The Silver Lotus (41 page)

Lady Yee also discovered a padded silk pouch. The pouch was segmented into eight separate pockets, and they contained eight perfectly matched pear-cut rubies. According to the Chinese invoice contained in the pouch, the stones were near-perfect and weighed almost eight karats each. A note attached to the inventory said that the stones were
to be liquidated, and the money held for Master Yee's granddaughter as a wedding dowry, or, if she preferred, she could make use of the stones as she pleased.

Macy soon came to know of the passing of her grandfather from her own sources. She was saddened, to be sure, but the death of her father and brother had wrung the more demonstrative expressions of her grief from her expression. Master Yee's passing after so many successful years of adventuresome prosperity seemed appropriate in the scheme of things, whereas the other personal tragedies seemed somehow out of balance. In this regard, Macy seemed to become more like her mother every day, and though she never lost her sense of humor, Macy became more circumspect about those events in her life over which she had no influence.

The next day Lady Yee put her abacus to work, and compensating for currency differences, she did a detailed inventory of the chest. Aside from the gold cash sticks and the matched rubies, she appraised the value of the chest's contents at somewhere around seven hundred and eighty thousand American dollars. Counted together with her husband's legacy and her own personal fortune, this effectively made Lady Yee the richest and consequently the most powerful Chinese woman in the Americas. This was a fact that Lady Yee, like her late father, worked very diligently to disguise, and that wasn't easy. Her company traded in a score of foreign and domestic markets, and her company banner flew above four burly steam-driven freighters, two of which she owned, and two that she and her husband had chartered since returning to California. All four ships were set up for the grain and rubber trade, and Captain Penn was made commodore of the little fleet. California grains were shipped west to Canton, and Chinese silks, pottery, and finished goods went from Canton to Malaysia, where they were traded for raw Malaysian rubber, which came east again. It was an established circuit of loosely united trading factors that had been put together by Master
Yee himself. He had arranged the lucrative triangle in gratitude for his son-in-law's extending such enormous amounts of credit on grain purchases. In fact, the circuit ran so smoothly that Lady Yee barely gave it a second thought. Mr. Bishop, who now kept residences in San Francisco and Monterey to facilitate Lady Yee's business interests, received, copied, and forwarded all pertinent documents by special messenger to her.

23

AS THE YEARS PASSED, there were those few occasions when Lady Yee was required to travel to San Francisco with Mr. Bishop on special business. She made a point of taking her daughter along as a means of introducing her to a wider world of society.

By this time, Macy had become a strikingly beautiful young woman. She had grown tall and well framed, and she had inherited her father's copper-bright auburn hair. Her long locks veritably sparkled with golden highlights when she walked in the sunlight. She possessed almost azure-blue eyes that were framed by arched lids that spoke of her Chinese ancestry, and she moved with a natural grace and confidence that reflected an ancient sense of purpose and dignity that was obvious to all at first sight. Indeed, whenever Macy entered a public room, all eyes, both men's and women's, turned to her. The strange thing was that Macy had no idea of her effect on people. In fact, she didn't think she was particularly pretty, though most would argue to the contrary.

Soon after her father died, Macy took possession of his study and his library, and began to read all his books. Seeing that this proximity to her father's favorite possessions gave her daughter some peace and happiness, Lady Yee made no objection, but she thought it best to employ a series of retired scholars to help tutor and guide Macy through the complex labyrinths of philosophy, history, science, and art that waited
on the study shelves like jessed birds of prey. Macy's favorite teacher was an old Chinese gentleman named Quan-Hu Shu. He had once been the tutor for the children of a very powerful mandarin dignitary. He spoke four dialects of Chinese, as well as reasonable English and some French, but his avocation in later life had become the study of Arabic, Hebrew, and Greek. For reasons that Lady Yee was hard-pressed to explain to herself, much less others, Macy had taken a deep interest in the old scholar's studies, and asked to be taught to read and write in Arabic and Greek. Again, Lady Yee felt the distraction of study was far preferable to other methods of dealing with grief.

When Macy turned seventeen, Lady Yee decided it might help her education to be exposed to the broader world of fashionable society. She arranged to take two connecting suites at the stylish Mason House on Nob Hill in San Francisco. While there, Lady Yee and her daughter were invited to a celebratory birthday ball hosted by the Russian legation. It was to be a very grand affair marking the young czar's birthday, and everybody of importance or influence in the city was sure to be present. Lady Yee stinted on nothing to see that her daughter was attired in the latest Parisian fashion for the occasion, and even allowed her to wear her great-grandmother's magnificent triple-rope choker of matched swallow's egg pearls. She added her own Persian-crafted emerald earrings and bracelets, which harmonized with Macy's eyes and complemented her sea-green satin gown.

Though she had always hoped for more from her adopted country, Lady Yee well understood that there was little real sophistication or delicacy entailed with present American courting traditions, and there was certainly no real subtlety to the ancient Anglo-Saxon or Latin practices of presenting eligible daughters to the gaze of an audience of eligible bachelors. In some instances, powerful families sought brides for their sons, preferably without complaint, for the sole purpose of financial or political connections.

Lady Yee knew the game well and had certainly circumvented all custom where Captain Hammond was concerned, so she knew her brilliant and willful daughter would always find her own way in the end. The one tactic Lady Yee had readily at hand was the illusion of great wealth, and the diffidence not to mind the appearance of great wealth. She adorned her daughter in the indisputable social armor of her day, wealth, and in such a regal manner as to declare to any prospective suitors that they had best be able to match and better the stakes, or simply stay away and save face. The rest of the process would take care of itself in due time, as it had for centuries past. But in all of that, Lady Yee was more than confident that Macy's keen intelligence, intuitive social equilibrium, refreshing Asian manners, and winning personality would eventually steal the wind from any competitive sails maneuvering on the same tack. And if that lacked impact, her daughter's sense of humor, sometimes wreathed in absurd Latin or Greek quotations, was bound to seduce the educated and baffle the ignorant, which always saved time in the long run. Macy, like her mother, had little patience with bigots or fools, but unlike most young people, she knew the fine art of keeping her opinions well guarded.

The czar's birthday ball was a marvelous success according to all who attended. Even the San Francisco papers touted the event as the most fashionable, well-attended, and socially complete gathering the city had witnessed since California became a state. However, this occasion was further honored by the presence of the diplomatic corps of eight countries, most attired in extravagant, gold-burnished versions of national uniforms. Some senior diplomats of the old imperial school sported cocked hats and egret feathers, but those of the highest rank, and therefore beyond all common comparison, were inevitably plumed in black swallowtail coats, starched white linens, satin cravats, gold and jeweled appointments, long evening capes, and tall silk hats.

Lady Yee, on the other hand, being a mother and a widow, was modestly but elegantly gowned in cobalt-blue satin, very subtly embroidered with flying cranes picked out with silver thread. She wore full-length white kid gloves, and a silver shawl made of the finest Chinese silk, edged in freshwater seed pearls the color of malachite.

Lady Yee usually prided herself on predicting most social eventualities, but in this case she had to admit that Macy was fishing in deep waters for the first time. So to cover those hidden eventualities properly, she saw to it that they were accompanied to the Romanoff birthday extravaganza by none other than her old friend and business attorney, Mr. Bishop. He in turn was so surprised and personally moved at being asked to fulfill such a gallant role on behalf of his longtime employer that he suddenly lost all sense of proportion, and went out and spent a month's earnings by commissioning the finest Italian tailor in San Francisco to reproduce the newest in silk formal attire including, to be sure, patent leather shoes, top hat, and an ivory-capped walking stick with his name inlaid with gold wire.

And though they were very touched by Mr. Bishop's almost boyish enthusiasm for the role assigned, both Lady Yee and Macy privately agreed, with forgivable laughter aside, that dear Mr. Bishop and his festive wardrobe were ill matched at best. Macy said it was like watching a man at war with his own clothes, and sadly, Mr. Bishop was the only fatality. However, though Lady Yee might smile behind her sleeve, she felt obliged to remind her daughter that their faithful escort was widely known and well respected in many important circles, and as the long-standing representative of Hammond, Macy & Yee, was acknowledged by every important bank and trading house in California and the Pacific circuit.

Lady Yee had chosen her escort with care. Mr. Bishop had always represented her interests, and it was most fortuitous that he was present the night of the ball, because as fortune favors the novice, Macy somehow managed to draw the undivided attention of the grandest-looking
elk in the herd. He was young, he was almost theatrically handsome, and by all appearances he was very rich. He proved to be an honored scion of the Russian imperial diplomatic establishment, and was introduced to Lady Yee as Count Henri Pavel Volkofsky, special imperial secretary to the Russian legation from the court of the czar.

With Lady Yee's kind permission, the handsome young Russian begged every dance he could from Macy's card, and since Miss Hammond had only rarely been seen in such circles, she had many openings. Other young stags soon caught sight of Macy's undeniable beauty, grace, and apparent wealth, and they coursed to make their own formal introductions. However, the dashing young count proved truly dedicated. He very subtly pulled rank and graciously claimed all Macy's dances in the name of the czar, to whom he was proud to be distantly related. His grandmother, according to another guest, had been from a cadet branch of the Romanoff family.

At ten-thirty there was an intermission to the dancing, and an elegant little supper was served to various parties in small private dining rooms placed about the hall. The young count rushed to invite Lady Yee and her daughter to dine with his party. Lady Yee smiled as she immediately recognized that the fish was placing the hook in its own lip, and since she thoroughly trusted Macy's knowledge of the appropriate behavior required in such situations, she decided to let the quarry run with the line for a while. Thus Lady Yee graciously declined the young Russian's invitation on the grounds that she had prior social obligations. However, she said that Macy was free to accept if she chose to.

The young count humbly entreated Miss Hammond to join his party. He promised to personally return his guest to her mother at the conclusion of the meal. Macy looked at her mother for confirmation, and when she saw her mother's somewhat conspiratorial one-cornered grin, she knew that something was up, and she graciously accepted his kind invitation.

With Mr. Bishop to make all the necessary introductions, within three-quarters of an hour Lady Yee knew almost everything about Count Henri Pavel Volkofsky. Through various sources, she discovered that Count Volkofsky was the youngest of three sons of a prominent Russian diplomat who had held important portfolios as special ambassador to various troubled and dangerous postings, including the Levant, Korea, and Japan. None of these governments were particularly fond of Russia's historical encroachments, and keeping matters on an even keel required great diplomatic skill. Being the youngest son, Henri would not have inherited his father's title, but rather than allow his youngest son to enter the army or the priesthood when he was fifteen, as was tradition, his father sent Henri off to Paris with a French tutor to study international law, languages, and political history. The old count foresaw a diplomatic career for his youngest son. The name Volkofsky would be enough to gain him consideration in that field, while his older brother carried the title, ran the family's considerable estates, and paid court to the czar when necessary. The next youngest was a dashing major in a prestigious guards regiment in St. Petersburg. After eight years in Paris, young Henri had gained a scholastic reputation second to none, and was already being courted by the foreign service, the court attorney's office, and the diplomatic corps. Sadly, on the eve of his return to Russia, Henri's father and two older brothers were killed in a horrific train wreck that many believed was the work of anti-czarist revolutionaries. The young man returned home to discover that he was now Count Henri Pavel Volkofsky, owner of vast estates of well-watered farmland and the master of twenty thousand souls in sixteen villages and towns. Since his poor mother had died of a lung infection eight years before, Henri was left in complete control of a very substantial family fortune.

Lady Yee also discovered that the young count had a dedicated following of people who praised him for numerous superior qualities. He
was a gentleman born to the Enlightenment, and one who was uncomfortable being the absolute master of others. He had spent too long in Paris among illuminated minds ever to be content with a life in rural Russia, and to alleviate the pressure of administration the young count decided to lease a good portion of his arable land to the peasant farmers who worked the soil so diligently for generations. The saltworks, lead mines, and timber mills he turned over to his cousins to manage. They had been doing the job for almost a hundred years, and so Henri gave them a larger portion of the profits and allowed them to continue as part owners. He felt this would commit them to greater economy and secure their ongoing loyalty to his wishes. Henri then took over his father's palatial residence in St. Petersburg, and focused exclusively on installing himself in a favorable position with the imperial diplomatic corps. He had obviously succeeded in fulfilling his ambitions, and from all appearances with plenty of room to spare.