And the Bride Wore Red (11 page)

He talked about the Yangtze, describing the view from the deck until her eyes shone.

‘Oh, that must have been so marvellous!' she exclaimed. ‘What a sight!'

‘Perhaps you'll see it yourself one day,' he suggested.

‘That would be lovely, but I'm old now. I don't think there are any long journeys for me.'

‘Who knows what the future holds?' Lang said mysteriously.

Listening to this, Olivia wondered if she was reading too much into a few words, but they seemed to lead in only one direction. If she and Lang were to choose a life together, she would have to move permanently to China. His life here was too settled to allow any doubt.

For just a little longer they could live in this private universe where the real world was set at a distance. But soon the practical decisions would have to be made.

They said goodnight and hung up. Lang was regarding her with a question in his eyes.

‘Something troubling you?'

‘I was just wondering about Norah. She's very old, and when you talk of her coming here…'

‘She's not too old for China. Old people get treated very well here, better than in many other countries.'

‘Yes, I know, but that long air-journey.'

‘Can be made a lot more comfortable with an upgrade.' He gave her a conspiratorial smile, reminding her that the word had a special significance for them. ‘We just buy her a ticket in business class, where she can travel in comfort, stretch out and go to sleep. I think she'd like it here.'

‘Lang, what are you saying?'

‘I'm just looking ahead, down many different roads, but they all lead to you, my love. Let it happen as it will.'

Yes, she thought, that was the way. Fate, something she'd never believed in before, but which now seemed the only way.

Yet the flight arrangements he'd mentioned showed that he'd been thinking about this in detail, planning for the day.

He partially explained the mystery as they lay together later.

‘It comes from belonging to two different cultures,' he said sleepily. ‘One side of me believes in fate and destiny, good luck, bad luck, being touched by another world we can't control. The other side makes graphs and looks up flight timetables.'

‘Which side of you is which?'

‘They're mixed up. Both cultures have both aspects, but they speak with different accents. Sometimes I tell myself how completely I belong here. I love my Chinese family.'

‘And they love you dearly too. Biyu talked of you being “a little bit English” as though that bit doesn't matter at all next to your Chinese quarter. It must be wonderful to be so completely accepted.'

A slight shadow came over Lang's face.

‘What is it?' Olivia asked. ‘Have I said something wrong?'

‘No, it's just that you speak of them accepting me.'

‘But they do, that's obvious.'

‘I know it looks like that, and I'm probably imagining that the acceptance isn't complete. I simply have this feeling that they're holding back just a little.'

‘But why?'

‘I don't know. All I can tell you is that I feel they're waiting for me to do something, or say something. But I don't know what it is.'

‘I think you're wrong. They're not holding back at all. They're so proud of you, and they're especially proud that you came here and chose them. Biyu did this.' She tapped her breast. ‘And she said, “In here, he is one of us”.'

‘She actually said that?' There was something touchingly boyish in his eagerness.

‘She actually said that. So doesn't that prove you're accepted?'

‘Maybe, but I don't think even they know that something doesn't fit.'

‘Then you have to be patient,' Olivia said. ‘It'll happen naturally, and you'll all know by instinct.'

‘I didn't think you believed in trusting your instinct.'

‘But it's not
my
instinct we're talking about.'

‘Perhaps it is. I think that whatever we seem to be talking about we're also finding out about each other—and about ourselves.'

‘Yes, it's alarming when you start to discover that you're not the person you thought you were,' she agreed.

‘What have you learned about yourself?' he murmured, his mouth close to hers.

‘Things that alarm me. Things that I'm not sure I want to learn.'

‘Tell me about them.'

‘I'm just not the person I thought I was—but, if I'm not, then who am I?'

‘Does it matter?'

‘Of course it matters. What a question!'

‘I'm serious. Why do you have to know who you are? It's enough that you
are
. And, besides, I know you. You're a dragon lady—wild, brave, inventive, everything that's powerful and good.'

‘To you, yes. But that would mean putting myself entirely in your hands.'

‘Don't you trust me that much?'

‘It's not that, it's just—I don't know.'

‘Believe me, I know what it's like to put yourself in the hands of the woman you love and to realise that, if she understands you, it doesn't matter whether you understand yourself because she's wiser than you are.'

He might have been talking about Natalie, but the warmth in his eyes told her what he really meant.

‘Perhaps you should be careful,' she whispered. ‘Who knows if I can really be trusted that much?'

‘I do,' he said at once. ‘I'd trust you with my life, with my heart, soul and all my future.'

‘But we've known each other such a little time.'

‘We've known each other for over two-thousand years,' he said. ‘Ever since the moment I caught a glimpse of your face and knew that I'd gladly give up everything else in my life in order to be with you.'

‘Is that you talking?' she asked in wonder. ‘Or Renshu?'

‘Ah!' he said with satisfaction. ‘I said you understood me. Yes, I'm Renshu, and so is every man who's ever loved as much as I do. And I know one thing—I can't be without you. You must stay with me for ever or my life will be nothing.

‘I know you can't abandon Norah, but I don't ask you to. She has been your mother, and from now on she will be mine too. She'll be happy in China, I'll make sure of that. Don't you think I can?'

‘I think you can do anything you set your mind to,' she said in wonder.

‘Does that mean yes?'

‘Yes, yes,
yes
!'

Flinging her arms about him, she hugged him with wild joy and he hugged her back powerfully. When they drew back to behold each other's faces she saw that his was full of mischief.

‘I was so afraid you'd refuse me,' he said meekly.

‘Liar, liar! You never thought that for a moment,' she cried, thumping him. ‘You're the most conceited devil that ever lived.'

‘Only because you make me conceited,' he defended himself, laughing. ‘If you love me, how can I not have a good opinion of myself? I merely bow to the dragon lady's superior
good sense. Ow! That hurt!' He rubbed his thigh where she'd landed a lucky slap.

‘I never said I loved you,' she riposted. ‘I'm marrying you out of pity. No—Ah, wait!' Her laughter died as something occurred to her. ‘You never actually mentioned marriage, did you?'

‘I didn't think it needed mentioning. It has to be marriage. Of course, I'd really prefer to keep you as a concubine—No, no, I give in!' He fended off a renewed attack, securing her arms and keeping her close for safety. ‘You don't think Tao and Biyu and the others would let me deprive them of a wedding, do you?'

‘Shall we go back to Beijing and tell everyone?'

‘Not just yet. Let's go off on our own for a while. You once mentioned Shanghai? Let's go there. But, in the meantime, let's dress for dinner. Put on your glad rags because you're going to enjoy tonight.'

A
S THEY
were having dinner he explained what he'd meant. ‘After this we'll go back to the little theatre,' he said.

‘Not another talent contest, please!'

‘No, they're doing a play with music. It's based on a fable that goes back centuries, and it's known as the Chinese
Romeo and Juliet
.'

‘Star-crossed lovers?'

‘That's right. He was poor, her family was rich. When they couldn't marry, he died of a broken heart, but she went to his tomb and—Well, wait and see.'

When dinner was over they slipped into place, securing a table near the stage. Gradually the lights went down and plaintive music filled the air. Zhu Yingtai, a beautiful young girl, appeared with her family, pleading with them for the right to study. They were shocked at this unladylike behaviour, but finally let her go to college disguised as a man. She sang of her joy:

As the scene changed Lang whispered provocatively to Olivia, ‘She's looking forward to a life of learning and independence, with no male complications. I know you'll approve.'

She smiled. It seemed such a long time since she'd been that woman, and the man who'd released her from her cage was sitting so close that she could feel his warmth mingling with another kind of warmth that was part memory, part anticipation.

In the next scene Zhu Yingtai, now dressed as a man, met Liang Shanbo and they became fellow students. They grew close, singing about their deep friendship.

‘And yet he doesn't suspect that she's a woman?' Olivia mused.

‘Perhaps friendship is also part of love,' Lang murmured. ‘If they'd been able to marry, the fact that they could confide in each other might have sustained them through the years, making them strong while other couples fell apart.'

His face was very close to hers, his eyes glowing with a message he knew she could understand without words. She nodded slowly.

At last Zhu Yingtai revealed her true identity and they declared their love, but it was in vain. Liang Shanbo was poor. Her parents betrothed her to a rich man.

He sang a plaintive ballad, full of heartbreak, saying that his life was nothing without his beloved. Then he lay down and quietly died.

The day of Zhu Yingtai's wedding dawned. She too sang, longing for death to reunite her with the man she loved. On
the way to the ceremony she stopped beside her lover's tomb, crying out her longing for them to be together.

Olivia held her breath. For some reason what would happen next mattered to her.

The music swelled. The tomb doors opened. Zhu Yingtai threw up her arms in ecstatic gratitude and walked triumphantly inside.

The lights dimmed, except for one brilliant beam over the tomb. From somewhere overhead a hologram was projected into the light, and two large butterflies came into view. They hovered for a moment before flying off together into the darkness.

These were the souls of the lovers, now united for ever. The audience gasped, then applauded ecstatically. The lights came up and Olivia hastily dried her eyes.

All about them people were exclaiming with appreciation. Lang and Olivia quietly slipped away and went up on deck.

‘Did I understand the end properly?' she asked as they strolled hand in hand. ‘The butterflies were the lovers, and now they'll always be together?'

‘That's right.'

She stopped and looked up at the moon. No full moon tonight, but a crescent hanging in the sky. Lang followed her gaze.

‘According to Meihui,' he said, ‘the two butterflies didn't only signify reunion in death, but eternal fidelity in life also. She said there were so many different stage versions all over China that one or other was always being performed. When I came here, almost the first thing I did was to find a performance, to see if it spoke to me in her voice, and it did. I was so glad it was on here tonight, so that I could show it to you.'

‘Butterflies,' she mused. ‘Flying away together for eternity. What a lovely thought!'

‘Eternity,' he echoed. ‘That's what I want with you, if it's what you want.'

‘It's all I shall ever want,' she told him passionately.

‘Then we have everything. Let's go inside.'

 

‘We can go on travelling for another couple of weeks,' Lang said next morning. ‘And then it'll be back to Beijing to plan the wedding.'

‘And that's going to take a lot of planning,' Olivia mused.

‘Nonsense, we just give Biyu the date and leave everything to her. In fact, why don't we just let her choose the date?'

‘Good idea. She'll be better at planning it than I will.'

Biyu thought so too. In a feverish telephone call, she tried to make them return at once and plunge into arrangements. It took all Lang's strength to resist, and when he hung up Olivia had to take drastic steps to restore his energy. That distracted them so long that they got behind with their packing and nearly weren't ready when the boat docked at Yichang.

From there they took a plane to Shangai on the coast. During the flight, they planned out the rest of their trip.

‘We could go to Chengdu and see the panda sanctuary,' he said. ‘I've got some more relatives up there, and I'd like them to meet you. But let's enjoy Shanghai first.'

It was a revelation, an ultra-modern, bustling city where almost every inch seemed to be neon-lit. On the first night they took a boat down the river, gazing up at the skyscrapers adorned with multi-coloured lights. Then they escaped to their hotel room on the thirty-fifth floor and watched from the window.

‘I'm dizzy being up so high,' she murmured, leaning back against him.

‘I'm dizzy too,' he whispered against her neck. ‘But it's not from the height.'

She chuckled but didn't move, even when he drew his lips across the skin below her ear, although it sent delicious tremors through her.

‘Come to bed,' he urged.

‘Can't you just let a girl enjoy the view?'

‘No,' he said firmly, sweeping her up and carrying her to the huge bed, where she forgot all about skyscrapers and neon lights.

They slept late, rose late and sauntered out, meaning to do some serious educational sightseeing. They ended up in a theatre where motorbike riders diced with death, crossing each other's path within inches at high speed.

‘Well, I've learned something,' she remarked as they walked slowly back to the hotel. ‘I've learned never to get on a motorbike.'

They had the elevator to themselves and kissed all the way to the thirty-fifth floor, their minds running ahead to the pleasures to come.

But as they reached their room Lang's mobile phone began to buzz. Groaning, he answered, and Olivia saw him grow instantly alert. The next moment he swung away from her, as though she had no part of what was happening, and went to stand by the window.

He was talking too rapidly for her to follow, and his whole body was alive with excitement. When he hung up, he looked as though he was lit from within.

‘That's it!' he cried. ‘I knew it must happen some time.'

He hurled himself on the bed and lay back with his hands behind his head, the picture of triumph. Then he saw her regarding him, puzzled, and opened his arms to her. She went into them and nearly had the breath squeezed out of her.

‘What's happened?' she gasped, laughing.

‘That vacancy for a consultant has come up at the
hospital!' he cried exultantly. ‘It's a brilliant opportunity. Just what I've been waiting for.'

‘That's wonderful. Who called you?'

‘Another doctor, a friend who knows how badly I want this. He's put my name forward, and he called to tell me when the interviews start.'

‘So we have to go back now,' she said, trying not to sound too disappointed.

‘No, nothing's going to happen until next week. We can have another couple of days. And then…' He sighed. ‘Back to the real world.'

‘But the real world is going to be wonderful,' she reminded him. ‘You're going to be a great consultant, and in a few years you'll be in charge of the whole hospital.'

‘I hope so. If you only knew how much I hope so. I want it so much it scares me.'

That night was different. They made love and slept close as always, but when Olivia awoke in the small hours she saw him standing at the window looking out, so preoccupied that he never once looked back at the bed.

She wondered where he was now, inside his mind, and concluded that wherever it was she wasn't there with him. It was the first shadow on their relationship, only a tiny one, but perceptible.

Next day he seemed preoccupied over breakfast, and she said little, understanding that he would wish to mull over the situation that was opening up to him. They went out on a brief shopping-expedition, but over lunch he suddenly left her alone and was away for nearly an hour. Returning, he apologised profusely, but didn't say where he'd been. Sadly, she realised that part of him was already returning to ‘the real world', where she seemed to live on the margins.

Or did she live anywhere at all? Had she, in the end, been
nothing but a holiday romance? Lang had spoken of marriage and eternity, but that was before he'd been offered the chance of the thing he admitted he wanted more than anything in the world.

Suddenly she was in darkness, stumbling about an alien universe. She had survived Andy's betrayal. She knew she wouldn't survive Lang's.

But the moment of doubt passed, and that evening her fears were eased when Lang suggested talking to Norah.

In a moment they were online, and there was Norah's face, beaming at them.

‘Hello, darling! And, Lang—is that you I see?'

‘Hello, Norah,' he said, seating himself on the bed next to Olivia, before the little camera. ‘How are you?'

‘Better than ever since my gifts arrived. Look.'

She held up the tiny figurine of a terracotta warrior in one hand, and a book in the other.

‘The postman delivered them this morning,' she bubbled. ‘It was so kind of you.'

He told her about Biyu and the wedding plans.

‘As soon as we've set the date we'll arrange your flight out here,' he told her.

For a moment Olivia thought a faint shadow crossed Norah's face, but it was gone too quickly for her to be sure. It might have been a trick of the camera.

‘What kind of a wedding are you going to have?' Norah wanted to know.

Lang talked at length, describing in detail what would probably happen and the part he expected her to play in it. She giggled and called him a cheeky young devil, which seemed to please him.

‘Hey, can I get a word in edgeways?' Olivia protested. ‘How about saying something about my new dress?'

‘It's very pretty, dear.'

‘I chose it,' Lang put in.

‘Of course you did. Olivia's dress sense was always a little wayward.'

‘Oi!' Olivia cried.

‘Well, it's true, darling. But Lang has wonderful taste. You should always listen to him.'

‘I'll remind her of that,' Lang said gravely.

‘Oi!' Olivia said again, nudging him in the ribs with her elbow. He gave an exaggerated wince, which made Norah laugh more than ever.

‘I'm so glad you're having a wonderful time,' she said. ‘You look ever so much better. I was becoming afraid for you, but not any more.'

‘Don't be afraid for her,' Lang said, suddenly serious. He slipped his arm around Olivia in such a way that Norah could see it.

‘I never will again,' she said. ‘Darling, you be good to him. He's one in a million.'

‘I know,' Olivia replied, gazing back at the old woman with love. Norah beamed back, their understanding as perfect as ever.

‘Now I've got some marvellous news to tell you,' Lang said.

‘More marvellous news? As well as your marriage? Tell, tell.'

‘I've had a call from—'

He stopped as a terrible change came over Norah. Her smile faded abruptly and she gave a choking sound. Aghast, they watched as she clutched her throat and heaved in distress.

‘Norah!' Olivia cried, reaching out frantically to the screen. But Norah was five thousand miles away. ‘Oh, heavens, what's happening to her?'

‘I think she's having a heart attack,' Lang said.

‘A heart attack?' Olivia echoed in horror. ‘Oh, no, it can't be!'

‘I'm afraid it is,' he said tersely, not taking his eyes from the screen. ‘Norah—can you hear me?'