The Silver Lotus (36 page)

Captain Hammond, who had rarely ever attended a gathering of this caliber, and certainly never in the company of his wife, was truly amazed, and not a little disconcerted, to discover how much attention she was attracting. In fact, in a ballroom hosting a hundred fashionable and attractive women, Lady Yee seemed to be the only point of focus for most of the men present.

It was after a stylish buffet supper that Lady Yee was introduced to an elegantly dressed Russian gentleman by the name of Peter Carl Gustavovich. Small and personable, he appeared to be in his early sixties and claimed St. Petersburg as his home. The two communicated quite easily in French, and seemed at home in each other's company. Upon politely inquiring as to the gentleman's profession, Lady Yee received a rather disjointed response having to do with special commission work. Finally he admitted that he was in fact a designer of fine jewelry, and confided that he had been sent to Canton to purchase rare jewels for his wealthy patrons in Russia. Without a second thought, Lady Yee grasped her opportunity like a trout takes a mayfly. She modestly asked Mr. Gustavovich if he might be interested in seeing her collection of large baroque pearls. She enticed him further by describing the size, shape, and color of some of the bigger specimens in her collection. Mr. Gustavovich appeared more than just a little interested. Then Lady Yee baited the hook by discreetly casting her gaze downward, and hinting that the whole collection, excepting one stone, might be for sale, if the right price were proposed. She invited the little Russian gentleman to take tea and view her trifling collection on Wednesday afternoon two
days hence, while Captain Hammond went downriver with his father-in-law to inspect a ship they intended to charter.

With Ah Chu's assistance, Lady Yee entertained Mr. Gustavovich with a complete Russian high tea. Her tea was chaperoned, as custom dictated, by two female relatives and her maid, none of whom had the least idea what was transpiring before their eyes.

At the appropriate time in her conversation with the little Russian, Lady Yee withdrew a silk and satin purse from her copious sleeve and revealed the contents by pouring the pearls onto a red silk pillow. Mr. Gustavovich was almost dumbstruck. His eyes widened, he stuttered a few odd words in French, and while reaching for a jeweler's lens in his vest pocket began talking to himself in very rapid Russian. Forgetting all else, he carefully examined each pearl, and set each aside in separate piles based on size and shape. Then he did something rather odd. He casually began to take stones from various piles and arrange them together in strange patterns that had little or no symmetry. He asked which pearl was excluded from consideration, and Lady Yee picked out a large double-lobed pink pearl that looked very much like a heart. She said that she planned to have it mounted as a pendant for her daughter when she grew older. Mr. Gustavovich smiled and nodded his head. Begging his hostess's indulgence, he withdrew pocketbook and pen and began to make detailed notes. From another pocket he withdrew a small silver box containing a cunning little pocket scale and miniscule counterweights. With Lady Yee's permission, he weighed every pearl carefully and made a note of the weight next to a simple sketch of its shape and general size. When he'd finished this task, he carefully put the pearls back in their purse and handed it reverently back to Lady Yee. Then they finished their tea very pleasantly, and talked on several interesting subjects without mentioning another word about the pearls.

Just before taking his leave, and with many compliments over the care taken to make him feel at home, Mr. Gustavovich made a notation
on the back of an engraved calling card and then placed it on the table between them note side down. Lady Yee left it where it was and politely escorted her guest through the flowering central court with its decorated fishpond and up to the gate. Here he thanked Lady Yee again and departed promising to repay the honor at his earliest convenience.

When she returned to her place, Lady Yee picked up the card, turned it over, and read the back. There was a figure written there beginning with an English pound sign. Dusting off her mental abacus, she translated the figure into American dollars, and this time she was the one who looked surprised. If her math was correct, and it usually was, Lady Yee had just been offered three times what she had paid for the pearls in Monterey.

The one other person who seemed to derive great pleasure and some profit from being back in Canton was Ah Chu. He convinced Lady Yee to allow him to purchase new kitchen equipment. He then ordered custom-made woks, steamers, kitchen knives, and other cooking utensils. He said he intended to refurbish the kitchen in the Monterey house with goods fit for a lifetime of use, and only the best was worthy of Lady Yee's table, to say nothing of Ah Chu's considerable talents.

Ah Chu also invested some of his own money to purchase rare Chinese herbs and condiments not available in California. He knew by reputation a number of professional chefs who worked for wealthy Chinese families in California. They would pay top dollar for certain exotic items, like pickled stingray roe or Persian smoked oyster paste, but only if they knew the complete provenance of the product. In effect, it had to be delivered under seal, and there were only certain companies in China who were licensed to do so. Additionally, the buyers, who it must be assumed knew what they were purchasing, had to thoroughly trust the professional standing of the person who had originally purchased the goods. Ah Chu also knew they would trust another professional chef of status before they would trust a spice broker, for those
men, not being cooks, were sometimes fooled by clever counterfeits. Ah Chu, who was nothing if not cunning, knew that he would gain great face and reputation if could befriend renowned members of his own profession, and the best way to do that was to create a network of amicable obligations based on mutual needs. But sadly he ran short of enough money to buy in bulk.

Lady Yee knew of his scheme, of course, as nothing ever really escaped her notice, and she kindly offered to loan Ah Chu the necessary funds to accomplish his purpose. However, she required the loan to be secured by his future wages, and this, she hoped, would force her minion-cook to pay extremely close attention to every detail of his transactions. She reminded him, in no uncertain terms, that he would be the only loser if he misjudged the needs of his proposed clients by so much as a misplaced cardamom seed. Ah Chu bowed with gratitude and signed the contract.

With Master Yee's many connections, Captain Hammond arranged numerous excursions for the family into the countryside and up the Zhu River. They visited many famous Buddhist temples and shrines, and sites of historical interest, but most of the time they preferred to travel to sites of great natural beauty. After six months in Canton, and with the application of regular study supervised by a paid tutor, Macy and Silver were speaking and reading Cantonese with surprising dexterity. It seemed that every day they absorbed more and more of the nuance and subtlety of the language. After a while they rarely spoke English except to their father, and he was away on business with their grandfather a good deal of the time. Every day, because they played with Chinese children, were cared for by Chinese servants, and tutored by Chinese teachers, Macy and Silver became more and more Chinese in manners, dress, and custom. Indeed, Lady Yee was hard-pressed to get them to keep up with their studies in English and history.

August promised to be hot, dry, and dusty, and people almost prayed for a monsoon, regardless of the danger, just to have fresh stocks of clean water, and possibly raise the level of the river to help bring back the fish. August 10 was also Macy's eighth birthday, and her grandfather had promised her something special. In fact, he took all the arrangements into his own hands and refused to share his plans with anyone, including his daughter. On the morning of her birthday, the maids dressed Macy in especially beautiful robes that her mother had commissioned. The garment was made of the finest black silk and intricately embroidered with golden dragons flying above blue cranes at rest, green turtles basking, and red fish swimming beneath silver water lilies. Macy loved it at once, and swore she would never take it off. She said it was magic, and she believed she could make magic happen if she wore the robes to the exclusion of all else.

The celebrations started early. Master Yee had arranged to have all the foods prepared in his own large kitchens and then delivered across the way to the captain's house, and Ah Chu happily volunteered to prepare all of Macy's favorite foods, including, of all things, ice cream flavored with all kinds of fruit syrups. An air of marked anticipation, punctuated by the strange sounds that could be heard coming from their grandfather's house, kept Macy and Silver on an emotional edge that their father found most amusing.

Guests began paying calls at ten in the morning, and the only ticket required was to bring a child. There was plenty of food and drink for all, and people were encouraged to indulge themselves, and even take food home to share with other family members. The central court and public rooms were almost overflowing with forty adults and as many children. Then suddenly, on the stroke of noon, the raucous sounds of crashing cymbals and blaring horns came from just outside the front gate of the compound. When a servant opened the gate, Master Yee entered wearing elaborate robes and carrying a long white staff. Behind
him entered three jugglers dressed as clowns and a man with a trained monkey that could do the most amazing gymnastics. Master Yee came forward and called out to his granddaughter to join him. Macy ran up, took his hand, and smiled up into his eyes. Then Master Yee announced that everyone was invited next door to enjoy a full circus of entertainments and refreshments. They led the way with all the other children laughing and clapping and following behind.

As it turned out, Master Yee engaged the whole Canton circus, and there were over sixty performers of all kinds in attendance. There were marvelous acrobats, and jugglers who could balance and toss about an amazing variety of things, including furniture. Macy was particularly drawn to a magician with an ominous-sounding name. He was titled the Great Wizard Yea-Wu Shoo, and he could do the most sensational things of all. He made the gymnastic monkey climb a rope and just disappear. He made plants grow, flower, and fruit within minutes. He made a dozen pheasants fly out of an empty basket, and made spirit money grow from a burning tea plant. The wizard possessed a full quiver of magnificent illusions, but he won Macy's heart when he had her magically float in midair out over the audience while seated cross-legged on a small Indian carpet and casting little wrapped sweets to the other children from a basket, as she floated about overhead. There was a man who had trained twenty white cats to do tricks, and another who could coax dogs to dance on their hind legs to music. Then there were more clowns, who jigged about and got into amusing situations.

The entertainments came to a close with a beautiful little fireworks display, followed by red and gold temple lions dancing to music and balancing on big gold balls. The general festivities ended at four, and the guests politely thanked Macy and her family for being honored with an invitation, and then departed, taking away small parcels of food and sweets for others less fortunate.

That same afternoon at five, Macy participated in a Chinese birthday tradition. In the company of about twenty Yee relatives and her parents, Macy went in a procession to the family shrine overlooking the river. Her mother had rehearsed the ceremony with her. She taught Macy how to make offerings and address prayers to her venerable ancestors, and how to petition heaven for the blessings so necessary to the survival of the clan and the nation.

The afternoon sun was soon shrouded in dark clouds that seemed to herald rain, but never delivered. It had been the same for many weeks, and if indeed there had been rain, it never reached the ground. The dry heat and dust remained unaltered, and the rain never materialized despite the presence of thunder and lightning on many occasions. It seemed the clouds' promise of rain would never be fulfilled, and this only heightened the people's deepest frustrations, and inclined them to believe that perhaps they no longer merited heaven's blessings or consideration.

Macy performed all the rites flawlessly. She clapped three times, thanked heaven for the privilege of life, and with her little hands pressed together in supplication she called upon the spirits of her Chinese ancestors to intercede with heaven on behalf of the family, the clan, and the nation. Then Lady Yee lit a bundle of incense for her daughter, and Macy placed the smoky fragrant sticks in an ancient stone bowl filled with black sand that stood in the middle of the ornate altar. She then reverently placed offerings of salt, rice, fruit, and wine on the altar, after which she stood back, bowed her head in prayer, and clapped three times again. Then Macy, as was sometimes her habit, did something that totally surprised everyone, and even shocked some of the elder members of the family. Her whole demeanor changed, and Macy stamped her foot like the angry mandarins she had seen at the Chinese opera. To Lady Yee's utter surprise and consternation, Macy proceeded to politely admonish her venerable ancestors for not petitioning heaven
strongly enough to relieve the people's suffering. She said the clan had been blessed with great prosperity and influence, and now was the time to repay their debts. The people needed rice, and grain, and fish, and clean water, and none of this would come to pass without heavenly intervention, so she encouraged her ancestors to redouble their efforts on behalf of all the people, and not just the Yee clan.

There was a shocked, stunned silence. Without the least consideration that she had done anything either inappropriate or unworthy, Macy turned from the altar, walked up to her grandfather, bowed, and looked up at him with a sweet, innocent smile. Master Yee tried his best to maintain a stern expression, but he just couldn't manage it. Macy then took his hand and led him out to the covered veranda that fronted the shrine. The other guests followed silently, not sure of what to say. Then Master Yee looked down at his beautiful granddaughter and asked why she had spoken as she did in front of her ancestors. Macy simply replied that they were very old, and very tired, and needed to be awakened to the problems of this world, not heaven. She giggled and said that's the way her mother always spoke to her when she didn't want to get out of bed, or do her lessons properly. This answer so charmed Master Yee that he began to laugh, and the others chuckled self-consciously not knowing what to make of it all. Macy sensed their discomfort and disapproval, so she turned to her grandfather and cited an old Chinese proverb. She said ancestors and gods were always amenable, but like cats, you first had to get their full attention.