself in a rush of wishful feelings.
What if they had met as equals, as suitor and maiden, at one the ton balls?
What if she didn’t have to cry off in two weeks’ time? What if…
“Now, don’t be shy,” he said, oblivious to her thoughts. “Talk in Chinese as long as you like. Mother and I will be content to listen. Maybe we can learn something, eh?”
“Max!” his mother admonished, but he would not allow her to diminish his gift.
“Nonsense, Mama. Yihui has had to listen to us speak in English without stop. The least we can do is enjoy a bit of her beautiful language.”
“But I don’t understand a word of it!” his mother exclaimed.
“Then perhaps we could learn.”
Max was firm with his mother. And Yihui was sure to switch to English to include Max, his mother, and Emmaline when she joined them at dinner.
But even when the talk was in English, the discussion often centered on China.
Mr. Kerr had lived for a short time in Canton and knew a great deal about the city, but even he had questions about life inside the Middle Kingdom.
Given his interest and Max’s encouragement, Yihui had the most enjoyable evening of her entire life.
Her thoughts and opinions were respected.
The stories from Mr. Kerr were entertaining.
And she listened to thoughtful comments on the differences between their two countries.
For the first time, she saw a place for herself not just as a foreigner selling Chinese medicines, but as a woman who had something to share with the world.
And as a person who was learning about a new way of life—the English way of doing things.
Or perhaps it was Max’s way of doing things, because in every moment she felt his presence.
He was the one who had arranged this dinner.
He was the one who kept his mother from dominating the conversation to her narrow area of interest. And he was the one who pressed for more details, more thought, more exposure to the way she’d once lived.
Best of all, he was genuinely fascinated. She could see it in the sparkle of his eyes and the laughter that so often filled the room. He saw her and she, in turn, saw a place for him in her life.
They couldn’t marry. She knew that. But they could be something together. Friends, of course. Temporary support for her business, definitely. But she wanted more. For tonight, at least, she wanted a great deal more.
Eventually, Mr. Kerr had to take his leave. Emmaline and the duchess departed for the theater, escorted by someone too exalted for Yihui to meet. And Max did her the favor of offering to escort her home.
She agreed, of course, and he helped her onto Blue all while looking around for Olivia. “Where is that girl? I can’t have her walking through London in the dark—”
“I sent her back earlier,” Yihui said. “She’s been working very hard for me and deserved an early night back in her own bed at the Rose Garden.”
He frowned. “I thought she had her own room at the apothecary.”
“Not yet. The furniture has not all arrived. Soon though.” She smiled at him. “Thanks to your loan, everything is coming together.”
“And the tutor? Has he been difficult?”
Yihui smiled. “He is perfect. He was excited to teach Millie arithmetic.” The man was young and too hungry to object to teaching a Chinese foreigner and a maid.
“Thank you for letting Millie come every day to help.” The girl still lived in the ducal home, but came at first light to work for Yihui and often stayed till dark.
“Millie’s learning arithmetic?” She heard surprise in his voice.
“She wants to master bookkeeping. I already taught her how to use an abacas. She is very smart and wasted as a maid, I think.”
“I think you are right.” He shook his head. “How many other bright people surround me but are lost for lack of opportunity?”
She glanced at him. “Do you think to provide teachers for all your servants?”
“I believe so. There are smart children throughout our estate. We have been remiss in not educating them before now.” Then he sighed. “In truth, my father has been remiss in a great many things. I have spent day and night in shock at what he and I have allowed.”
“You didn’t know.”
“I should have.”
She heard the weight of disgust in his voice.
Here was something of his character that she was only now beginning to appreciate.
He felt a personal responsibility for the people who worked his lands and served his meals.
Whereas her father cared only for money and the status he gained from serving elevated clients, Max tried to care for those around him.
She hadn’t realized until now, however, how that responsibility weighed upon him. Especially when he felt he had failed them.
“You are an honorable man,” she said. “Whatever is wrong was your father’s failure.”
“It will not be mine.”
She smiled. They had reached the entrance to the apothecary shop.
Every night for the last week he had escorted her here then taken his leave after a single, scorching kiss.
Olivia had carried her to her bedroom then.
And Olivia had helped her undress while she dreamed of what Max might have done if her servant wasn’t around.
So tonight, she had arranged for Olivia to sleep elsewhere. Druina, too, was gone, having traveled north to a relation who had seeds they needed. Recipes too, if all went well.
Which left her alone with Max.
“I hope you enjoyed tonight,” Max said. “I thought it wonderful.”
In China, refined women never made the first move. Even the whores pretended to an innocence they did not possess. But she had long since learned that women who waited on men often waited forever.
So with an anxiety that surprised her, she looked to Max and spoke words that she had never said to anyone.
“Come to my bed tonight, Max.”
His eyes widened and his breath caught. She saw hunger surge in his expression, before he shut it down and stepped back from her.
“You cannot praise me for my honor and then ask for such a thing.” He stroked her face, and she felt his fingers tremble.
“We have kissed before.”
“I should not have.” His lips quirked. “But I could not resist you.” His thumb trailed across her bottom lip. “You fascinate me, Yihui. And the more I learn, the more I want.”
“Then why deny—”
“Because I cannot. I will not treat you as my whore.” His words were crude, and though her blood was burning hot from his caress, she felt the violence in his rejection. Not of her, but at the way she might think.
“I know I am not your whore,” she said.
“Yihui—”
“I love you. And for once in my life, I would experience that with you.”