Mandarin-Gold (5 page)

The man turned to face him. .

'You are Surgeon Gunn?' he asked in English, in a powerful voice. Gunn saw that his face was neither yellow nor brown nor white, but rather a mixture of all three, the colour of creamy coffee.

'I am. And who are you, sir?'

Something about this man compelled reluctant respect. He wore a loose white jacket, white cotton trousers, gold rings on both hands, and gold sandals with thongs around the big toes. His flesh was soft and scented.

'My name is unimportant, doctor,' he replied. 'It would mean nothing to you. It is an Eastern name, a Parsee name, and as such very common. Your name, on the other hand, means a great deal to me, because I have consulted the various records which you English so assiduously cause to be printed.

'From them I learn that you are twenty-five years old and unmarried. That you were born in the county of Kent and have qualified as a doctor. You are also in first-class health, mentally and physically. These are things important for me to know.'

'But why? I seem to have been kidnapped and brought to your house — for what purpose?'

'Sit down, Dr Gunn,' the man said gently.

Gunn drew up a chair by the side of a marble
-
topped table. The Parsee sat opposite him, poured out two cups of black tea from a samovar, and added slices of lemon with silver tweezers.

'First of all, Dr Gunn, rest assured that we mean no malevolence or harm to you. I have a task for which I have selected you — out of many other possible candidates — because of your bearing and your education.

'When you have completed this task to my satisfaction — and to the satisfaction of one other person involved — you will be rewarded with a present of gold coin equal to five hundred English sovereigns. You will also be taken back to Canton to join your ship.'

'My ship may have gone.'

The man inclined his head.

'That is true. She leaves tomorrow on the morning tide. But she will be back. She is only sailing to Lintin Island, across the bay.'

He nodded towards the window. On the far horizon, Gunn saw a dark smudge of land with a long thin spire of rock, looking from the distance like a giant factory chimney.

'Lintin,' the man continued. 'Or as the Chinese say, because of the strange rock formation, the Island of the Solitary Nail: And also as you may or may not be aware, the centre of the forbidden opium trade. Your ship, having discharged one cargo, now proceeds there to discharge another of much greater value, which you probably do not even know about. One grown with infinite care as a prime export in the best land in all India by your own Honourable East India Company.

'My information is that the vessel will return to Canton within two or three weeks. You should be back in time to join her. What account you give for your absence, I leave to your own imagination and ingenuity. But, as I say, you will have the equivalent of five hundred English pounds in your pocket. And I understand you had only six and a half sovereigns in your pocket when you arrived here. So you will not lose money, doctor.'

He smiled, and Gunn closed his eyes for a moment. The room seemed to be turning slowly like a top; the man's voice had an oddly soporific effect.

'What is it you wish me to do?' he asked, and added: 'Before you tell me, I must say I will do nothing that would dishonour my profession or the dignity of the King.'

'You speak like a man.'

'So what if I refuse to do whatever you may ask me?'

The other man smiled almost sadly, as though such a faint possibility had also briefly entered his mind, but very quickly removed itself.

'You will not refuse,' he replied.

'You seem very confident, sir. But what if I do refuse?'

The dark-skinned man glanced down at the tiles on the floor and pointed a ringed finger at one of them. Gunn followed his gaze. A black ant, hardly larger than a moving speck of dust, was diligently crossing the smooth, glazed surface. The man took off his left slipper and flung it down on the tile. When he picked it up, the ant was only a tiny stain on the blue porcelain.

'As that ant is in our eyes, so is a single human life against the background of eternity. It is as nothing, a voice spoken against the winds of evening, a lost echo .we shall never hear again.
If
you are foolish enough to refuse, doctor, you will disappear as that ant has disappeared.

'Look out at that bay. The sea seems smooth as glass, does it not? But under that blue surface it is alive with sharks and pirhanas, waiting to skin the flesh off bones before a body has sunk a foot beneath the waves.

'This is not your country, doctor, with laws and regulations in case anyone is hurt. Values here are not the same — and the first difference you will discover is in the importance we in the East place on human life. It is not high, doctor. Quite the reverse. Life here is very inexpensive. One might almost say, cheap. Everyone has to die one day - so why should it be a matter of importance if they are persuaded to leave, this world rather sooner than they intended?'

'But that's murder,' said Gunn, his voice suddenly hoarse at the thought.

'You can call it by any name you like. But such things frequently happen here, as you could prove very easily for yourself if you stayed long in this latitude. And that is what awaits you if you
^-
decline my assignment'

Gunn took another sip of tea. Either this Parsee was mad, or he was; or they both were. His heart was pounding with alarm. He had better humour the fellow.

'What is it you wish me to do?' he asked as quietly as he could.

'I wish you to make love to my daughter, doctor. To mount her, and mount her again, until she is with child by a white man.'

3

In Which Dr Gunn Discovers He Has Much to Learn

Gunn stared at the Parsee in astonishment. Was this some quaint Oriental idea of a jest?

'But I don't even
know
your daughter,' he said in astonishment. He did not add that he had never known any woman in the sense the man suggested. And to do what he proposed would be unthinkable on moral and religious grounds. This damned heathen native
must
be mad. It was the only possible explanation.

'Your face reflects with credit the turmoil of your thoughts,' said the Parsee, with a slight smile. 'You have never been East before?'

'Never.'

'Well, I will explain to you something of this custom. I am a Parsee. I follow Zoroaster, the God of Fire, from whom all blessings flow. Originally, we came from Persia, from which country we take our title, Parsees. Like the Jews, we have ability in commerce and as merchants. We are also, like them, a proud, people. And we are especially proud of the colour of our skin.

'We are not white or red-bristled as the Chinese call you Europeans. Nor are we black as Ethiops, nor yet dark brown like Indians. Our blood is a mixture from many races. And this unique colour of our skin can only be maintained by judicious marriage, and sometimes by deliberate breeding in alternate generations.

'My daughter's husband is a man of honour and ability, a banker of great wealth. But his seed is barren. My daughter has been married to him for three years, and she is still without child.

'You will remedy this situation, doctor, and more than that. With your fair skin you will ensure that her child is fair. I pray to my god she will bear her husband a son.'

'He knows nothing of this. He is, in fact, on business in Bombay, where a large community of us have houses. On his return he will be overjoyed when his wife tells him she is with child. However, we waste time with words when you have a decision to make.'

'You speak the truth, Englishman. It is a most serious offence, yet its evil can be mitigated. The man who commits adultery can atone for his sin by helping with gifts of money to bring about the lawful marriage of four poor couples, by paying for the proper education of poor children, who have none to care for them, by bringing others to a knowledge of God, and by performing certain specific religious rites.

'All these things I will do in your name.'

'But surely, if I refuse, as I do, you would not murder .me? What good could this do you, sir?'

'It is not a question, young man, of doing me either good or evil. It would simply be the only, satisfactory solution to a situation that could otherwise cause embarrassment. If you went back, you might foolishly tell the story to other people. My daughter's name, and that of her husband, might be discovered, and my family insulted on the lips of insignificant persons.

'I would not, of course, kill you myself. There are professionals who do that kind of work. As a matter of fact, I personally abhor all physical violence. Now, what is your answer?'

'There are men who would not view it in that light,' said the Parsee sharply. 'Is it more money you wish, but are too gentlemanly to suggest? We who are schooled in commerce have no such scruples. Would the equivalent of a thousand sovereigns change your mind about the value of my proposal?'

This was a fortune, more than Gunn could hope to earn in five years. And there was no middle course between this and the incredible and ludicrous alternative, of death. But his strict upbringing did not make acceptance easy, and to fornicate was a sin, although obviously these
might
be extenuating circumstances.

No doubt to fornicate would be considered a lesser evil than to acquiesce in his own destruction? And, for that matter, who would ever know about this sin, unless he told them? Of course, God would know. But then He knew all things, past and future; He had created him, and already knew what course Gunn would take.

A thousand pounds in gold. With such a sum Gunn could afford to treat poor people who would otherwise suffer and even die. Out of evil, might not some good grow — as the Parsee himself proposed —
_:
as flowers sprouted from a dunghill? He was wavering; he realised it. He poured himself another cup of tea. Obviously, this Parsee fellow would like him to agree. Otherwise, he would have to begin fresh negotiations and then arrange another abduction, and possibly a further journey from Macao for his unsuspecting son-in-law.

It might be possible to turn, these facts to his own advantage; at least, he could try. If he
had
to commit this sin, then he would do so on the best financial terms he could arrange. If this Parsee were as rich as he appeared, then he must pay dearly for an Englishman's seed.

'I am young and without wealth,' said Gunn, surprised at the strength of his own voice. 'You are rich, and I am in your power. But I have something that you wish for your daughter. And you have something I also need. Money. Since you tell me you have no scruples about bargaining, you teach me to abandon my own. I will do what you ask. But not for one thousand sovereigns. For
five
thousand.'

'What would you do with so much money, Englishman?'

'I would send one thousand sovereigns to my parents in England. It would buy them many things they have gone without all their days.'

'And how would you explain your sudden affluence?'

'I hadn't thought of that,' admitted Gunn. But he would; he was learning fast.

'You see, doctor,' the Parsee went on in his gentle voice, 'wealth has its own obligations. One should never be too greedy in acquiring it. You seek to acquire a fortune, and one day, too late, you will find that it has acquired you. But I admire your courage, and how you say, your cheek.
Three
thousand. That is my last price.'

Three thousand pounds. Fifteen years' pay. For doing something that most other men from
Trelawney
were spending a month's pay to do with some prostitute, heedless of pox or robbery.

'How do I know you will keep your word?' asked Gunn. 'If you hold life so cheaply, why will you not kill me when I have done my part of the bargain?'

'Because I am a man of my family's honour. I will give you the coin, or a letter on any bank in India or your own country - for three thousand sovereigns, which would be more convenient for you. You can trust me, doctor. To a Parsee a promise is a debt. Broken promises mean broken faith and broken friendship.'

'True. But we merchants have our contacts in all the great cities of trade — in London, in Bombay, in Calcutta and Singapore. I asked for a suitable person to be found. Several candidates were proposed, but they failed in some way. You did not.'

Gunn thought back to the
Trelawney’s
short stay in ports on the outward voyage. An English family had asked him to dinner in Bombay. In Calcutta, while at a regimental dance (to which he had unaccountably been invited) someone had introduced him to one of the city's richest jute merchants, a Scotsman. Gunn had not been particularly interested or impressed; how, looking back, he was. He remembered the Hoppo looking at him in Canton. The links of trade and money were stronger than he had ever imagined. But how had their reports reached Macao?