The Silver Lotus (3 page)

At first Master Yee truly believed he could weather the political and economic crisis, so he politely but very gratefully declined the offer. But quite soon his fast-eroding political influence, and the strained circumstance forced upon him by the gnashing ministers of trade and duties, changed his way of thinking. He soon bowed to Captain Hammond's timely and munificent suggestion.

It took eighteen long days and nights of very secret business manipulations, numerous clandestine household maneuvers, and a long train of nocturnal porters—who were paid well for silence—to accomplish everything that was necessary. With Master Yee's predators smelling blood, only days from the proverbial gates, early on the foggy morning of June 5, 1896, Captain Hammond's two stout ships sailed out of Canton harbor with the entire Yee clan and their faithful servants except the two older married daughters, whose husbands were fully equipped to protect their safety and honor. The Yee family and all their moveable wealth were comfortably stowed away and invoiced as Captain Hammond's private property, thus exempt from inspection
by treaty. For all intents, the Yee family just vanished like the morning fog. Their disappearance would soon become a mystery spoken of in every quarter, which was just as Master Yee and Captain Hammond had planned.

Per a private agreement, the two men kept their ultimate destination a secret from everyone until after they'd departed Canton, but it had already been decided that Singapore was the best possible choice to service Master Yee's present circumstances, as he had always maintained well-established trading offices and business associates in that busy port. In that he'd invariably entertained and honored all the right people, his relative safety in Singapore was a foregone conclusion.

Though it sometimes seemed the odds against success were almost beyond hope or prayer, Master Yee and Captain Hammond somehow managed to effect their departure from Canton without Master Yee's enemies being any the wiser for days. In fact, Master Yee, determined to have his revenge even at a distance, arranged his affairs in such a canny fashion that it appeared to one and all as though his sudden disappearance, and that of his family, had been the object of a deadly plot on the part of his political enemies. Only Master Yee's chief clerk, who had loyally stayed behind to cover his master's tracks and look after the warehouse business, knew the truth, and he was encouraged to say that he believed Master Yee and his family had been done away with, and all their goods stolen, for there was no other rational explanation for their sudden disappearance.

Lastly, Master Yee could not help himself against natural instincts that were overtly vengeful, so he set a deep hook in the bait. He created an elaborate but obviously fraudulent bill of sale for his own house and named his most caustically outspoken and dangerous adversary as the new owner. This done, Master Yee had his chief clerk sloppily forge his master's name and add a badly carved copy of Master Yee's chop to seal the document. Even a first-year student of law could have spotted it as
a forgery. As a last twist of the barb, Master Yee sent his clerk to secretly insert the document into the tax files of the office of government records. There it would be found when the inevitable investigation took place, or when the tax assessor came for his money. Whichever came first, Master Yee's bomb had a long and elegantly plaited fuse, and it went off in the face of his enemies exactly six months later.

By the time the authorities in Canton were informed that Master Yee was still alive and quite well in Singapore, it was too late to save the reputations and fortunes of his adversaries. The forged bill of sale still hung in the air like a floating recrimination, and Master Yee's many friends in Canton were more than willing to believe that he had only escaped to Singapore to save himself and his family from certain destruction at the hands of highly placed conspirators, which was the truth.

Nonetheless, no one ever thought to ask Master Yee how he had managed his spectacular disappearance, and certainly Captain Hammond's participation in the scheme was never divulged. This left the captain free to come and go to Canton on trading voyages and, with the help of Master Yee's chief clerk, stay abreast of news and business information so necessary for Master Yee's continuing success.

These strained and unusual circumstances placed Master Yee under great obligation to Captain Hammond for any number of private kindnesses as well as loyal business considerations, and Lady Yee privately rejoiced at the knowledge that her father was now under no illusions concerning his own social status. For despite his wealth, as a political refugee he had none. Without Captain Hammond's timely aid, the family would have been ruined and left destitute. Captain Hammond was in a position to ask for anything he wanted.

3

THE VOYAGE FROM Canton to Singapore was not without its hazards. Hammond's ships ran afoul of an unseasonal monsoon off the coast of China, which drove the vessels many miles off course and left almost all of the passengers weak from seasickness. The only person who seemed to thrive under the strain was Lady Yee. She thought the whole experience a wonderful adventure, and though she had never been to sea before, she expressed every confidence in Captain Hammond's abilities to get them to Singapore safely.

Over the long days aboard ship, Captain Hammond and Lady Yee were much in each other's company. She took her meals in the officers' saloon and spent much time on deck when the weather permitted. She was always brimming with intelligent questions about the ship and how it was sailed, and she boldly asked her questions of anybody at hand. She was especially fond of the ship's carpenter, Ho-John Woo, who was Chinese, but born in San Francisco.

Lady Yee was always most curious about everything nautical, but her pleasant manner and modesty soon made her a favorite with the crew, and they often vied with one another to please her in little ways. The French sailing master gave Lady Yee a beautiful fan made of whalebone that he had purchased for his own daughter, and some of the more gifted seamen carved scrimshaw boxes and decorative combs for her hair.

Captain Hammond, who had always been very attracted to Lady Yee, but of course at a very respectful distance, now found her in such close proximity that everything about her person, her presentation, her wit, and her broad intelligence seemed to entice him even further down the road of secret romantic speculations. Pluming even that enticement, the olfactory lure rested in the fact that Lady Yee always distinctly smelled like a cross of spring tea roses and night-blooming jasmine, and on occasion, when the sea winds blew hot and sultry, she also smelled of coconut-roasted cinnamon. The poor captain was most vulnerable while he stood night watch on the stern, because he could always smell Lady Yee's subtle perfume even before she arrived from the companionway on the deck below. She seemed to enjoy witnessing the change of watches at all hours, but most especially in the dead of night. It thus began to occur to Captain Hammond that Lady Yee had taken on the meter and pulse of his ship with true insight and compassion, and with that began a true friendship from his quarter.

Lady Yee spent much of her time looking to the comforts of her family. The storm's ferocity had overawed the power of candied ginger, dried papaya, and ginseng tea to stifle the agonizing symptoms of seasickness, but happily, aside from a slight residual weakness brought on by a lack of nutrition caused by nausea, the whole Yee family recovered nicely. Captain Hammond had generously given his stateroom to Master Yee and his wife, while he and the first officer moved in together with the purser so that Lady Yee and the chief maid might have a cabin to themselves. This only worked out because the three officers served on different watches and napped in the pilothouse when they could.

A few days after the conclusion of their journey, Lady Yee acknowledged the three officers' chivalry by giving each a large baroque pearl set in gold and crafted into an elegant tiepin. She presented the captain with the largest pearl of the three, but aside from innocent motives of gratitude, the underlying significance of the gift escaped Captain
Hammond altogether. Having little or no experience of feminine machinations where romance was concerned, he naturally believed that she had presented the gifts on behalf of her family. His lack of familiarity with such strange sensations insulated him from realizing that he had inadvertently fallen deeply in love with Lady Yee, and he became confused and disoriented by the maelstrom of emotions that assailed him every time he saw her.

Lady Yee, on the other hand, instinctually knew exactly what was afoot, and did everything she could, within the bounds of propriety, to stimulate his condition, hopefully to a point where he would be encouraged to take some overt steps in the desired direction she had already marked out in her own mind.

Lady Yee and Captain Hammond spent time together whenever there were a few leisure moments to spare. They read to each other from their favorite books in English, and when the other family members recovered their equilibrium, the captain and Lady Yee kept up the readings for their amusement. Lady Yee would read to her father in Chinese, and sometimes even translated Chinese texts for Captain Hammond, which he very much enjoyed. He found Chinese commentaries about pirates very edifying, as they remained an ongoing scourge. Merchant captains in the China trade, especially those who still used the economy of sail, were wise to voyage well armed and alert to every detail of their own security. By all accounts, Chinese pirates were an audacious breed, and they had been known to take ships many times their size for ransom. Lady Yee read one entry that talked about a pirate crew that captured a vessel while it was anchoring in the roadstead within sight of the authorities in Shanghai. Nothing could be done to save the ship in time.

Once Master Yee and his family had been safely ensconced in appropriate quarters in the Chinese quarter of Singapore, and his worldly wealth was securely stashed away, Captain Hammond purchased
lucrative cargos for his two ships, took his leave, and quietly sailed away. Though she showed no outward signs of distress, Lady Yee grieved at the captain's departure until her father informed her that Captain Hammond would be returning to Singapore to retrieve a special cargo in approximately two months' time.

Recovering her composure, Lady Yee became determined to substantially affix her own future happiness at the next feasible opportunity, regardless of any and all traditional obstacles. To that end she began to lay her plans and make her lists. She believed in lists—they helped her think in an orderly fashion—and at the top of her list Lady Yee had written the characters for “Prime the Celestial Well,” by which she meant laying the necessary foundation to gain her ends. Beneath the first entry she wrote, “Cue my beloved toward courage and empathy.”

Lady Yee might have saved herself all the concern and effort for the slight nubbin of good it accomplished. For while Captain Hammond was far away trading palm oil, rice, dried fruits, and building tools for prime Russian pelts, resin, and amber, something totally unforeseen transpired.

As sometimes happens to men habitually harnessed to the gnawing loneliness that comes with a life at sea, Captain Hammond awoke one day and somehow patently decided that he was indeed already deeply in love with a woman of phenomenal intellect, charm, and flawless compassion, and that woman was Lady Yee.

Being a creature accustomed to competition, he immediately concluded that it was time for him to move forward and, despite the obvious cultural difficulties that were sure to arise, take on the object of his growing adoration and press his suit before someone else, most likely a gentleman with far more impressive credentials, vied for the same goal. Soon the heart-struck captain was wandering the decks at night practicing courtly versions of his introductory speech to Master Yee. After all, asking such an important, powerful, and possibly dangerous man
for his daughter's hand in marriage wasn't like bargaining for a cargo of copra or cowhides. His presentation had better be clear-hearted, authentic in all particulars, and totally convincing. Yet there were other times on the windswept poop deck, though he blushed to think about it, when he practiced what he believed were grand romantic sentiments to be addressed to his intended, words hopefully composed to turn a girl's head in the direction of his affection.

When Captain Hammond at last sailed back into the roads of Singapore, he thought himself as prepared as crude nature could make him for the emotionally dangerous task ahead. In all modesty, he well knew he lacked the cultural sophistication so prized by educated Chinese, but he hoped his failings in that regard might be overlooked in favor of his strength of character, his joss, his complete lack of racial chauvinism, his obvious wealth, and his reputation for unimpeachable loyalty, not to mention his growing and unassailable adoration for Lady Yee.

Little did the captain know that Lady Yee had arranged to be the only one awaiting his arrival at the Yee company pier, and she too had come armed, like Cupid, with an emotional quiver of her own expectations and hopes. For even as her father suspected, she had in fact been deeply enamored with this handsome and gentle barbarian for more than three years. Her approaching womanhood had only solidified her instincts and given them even greater substance, foundation, and justification.

When the couple finally met again on the pier, the captain suddenly stepped out of character and took Lady Yee's hands in his, but after a long searching moment he found he had lost his voice altogether. Lady Yee seemed to comprehend his predicament, for she squeezed his hands in warm reassurance, nodded, and then, standing on her toes, kissed him gently on the cheek. The captain was somewhat taken aback at such affection demonstrated in public, especially when instigated by a highborn Chinese daughter of a man who could have the captain's head
for the price of a sweet melon and a measure of rice. However, there was a clear, almost crystal quality about her moral certainty and courage that was intrinsically infectious, and before he knew what he was about, Captain Hammond drew Lady Yee's hands to his lips and gently kissed each in turn several times. Then he removed his grandfather's wedding ring, which had been made from a hundred-peso gold piece, and still without words, placed it in her palms and folded her fingers over it. She could feel his body heat still radiating from the pure gold. Their unspoken expressions of tender, loving consideration, melded with a growing passion, drove all the captain's schemes and rehearsed speeches away like dried leaves in an autumn breeze.