The Scarlet Kimono (Choc Lit) (5 page)

Chapter Five

Plymouth, Devon, 4th June 1611

It was the longest dance of her life.

Hannah went through the motions with a fake smile pasted onto her face, but she couldn’t suppress a shiver each time her hands came into contact with those of Mr Hesketh. He seemed oblivious to her plight and continued to smile at her with that peculiar look of triumph still lurking in his eyes. At every opportunity, his fingers lingered longer than necessary. Hannah had to bite back a sharp rebuke.

At long last the music came to an end. Mr Hesketh put a proprietorial hand on the small of Hannah’s back which, in the throng of people, she couldn’t escape straight away. She glanced around once more, trying to find some reason for leaving him, but couldn’t see anything.

‘I have been meaning to visit, Mistress Hannah, as I had something I particularly wanted to speak to you about,’ Mr Hesketh was saying, ‘but unfortunately business matters have kept me away.’

‘Really?’ Hannah hardly paid attention to his words and continued to scan the room for Jacob or some other acquaintance to use as an excuse.

‘Yes, I was going to …’

An expectant hush suddenly descended on the assembled company, followed by a collective gasp. Mr Hesketh fell silent too. His mouth opened wide in astonishment. He, like everyone else, was staring towards the door to the hall. Hannah turned to look.

‘There he is,’ someone whispered. ‘Ooohh, isn’t he strange looking?’

‘Very odd, to be sure.’

‘Mother, why is he so dark?’

‘Look at those evil little eyes. Pure malice, if you ask me.’ The speaker muttered a quick prayer.

Hannah craned her neck to see this mysterious ‘he’. Instead she caught sight of Captain Rydon standing by the door, his golden hair shining in a sunbeam. At first she thought he was alone, but then she noticed that he was towering over a small, dark man. The stranger was dressed in some kind of baggy breeches and a threadbare, belted silk jacket. Hannah had never seen clothes like that before.

‘Here he is, good people. This is Hodgson, the little Chinaman I brought back with me from my last voyage. I saved his life, so he’s sworn to serve me until he saves mine.’ The captain beamed proudly at the guests, most of whom were now staring rudely at the man, as if he were a freak of nature. The foreigner himself only bowed politely.

‘Hodgson? What kind of name is that for a Chinaman?’ someone muttered.

‘It’s not his real name, of course, that would be far too difficult for us to pronounce.’ Rydon laughed, while the foreigner remained impassive.

Hannah stared along with the rest of the guests. She had to admit the man had a strange look about him. He had unusual eyes and a tiny snub nose, but she didn’t find him ugly precisely. Different, yes, but not ugly.

‘I wouldn’t want to meet him in the dark,’ someone whispered behind her. ‘Would frighten me to death, that it would.’

Hannah frowned in the general direction of the speaker, a large woman of ample proportions. The man wasn’t that scary, in fact he was tiny compared to the lady. Hannah was tempted to speak up in his defence, but she managed to hold her tongue. Instead she shook off Mr Hesketh’s hand at last with a curt, ‘Excuse me, but I really must speak to my brother Edward.’

‘But Mistress Hannah, I hadn’t finished telling you …’

She pretended deafness and made her way through the crowd with a half-formed idea of trying to rescue the Chinaman. She knew what it was like to be stared at – her red hair had seen to that – and felt sorry for him. She soon realised it wasn’t necessary, however. The attention he was receiving didn’t seem to be affecting him in the slightest. Hodgson stayed serene and just looked around the room with curiosity. As his gaze caught Hannah’s, she gave him what she hoped was a sympathetic smile. She thought she saw him nod slightly in acknowledgement. Then he smiled to himself and Hannah frowned. What could he possibly find to amuse him in this awkward situation?

‘Where did you say you found him?’

‘Do you keep him under lock and key?’

‘Tell us more about your journeys, Captain Rydon.’

There were exclamations and questions from every quarter now, as all the guests began to talk at once. Everyone wanted to be told the story of how the captain had saved the foreigner’s life and they all wanted to hear Hodgson speak. Hannah noticed her sister pouting, no doubt put out that she wasn’t the centre of attention any longer. But even Kate seemed fascinated when the Chinaman stepped forward to oblige them.

‘Good eeveh-ning,’ he said and followed this with another polite bow. He added a few more halting words, most of which sounded like nonsense. There were titters and chuckles from the guests.

‘How quaint, to be sure.’

‘Well, what do you expect from a barbarian?’

Hannah shook her head and retreated into a corner once more, making sure that Mr Hesketh was nowhere in sight. She frowned again when she saw Hodgson being touched surreptitiously several times. It was as if the guests didn’t believe him to be real, and she wondered how he put up with this without losing his temper.

She heard snatches of the captain’s story and listened against her will. ‘Hodgson was working as a mercenary … yes, in the pay of a Portuguese merchant … ambushed in the dark … heard the cries, so of course I ran to the rescue …’ An image of the gallant captain rushing towards the robbers with his sword raised formed in Hannah’s mind and she sighed. That would be quite a sight, she was sure, and no wonder the thieves had fled.

The guests grew bored with the subject at last and Hodgson was given permission to wander around. Hannah watched him for a while as he made a circuit of the room, his keen gaze taking everything in. He stopped to finger some of the tapestries. Hannah saw her mother’s eyes narrow in suspicion, but he replaced them all with great care. Whenever he bumped into any of the guests, however, or even came near them, they recoiled with barely contained exclamations. They looked as though his mere presence was a contamination of some sort. Hannah shook her head. He seemed just like an ordinary man to her.

She leaned her head back against the wall and closed her eyes. A pounding ache was battering her forehead. Desperately wanting to escape, she made her way over to her mother’s side. ‘Mama, may I retire now, please? My head hurts terribly.’

‘No, no, out of the question. It would be most impolite to the betrothed couple. Go to the kitchen and have Emma brew you a tisane.’ Mistress Marston shooed her daughter away. ‘Hurry, now. Dear Kate is having such a lovely time, I’m sure she won’t miss you for a few moments. And Mr Hesketh will no doubt want to claim another dance.’

Hannah looked over towards the table where Kate sat with her future husband. She noticed that Henry had placed an arm around Kate’s shoulders, which she was trying to wriggle away from without much success. Hannah saw Kate send an imploring glance to the captain, who was now lounging against the wall just a few feet away. He didn’t seem to be in any hurry to come to Kate’s rescue though and shrugged slightly.

Hannah sighed and made her way into the draughty hall. Here she sank onto the lowest step of the staircase and leaned her head against the wall. She couldn’t bear to watch her sister or the captain for another instant. It would only make her think about their supposed assignation.

‘Sorry, lady, you no feel good?’

Hannah jumped and raised her eyes to look into the face of the Chinaman. She opened her mouth to reply, but no words came out.

‘You sick?’ he asked again, putting out a hand to feel her forehead. She jerked back and scooted up a step out of his immediate reach before realising that she was acting no better than the people who had made cruel comments about him. She slid back down.

‘No! No, I … that is, yes, a little. My, my head hurts.’

He stepped back a pace and smiled, then bowed politely. ‘No need be afraid, I only want to help.’ Hannah relaxed slightly as he began to rummage in a small pouch hanging off his belt. ‘Ah,
koko ni aru
. Here.’ He brought out a small phial and held it out. ‘In drink, put three drops, headache gone.’ He smiled and bowed again, offering the phial to her.

‘Oh, uhm, thank you, but I’m not sure I can accept this.’

‘Please, lady. Will make you better, promise.’ He nodded and bowed yet again. ‘I fetch, yes?’

Hannah took the tiny vessel reluctantly, then waited while he went in search of a drink. He returned surprisingly quickly with some light ale and administered the dose himself with great ceremony. Hannah didn’t have the heart to refuse to take it and drank it down.

‘Good. Now rest, feel better soon,’ Hodgson said.

‘Thank you. You’re very kind.’ Hannah looked at him and again she felt ashamed of the way he had been treated earlier. ‘I, uhm, I’m sorry everyone stared at you so,’ she stammered, wanting to make amends somehow. To her surprise his face split into a huge grin.

‘Is fine,’ he said. ‘I stare back. Your people – very ugly, but I used to it now.’

Hannah gasped. He found
them
all ugly? ‘Surely not?’ she said, then suddenly burst into laughter. Now she understood his earlier amusement. ‘I suppose that makes us even then,’ she said and stood up. Her head had stopped throbbing already and the room didn’t spin quite as much as before.

He nodded. ‘Yes.’ His eyes were twinkling and she found herself warming to him even more.

‘Shall we go back into the parlour?’ she said. ‘Or would you like me to find you something to eat? You missed the meal earlier.’

‘Thank you, but have eaten before. Must go. Captain say not stay too long.’

‘Oh, I see.’ Hannah wanted to ask him to keep her company for a while longer, but knew she couldn’t go against the captain’s wishes. Hodgson was after all his servant. ‘Very well. Thank you again for coming to my aid.’

‘
Dozo onegai shimasu
,’ he said, which she took to mean ‘you are welcome’. ‘
Sayonara.
’ With another deep bow he was gone.

Hannah sat on the stairs for a long time, staring after him and wishing he could have stayed.

She was called into her father’s counting room the day after the feast and found him behind his desk as usual, with her mother hovering nearby.

‘Ah, there you are.’ Hannah noticed her father affected a false cheerfulness, as if it would help to sway her in favour of whatever he was going to say. Since she’d already guessed what that was, this ruse was doomed to failure.

‘You sent for me?’ She stopped a few feet away from the desk and clasped her hands behind her back to stop them from trembling.

‘Yes, indeed. I have some excellent news. I’ve received a most flattering offer for your hand in marriage and your mother and I have decided to accept on your behalf. Mr Hesketh was here this morning, as I’m sure you know, and we agreed terms. Very generous, I’ll have you know.’

‘I see. Don’t I have a choice? After all, I’m the one who’ll have to marry him.’

‘Don’t be impertinent.’ Her father scowled at her. ‘You know full well that parents arrange these matters.’

‘You’ve always been a great favourite with your younger cousins,’ her mother put in, ‘they adore you. And since Mr Hesketh needs a wife who can take care of his children properly, we all thought you would be ideal.’

‘I want children of my own, not someone else’s,’ Hannah muttered.

‘You’ll have your own as well. A few more or less makes no odds, surely? Now you know we have your best interests at heart,’ her mother added trying to sound soothing, but she succeeded only in annoying Hannah further.

‘My best interests? To marry me to a man old enough to be my father? That’s disgusting!’

‘Hannah!’ Her mother looked scandalised, but her father held up his hand to stop her from saying anything else.

‘He’s only thirty-two,’ he said, ‘which isn’t terribly old. It may seem that way to you now, but in a few years you’ll think differently. Your mother and I are of the opinion that you need a steadying hand. The fact that Mr Hesketh has more experience of life than you can only be a positive thing. You’re too headstrong for your own good. Don’t think we haven’t noticed you running wild with Edward, even though you’re much too old for such behaviour. You must learn some decorum.’

‘I don’t run “wild”, I just …’