The Warning Voice (13 page)

‘This girl's gone out of her mind,' said Dai-yu. ‘Just these few days away and she's come back completely altered. I shall have to tell Her Old Ladyship about this tomorrow and get her to take you back. I'm afraid you can't stay with
me
any longer.'

‘I meant no harm,' said Nightingale. ‘I've only told you to think about it; I haven't asked you to do anything wicked. Why
should
you tell Her Old Ladyship? It'll only get me into trouble, and what good will that do you?'

She said no more, and presently went to sleep.

Not so Dai-yu. However she might have concealed the fact from Nightingale, she was deeply affected by what the maid had said, and while Nightingale slept beside her, she lay awake weeping through the greater part of the night. The darkness was beginning to lighten when she finally dropped off to sleep. Washing that morning required an effort. Not long after she had finished her bird's nest syrup, Grandmother Jia came in person to see her and waxed eloquent on the importance of getting well.

Next day there was another party for the employees of the Xue family at which Xue Ke acted as host on his aunt's behalf. There were more festivities on the day which followed. Altogether three or four days were spent just in celebrating the one birthday.

Aunt Xue was very impressed with what she had seen of Xing Xiu-yan. She was such a refined, serious girl, in spite of her unfortunate upbringing: the very model of ‘virtue in homespun and a wooden hairpin'. Aunt Xue had thought of her as a possible daughter-in-law, but when she reflected on the lawless nature of her son, it seemed a pity that so nice a girl should be thrown away on him. She was still trying to make her mind up about this when suddenly it occurred to her that Xue Ke was not yet betrothed and that he and Xiu-yan would make an ideal couple. She decided to ask Xi-feng for her advice. Xi-feng was enthusiastic.

‘But you know how difficult Lady Xing can be,' she said. ‘Why don't you leave it to me, Auntie? Let me deal with it in my own time.'

She found her opportunity of broaching the subject when Grandmother Jia next came to call on her.

‘There's something my Aunt Xue wants you to do for her, Grannie, but she's a little bit shy of asking.'

‘Oh? What's that?' said Grandmother Jia.

She laughed when Xi-feng explained.

‘Good gracious, that's nothing to be shy about! It's a splendid idea. Let me have a talk with your mother-in-law about this. She won't refuse, I promise you.'

As soon as she was back in her own apartment, she summoned Lady Xing and proposed the match to her, urging its suitability in forceful terms.

Lady Xing did some rapid thinking: the Xue family were of respectable origins; they were immensely rich; Xue Ke was a good-looking boy; and Grandmother Jia was making herself responsible for the match. Confident that she would be able to turn it to her own advantage, she assented, to Grandmother Jia's intense satisfaction, without more ado. The
presence of Aunt Xue was now requested and the self-abasing civilities customary on these occasions exchanged between her and Lady Xing. When these had somewhat abated, Lady Xing sent someone to inform Xing Xiu-yan's parents, Xing Dequan and his wife, of the Xue family's proposal. Living as they now did on Lady Xing's charity, they were scarcely in a position to refuse even if they wanted to, and the messenger was soon back again reporting their prompt and enthusiastic acceptance.

‘I love meddling in other people's affairs,' said Grandmother Jia jovially. ‘I seem to have meddled successfully in this one. I hope I am going to be paid something for my services.'

‘Of course,' said Aunt Xue. ‘The only difficulty will be knowing how much to give you. What shall we say? Ten thousand taels? Probably you would regard that as too little! What we really need is a sponsor to settle these matters for us.'

‘We may be short of manpower in this family,' said Grandmother Jia, ‘but I dare say we could rustle up a couple of cripples for you!'

She sent someone to fetch You-shi and her daughter-in-law from Ning-guo House. As soon as they arrived, she explained why she had invited them, whereupon they turned to the other two ladies and offered them their congratulations.

‘Now,' sáid Grandmother Jia when they had finished, ‘you know our way of doing things in this family, don't you – you know we never haggle about bride-prices and “face” and that sort of thing? We want you to act as a third party and settle this for us. What we want is a settlement that is not too lavish and yet not too economical: something between the two. And when you've worked out what each of the parties should contribute, come and tell me what you have decided.'

You-shi promptly agreed to do this. Aunt Xue, delighted that everything had gone off so well, hurried home and at once had a formal invitation to act as marriage-sponsor drawn up and sent over to Ning-guo House to confirm the arrangement.

You-shi knew Lady Xing too well to want to be mixed up
in any affair – particularly one of a pecuniary nature – to which she was a party. She had agreed in this instance only because Grandmother Jia had asked her to and she could not very well refuse. In the event she simply arranged matters in the way she thought would best please Lady Xing. Aunt Xue was a very accommodating person and could be relied on to fall in with almost any terms. But it is not with details such as these that our narrative is concerned.

Aunt Xue's betrothal of her nephew to Xing Xiu-yan was soon common knowledge throughout the household. At first Lady Xing wanted to segregate the girl by moving her in with herself, but Grandmother Jia objected.

‘Surely she can stay where she is? She can't see anything of the
boy
, of course, but surely there's no harm in her continuing to see Mrs Xue and Bao-chai and little Qin? They're all females, after all. It will be
cosier
if they get to know each other better.'

Lady Xing did not renew her offer.

And what of the parties themselves? Xue Ke and Xing Xiu-yan had met briefly on the journey to the capital and there was no reason to suppose that they were not extremely pleased with the betrothal. Inevitably Xiu-yan became a little more withdrawn after it, spending rather less of her time in Bao-chai's and Bao-qin's company and speaking, when she was in it, rather more sparingly. But this was partly because Shi Xiang-yun was such a tease. Fortunately she was far too intelligent and well-bred to indulge in any of that false modesty, so common among girls in her position, which shows itself in affected simpering and ridiculous grimaces.

Ever since the day they first met, Bao-chai had felt sorry for Xiu-yan. First of all she was so poor. And then there was her father. Unlike most of the fathers that Bao-chai knew about – grave gentlemen who had gained wisdom with their years – Xiu-yan's father was a drunken sot who took little interest in his daughter's welfare. As for Lady Xing, Bao-chai could see that the affection she showed her niece was simulated and that really she did not care for her in the least. And Ying-chun, whose apartment she shared, was too docile to assert herself even on her own behalf, let alone anyone else's.
Since Xiu-yan was too proud to ask for things, this meant that whenever anything was lacking, even one of the simple necessities of life, she had simply to go without it. Knowing this, Bao-chai did all she could to anticipate her wants; but she gave by stealth, careful lest Lady Xing, who was sensitive to gossip, if to nothing else, should get to hear of it.

Xiu-yan had learned to cherish Bao-chai as a special friend long before this magnificent betrothal so wildly beyond her own and everyone else's expectations and, after it, continued from time to time to confide in her. Bao-chai for her part continued to treat her as an intimate friend and would use none of the formalities that are customary between prospective sisters-in-law.

One day, when Bao-chai was on her way to visit Dai-yu, she caught sight of Xiu-yan, who, as it happened, was also on her way there. Bao-chai smiled and beckoned and waited for Xiu-yan to catch up with her. The two girls then walked on together until they came to the rear side of a miniature mountain of rock. There, where no prying eyes could see them, Bao-chai stopped again.

‘The weather is still really cold. Why have you changed out of your winter clothes already and put on single linings?'

Xiu-yan hung her head and said nothing. Bao-chai guessed at once that she had been forced to pawn them.

‘It must be because you haven't had this month's allowance yet,' she said. ‘How could Cousin Feng be so thoughtless?'

‘No,' said Xiu-yan. ‘She didn't forget. She paid the allowance on time. But Aunt Xing sent someone to tell me that she thought I didn't really need two taels a month and that I ought to contribute one of them towards my parents' upkeep. She said that if there ever
was
anything I needed, I could always hent it from Cousin Ying's things' – suppressed emotion was causing her to lapse into her native dialect -‘But I ask you, coz, how
could
I? Cousin Ying wouldn't mind – she is so meek – and she probably wouldn't notice, any road. But though
she
wouldn't say anything, you can be quite sure that the servants would. The nannies and maids in that apartment are such a prickly lot and so spiteful with their tongues. Although I am living there, I dare not ask them to do very
much for me, and even for what little they do I am expected to find money to buy them drinks and other little treats with every four or five days. Even when I was getting two taels it wasn't enough, and now it's only one. The only way of raising money I could think of was by pawning my winter clothes. I got someone to slip out and do it for me the other day.'

Bao-chai sighed.

‘It's a pity all the Mei family are away just now. Academician Mei isn't due back from his posting until the year after next. If they were here in town, Bao-qin could get married straight away and then we could go ahead with
your
affair and get you out of this mess. But as things are, your Prospective will never consent to get married before his sister, so the difficulty remains. I shall have to have a word with Mamma about this. Obviously you can't go on as you are. Another year or two like this and I am afraid you will go into a decline.

‘In future, if those people are nasty to you, you must learn to put up with it. You mustn't make yourself ill trying to please them. Perhaps you had better hand over the whole of your remaining tael to them when it comes: see if that will keep them quiet. But don't go treating them any more, whatever you do. Never mind the spiteful things they say to you. If it gets too bad, you can always walk away. And if you are short of anything, don't behave like a little frightened mouse; ask me straight out for it, without delay. I say this not because we are future sisters-in-law but because we are friends. We
are
friends, aren't we, and have been ever since you came? If you are afraid of gossip, don't come yourself when you want something, send your maid for it, then no one will know.'

Xiu-yan hung her head and the reply she made was scarcely audible. In order to change the subject, Bao-chai pointed to a green jade girdle-ring that was hanging from her waist.

‘Who gave you that?'

‘Cousin Tan,' said Xiu-yan.

Bao-chai nodded.

‘She must have noticed that all the other girls were wearing one of these things and wanted to spare you the embarrassment of being the only one without. It is typical of her to be so thoughtful. However, I think you ought to realize that
these sort of gewgaws are really for the daughters of mandarins and noblemen. Look at me: you don't see any jewellery on me. A few years ago, it's true, I would have been smothered with it; but I know now that we are less well off than we used to be, and have given up wearing it as a means of economizing. No doubt when you marry you will be provided with a whole trunkful of this stuff. In the meantime, though, we don't need to compete with the others in finery, you and I. As long as we are honest and remain true to ourselves, it doesn't matter that we cannot equal them in appearance.'

Xiu-yan smiled.

‘In that case, I shall go back and take it off,' she said.

‘Don't be so precipitate,' said Bao-chai. ‘She meant it as a kindness. If she sees you not wearing it, she will wonder why. I spoke only in general terms, for your future guidance.'

Xiu-yan murmured her assent.

‘Where are you going now, coz?' she asked Bao-chai.

‘To the Naiad's House,' said Bao-chai. ‘Why don't you go back now and get your maid to bring me that pawn ticket? I'll send someone out on the quiet to redeem the things for you and get them round to you in the evening without anyone knowing, so that you can begin wearing them again as soon as possible. We don't want you catching cold in this wind, do we? Oh, there's just one other thing: where did you pawn them?'

‘I think it's called the “Reliant”,' said Xiu-yan. ‘It's in Drum Tower Street West.'

Bao-chai laughed.

‘Well, at least they've stayed in the family. If the assistants realized where they had come from, they must have thought they were receiving an advance instalment of your trousseau!'

Xiu-yan coloured, realizing that the ‘Reliant' must be one of the Xue family's businesses. She did not say anything, however, but with a little laugh hurried back to look for the pawn ticket.

Bao-chai continued on her way to the Naiad's House. She arrived to find her mother already ensconced and in the midst of conversation with Dai-yu.

‘Mamma, what a surprise! When did
you
arrive?'

‘I've been so busy during these last few days that I haven't had time to see her
or
Bao-yu. Today I decided to see both of them, but both of them seem to be better.'

Dai-yu urged Bao-chai to be seated.

‘The world's affairs are very mysterious,' she said, by way of bringing her into the conversation. ‘Who would ever have thought that your mother and Aunt Xing would end up as
commères
?'

‘My child,' said Aunt Xue, ‘you are too young to understand these things. Old folk talk about “the unseen thread that binds”. They say that marriages are decided by an Old Man Under the Moon who joins future couples together by tying them round the ankles with a scarlet thread, and that once he's done that, it doesn't matter how far apart they are, even if there are oceans between them, sooner or later something will happen to bring them together and they will end up husband and wife. These things are quite unpredictable. Sometimes there will be two young people whose parents on both sides are favourable to their union, who have lived years together in the same place, and who take it as a foregone conclusion that they are going to marry, yet if the Old Man Under the Moon hasn't tied them with his scarlet thread, then in spite of everything, they never will. Take you two girls, now: we don't know whether at this moment the two young men you will marry are right here under our noses or somewhere “south of the mountains and north of the sea”!'