Trade Winds (Choc Lit) (37 page)

‘Very well,’ Ley said, looking surprised at the suddenness of Farquhar’s departure. ‘Enjoy the sights.’

But Farquhar wasn’t interested in any sights other than that of Killian’s wife, preferably dead. He would find her if it was the last thing he did.

Killian was kept constantly busy and Campbell took him out every day on a never-ending quest to find a cargo at the best possible price.

First he contracted with a merchant called Hunqua for some silks. These had to be ordered straight away so that the weavers would have time to finish them to the right specification before their departure. He also negotiated a ballast of something he called
tutanego
, a metal whose ingredients they weren’t entirely sure of, but which was heavy enough to steady the ship. Then he turned his attention to buying porcelain whenever they saw something that looked to be of good quality.

Most of their time, however, was spent arguing about the price of tea. Killian learned more about the various types of tea than he had ever thought possible or even wanted to know. By the end of September he was already heartily sick of it, as he told Jess at one of their meetings.

‘I swear, even the smell of it is making me ill,’ he said. ‘Mr Campbell is unbelievably fussy about what he buys and he doesn’t hesitate to refuse all the baskets which contain what he considers inferior tea. It’s really tedious and the merchants aren’t pleased. No doubt they’re used to cheating the Europeans, but Mr Campbell is having none of that.’

‘He sounds very canny,’ Jess smiled. ‘I hope you’re listening and learning so you know what to buy in future.’

‘Of course.’

Killian couldn’t keep his eyes off his wife and son, who made as pretty a picture as he’d ever seen. Now that she’d recovered from her ordeal, Jess was positively blooming, and he had to stop himself from touching her at every opportunity. This was neither the time nor the place to try and tempt her back to his bed, even if it had been allowed. He knew women had to wait at least a couple of months before resuming their wifely duties, but he wanted to kiss her generous mouth every time they met. So far, he’d resisted because it would never be enough.

‘It’s a shame I can’t come and see you more often,’ he sighed.

‘Yes. Did you ask about that?’

‘I did and although Li said I was welcome to visit at any time, Mr Campbell told me I shouldn’t. It’s probably better for Li if he’s not seen to fraternise too much with us foreigners. He might lose face or something.’ He shrugged.

‘Never mind, time passes quickly and soon we’ll be on our way home again,’ Jess said with a smile. Nothing seemed to get her down at the moment and Killian was thankful for that.

‘You’re right. I’m sorry you can’t at least go out to have a look around though,’ Killian said. Chinese women, it seemed, were always kept indoors unless they had to work. They were hardly ever seen even in their families’ booths. He had asked the interpreter if he could take Jess for a walk occasionally, but the man shook his head and looked worried, so he didn’t pursue the question.

‘It’s all right, little Brice keeps me busy most of the time.’

‘I’ll tell you what, I need your opinion on what to buy to take back with us, so I’ll bring you some samples and then we can choose together. How would that be?’

She smiled at him again. ‘I’d enjoy that.’

‘And shall I commission them to paint a dinner service with our initials? I’m told they can do that easily and it’s fairly cheap. In fact, they’ll paint anything we want. Perhaps you could make up a pattern?’

‘I’ll try to draw our initials entwined, but I quite like the Chinese patterns so I don’t think we should do our own. It wouldn’t feel authentic, if you know what I mean.’

‘Of course, you’re right. Well, let me know when you have finished the drawing.’

He was fascinated by his surroundings and spent as much of his time as possible wandering the streets of the suburb, which were made of square stone slabs and kept clean at all times. Any water or effluent escaped down little holes, presumably into some kind of sewer, and all rubbish was collected by the poorer inhabitants. Some streets were broad, straight and quite beautiful, but most of them were narrow, long, crooked and teeming with people.

Even for someone who had lived in Edinburgh, Canton seemed unbelievably crowded. Killian had to literally push his way through the mass of humanity that seethed around him, not to mention the various pigs, stray dogs and flapping chickens. Everywhere he went there were street entertainers, fortune tellers and even barbers carrying out their work in the middle of the street.

The Chinese people seemed to carry most things in baskets, often two at a time suspended on a bamboo pole over their shoulders. There were no carriages, only the odd palanquin for wealthier merchants and their wives. The houses were mostly two-storey dwellings made of mud or stone, with a booth at the front displaying the goods made on the premises and a workshop of some kind behind it and living quarters above. It all seemed very plain and functional, but lovely to look at and endlessly fascinating to an outsider.

Each street was aimed at a particular type of merchandise, with silk booths in one, clothes and hats in another, while a third would contain only food stalls. These were interesting, but not as pleasant since they stank to high heaven. The tea and silk merchants were the highest in rank, their area the finest. It all seemed very orderly to Killian, unlike either Edinburgh or Gothenburg where shops were opened wherever a merchant felt like it. The Chinese craftsmen also thought nothing of working openly inside their booths. They only put down their tools if a customer showed an interest in their wares, which were all arranged in neat rows.

‘You’re enjoying your stay here, I see,’ Campbell commented one afternoon, when Killian came back from yet another walk. Campbell’s thin mouth curved in amusement, but the deep blue eyes sparkled with approval so Killian knew the older man was pleased.

‘Yes, it’s wonderful. I can’t tell you how grateful I am to you for the opportunity to come here.’

‘No gratitude necessary. You’ve worked hard to earn your keep and apart from the small matter of your wife, which wasn’t your fault, I have no complaints about your conduct. In fact, you’ve been a great asset and I think you’ll go far.’

‘Thank you, you’re very kind.’

‘Not at all. I can’t help but compare the way you pay attention to me as opposed to the laxity of some others I could mention.’ Campbell’s expression turned sour and Killian knew he was thinking of one of the other supercargos, who seemed to be spending all his time with the Ostenders rather than helping his superior. Killian had no idea why the man had become so friendly with John Ley and his crew, but he knew Campbell considered them ill-mannered. Killian thought it best not to even attempt to socialise with them.

‘But let’s not think about that,’ Campbell continued. ‘Tell me, have you found a buyer for the various mechanical instruments you brought with you yet? I would have thought there’d be plenty of interest.’

‘Oh, yes. I showed them to several merchants and made them bid against each other.’ Killian grinned. ‘See, I’ve been watching you haggling and learned a thing or two.’ Campbell nodded and smiled. ‘And I sold them to the highest bidder only this morning. I’ve just kept a couple back which I’m going to give to Mr Li before our departure as a thank you gift for his care of my wife.’

‘Good thinking. Now what will you buy with the profit of your sale?’

‘Ah, now that’s tricky. There’s so much choice, isn’t there. I’ll have to think about that some more.’

‘Well, while you do that, let’s go out and see if we can’t find some more porcelain before the damned French buy all the best pieces. We really need to get that before everything else since it has to be stowed at the bottom of the ship and so has to be loaded first.’

Killian was very happy to go along with this. He was enjoying himself immensely and on the way to the porcelain merchants, he could look at all the other things on offer. Lacquer ware, mother-of-pearl boxes and gaming counters, carved ivory, and much more. He really was spoiled for choice and wouldn’t decide what to buy just yet. There was plenty of time and he wanted to ask Jess’ opinion too. He was sure she’d know exactly what a lady would like and what would make the most profit in Gothenburg.

He smiled to himself – they made a good team.

Chapter Thirty-One

The weather turned colder and Jess was grateful when Killian brought her a couple of thick, quilted silk jackets and matching long skirts. He had also bought warm baby clothes of silk and cotton for little Brice. They both laughed at the sight of him in a funny looking padded hat which protected his head, but made him look like a native baby.

‘We’ll have to call him Mandarin Brice from now on,’ Killian joked.

‘Don’t listen to your papa,’ Jess told the baby. ‘He’s mocking you when you look so handsome.’ But she had to admit the only difference between him and Mei’s son were the huge blue eyes and slightly paler skin.

She and Mei managed to communicate somehow with gestures and facial expressions, and from time to time Killian sent the linguist to help them for an hour or two. Jess soon picked up a few words of Chinese and her hostess tried English, both of which resulted in much laughter. Chinese was unlike any language Jess had ever heard before, and it confused her that one word could mean several different things depending on her tone of voice. She soon learned to imitate Mei exactly and proved better at this than Mei was at pronouncing English words.

Because they spent so much time together, looking after their children, Jess felt they were becoming friends. Mei also gave her some very useful tips, like how to tie Brice into a sling so that she could carry him and still keep her hands free for other things. Brice seemed to like it as well and often slept for hours like that while Jess paced the courtyard for exercise.

‘He probably feels safe,’ Killian said when she showed him. ‘He can hear your heartbeat and it keeps him warm too, I should think.’

‘Yes. It will be really useful once we’re on the ship. Then I can walk around and still be able to hold onto things if it’s windy without worrying about dropping him.’ She handed him his son, who was thriving and putting on weight. Killian gazed at the baby as if he still couldn’t believe his good fortune, and she smiled at this sight.

‘What?’ he said, catching sight of her expression.

‘Nothing. It’s just that I seem to remember you had quite a different reaction to babies when you first came to Gothenburg.’

Killian grinned. ‘I’m still not interested in other people’s children, but when it’s your own, it’s a different matter. He’s just perfect, isn’t he?’

Jess laughed. ‘Of course he is.’ She changed the subject. ‘When the linguist came the other day he told me there’s some sort of festival soon in honour of the god of fire. Have you heard of that?’

‘Yes, apparently everyone hangs up lanterns and they make shapes out of them and there is light everywhere. It should be quite a spectacle.’

‘Well, Mei has offered to let me go out and see it. She said we can go in a palanquin. That way hopefully no one will notice me. Do you think I should go?’

‘I don’t see why not. Keep your hair covered and people won’t look twice at you if you’re dressed the same as Mei. I can follow behind and keep an eye on your palanquin, just in case there’s any trouble.’

‘Thank you. I would so love to see it! I feel like I’ve been cooped up in here for too long.’

‘That’s understandable – you have.’

Farquhar felt as if he was being eaten alive by frustration. It gnawed at his insides and made him so restless he could barely sleep a wink, despite drinking huge quantities of
samfue
, a sort of Chinese brandy brewed with rice. Strictly speaking, this was forbidden to the foreigners because the Chinese believed it might encourage brawls. But Farquhar had found a Chinaman who was only too willing to supply him in secret and since there was nothing else to be had, he made do with that.

When he wasn’t trying to drown his thoughts with liquor, he spent most of his waking hours prowling the streets. He hardly saw any of the wares on offer because he was constantly searching the crowds hoping to see Killian’s wife. He knew where she was staying, but so far she hadn’t set foot outside the door and he had no idea how to get inside.

As with most Chinese houses, Mr Li’s home was long and thin, with the street end taken up by a booth selling porcelain. It was surrounded by other houses on all sides, and there seemed no way of reaching the back of it, short of going through someone else’s house. Mr Li himself spent a lot of time away on business and had therefore hired someone to act as vendor on his behalf. Farquhar tried to talk to this man to see if it would be possible to bribe him, but the vendor only wanted to sell blue and white bowls. When Farquhar didn’t show any interest in purchasing these, he simply turned to another customer.

Farquhar sometimes followed his cousin and watched from a distance while Killian wandered round, looking as pleased as punch. It made Farquhar’s stomach curdle to see that expression of supreme contentedness. He wanted to wipe it off his cousin’s face once and for all. Killian occasionally visited his wife, but never brought her outside, and Farquhar was beginning to despair of ever finding a way to see her.