City of God (46 page)

“Oh yes, Mr. Chambers. In the afternoon we have what is called
goûter
, a snack, and Sister Catherine often makes us little cakes that she says are from Burgundy, where she grew up.”

“This is not that kind of French food.”

“Oh, I’m sure it isn’t. But at the Convent of the Sacred Heart we are all taught French from our first year at school. I can read the menu.”

Mr. Chambers reached over and took the large and elaborate
carte
out of her hands. “Yes, I’ve no doubt you can. But on this occasion you must allow me the pleasure of ordering for us both.” He nodded to the waiter hovering in the corner. The young man stepped forward.

“
Escargots,
” Mr. Chambers said. “And
consomme à la tortue
. Then
sole normande
and after that
boeuf bordelaise
. And we will drink sherry with the snails and the turtle soup, then the Sancerre ’49 with the fish, and finally the St. Emilion ’44 with the beef.” Reciting the wines was a mere formality. He had chosen them earlier and the bottles were lined up on a nearby sideboard. “You may serve the amontillado immediately,” he said.

Mei Lin ignored the small crystal glass the waiter was filling with pale gold sherry. “Mr. Chambers, you must tell me why you asked me—”

He held up a forestalling hand. “Later. After we have dined. Now taste your wine.”

Mei Lin took a sip. “It is delicious.”

“I presume you have tasted plum wine.” These days bottles of the
potent Chinese wine were for sale in a couple of tiny shops on Cherry and Market streets. “But have you had sherry before?”

“Yes,” she said. “But only a taste at the convent before Christmas. And not so good as this. Sister Catherine says—”

“I thought the Sacred Heart nuns were all called Mother.”

“The choir nuns, the teachers, are called Mother. The ones who cook and clean are called Sister. Are you a Catholic, Mr. Chambers?” He shook his head, and she suppressed a small pang of disappointment. It had occurred to her that Mr. Kurt Chambers might be a gift from the Blessed Mother of God, an answer to the many prayers Mei Lin—who had taken the name Linda Marie when she was an eight-year-old child and the nuns had her baptized in a quiet and private ceremony—uttered with total confidence and pure love. Requisites, the nuns assured her, for prayers being answered. He was, perhaps, her future. She knew that was what Mamee and Ah Chee were thinking. But if Kurt Chambers was not a Catholic, that wasn’t possible.

“I am a seeker of truth,” he added, as if he knew that his not being a Catholic would be a cause of regret for her.

“Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life,” Mei Lin said.

“For some,” he agreed.

She did not feel prepared to argue theology with Mr. Chambers. “Please, you must tell me. That day at the hospital, how did you know I would be there?”

“I had absolutely no idea you would be there.”

“But you knew to speak to me in Chinese.”

“I didn’t say I did not know who you were, only that meeting you that afternoon was an accident, and I decided to take advantage of it.” And before she could press him with more questions, “Ah, the
escargots.
Have you tasted snails, Miss Di?”

She knew he expected her to be shocked. Mei Lin lifted her chin. “No, Mr. Chambers, I have not. But I know they are considered a great delicacy in Burgundy.”

“Indeed. See,” he said, demonstrating as he spoke, “you use these tongs to hold the shell and take out the meat with the little fork.” He
watched while without a trace of hesitation she copied his actions. “Now eat and tell me what you think.”

“Delicious,” Mei Lin pronounced. They were a bit too chewy for her liking and tasted only of the garlic and butter surrounding them, but she would not say that.

Two hours later, when Kurt Chambers had in front of him a large snifter of cognac and Mei Lin had been served a tiny glass of something he called
eau-de-vie de Mirabelle
, which was the color of pale straw and tasted like sweet fire, Mei Lin no longer felt such a sense of urgency about her many questions. The food and drink and Mr. Chamber’s amusing stories (of which she could not now remember a single word) had combined to make her feel mellow and quite relaxed.

The cut-glass decanters containing the two
digestifs
were on a small table next to Chambers. He sent the waiter from the room. “Now,” he said, “I will tell you why I brought you here and how things are to be arranged.”

“Arranged? I don’t believe I have given you permission to arrange anything, Mr. Chambers.”

“Guai,”
he said sharply, using the single word with which a Chinese parent reminded a child of the obligation to obedience and correct behavior. “You are too young to be in a position to give permission for anything. When I am ready, I will ask the
tai-tai
for permission. I expect by then it will be entirely up to her, because any day now Samuel Devrey will go to be with his ancestors.”

“That is a cruel thing to say!”

“No, it is a true thing, which you know quite well. There are, however, other things you do not know, and I have brought you here to tell you about them. Not because I must, but because your happiness is important to me. So be quiet and listen.”

Mei Lin folded her hands on the table and looked down, not letting any part of seething emotions show. The way she did when one of the Mothers reprimanded her.

“Better,” Kurt Chambers said. “First let us establish the elements of the situation. Do you know that in the rest of New York the
yang gwei zih
are starting to call the street where you live and a small section around it China Village?”

Mei Lin shook her head.

“I thought you might not. But they do. There are now precisely one hundred and seventy-two civilized people living in the city, all within the three-block area of this so-called China Village. Before he became an opium addict your father had considerable control over many of them. Now he has none. The ostensible leader of the China Village is Lee Big Belly, but since I came to New York he has been working for me. I am the Kiu Ling. Do you know what that means?” Mei Lin again shook her head. “It is a Cantonese term. It means economic ruler. Remember it. Also understand why we are speaking in English tonight and not Mandarin.”

Mei Lin said nothing, kept her head down, and waited for the explanation.

“In the world which you and I will share,” Mr. Chambers said, “that we both speak perfect English will afford us the maximum advantage. It allows us to fit in when we must, and to communicate without other civilized people understanding. Both are sometimes expedient. So we will speak English together almost always. Note that I said almost. I will explain the exception at the proper time. Here and now I have determined that we should begin as we mean to go on.”

“Begin? Mr. Chambers, what makes you think we are to go on in any way at all? You are presuming a great deal about my feelings, sir.” The girls at school had been passing around a book and reading it secretly when none of the nuns were watching. The heroine said exactly that.

“I am not very much interested in your feelings.”

Mei Lin brought her head up sharply and stared straight at him.

Chambers chuckled. “I mean the feelings you have now, while you are still a girl. Later I will teach you what feelings to have. As for presuming, I am merely stating the obvious. You are exquisitely beautiful, Mei Lin.” It was the first time he had used her proper name in that way. It had a startling intimacy that made her feel as if she stood naked before him. “Particularly dressed as you are tonight,” he added. “The dress is called a
cheongsam
, by the way. It is a daring
new fashion from Hong Kong. Next time you must wear it without a corset. And I would venture a guess that this is the first time you have been permitted to wear your hair up.”

That was true. Mei-hua had herself pulled the dark hair to the top of her daughter’s head and twisted it into a great bun woven with silver and blue ribbons, and she had put silver earrings in the girl’s ears, which Ah Chee had pierced with a sewing needle when Mei Lin was two. But she was not allowed to wear earrings at the Convent of the Sacred Heart. The earrings too were a first-time event marking the special character of the evening.

“I am content that you do not have golden lilies,” Mr. Chambers said. “In our situation it is better so. But lovely as you are Mei Lin, to the
yang gwei zih
you are a mongrel. The men of the Middle Kingdom, even if there were here any of such a class as to deserve you, would think the same. So you are a thing to be scorned by civilized men and
yang gwei zih
alike. But you are perfect for me. That is why—”

“How can you—”

“
Guai,
” he repeated in the same stern manner as before. “You are perfect for me because you too have a foot in both the Chinese world and the white. China Village, which New York still largely ignores, is going to be much more important in the near future. There will be more civilized men coming to live here and do the bitter labor, the
ku li,
the whites do not choose to do for themselves. That is the source of our word coolie,” he added. “Did you know that?”

Mei Lin shook her head.

“Now you do. You should also know that China Village will remain the source of opium, to which I believe many more of the
yang gwei zih
will soon enough be addicted. As the Kiu Ling I control all that. It might have been your father, if he had not become an addict himself. In which case I might have had to kill him. As it is, I need only wait for him to die.”

Mei Lin jumped up. “You are a wicked man. I will listen to no more of this.”

“Sit down. I have not yet explained about your mother.”

She did not sit down.

“When I tell you to sit, I mean for you to do exactly that.
Sit down
!”

She was long trained in obedience to authority. Mei Lin resumed her place at the table.

“That’s better. As I was saying, the supreme first lady is still young and still beautiful, and her golden lilies are a thing of wonder. She is, moreover, the only civilized woman in all of New York. When your father dies, the richer among the civilized men intend to play
Ya Pei
for the
tai-tai
. The winner of the game will take her as his concubine for as long as he remains in this country. But given that she is such a precious and unique commodity, the others are to have access to her one night every month. I presume you know for what purpose. When the man who has won her is ready to leave this place to return home to China, he will pass her to the next in line.”

Mei Lin could not breathe. Her heart was pounding and her palms were wet with sweat. “No,” she whispered. “No, no, no. They would not. Leper Face and Taste Bad and Fat Cheeks, they would not permit it.”

“There is absolutely nothing they will be able to do to prevent it. The others are far too powerful. In fact, if they wished, they could come and take the
tai-tai
tomorrow or the next day. They have chosen not to do so because it is better for all if there is no fuss in China Village, nothing that will attract the attention of the coppers or any of the other powerful
yang gwei zih.
”

Chambers paused to pour a bit more cognac into his snifter. Mei Lin’s
eau-de-vie
remained untouched. “Have a sip of the Mirabelle,” he said. “It will help to calm you. And do not look so frightened. What I have described to you is the plan of Big Belly and a few of the others. It is not going to happen.”

“Why not? How can it be prevented?”

“I am taking the
tai-tai
under my protection. I have already bought a house for her uptown, but I believe she will be happier about moving after your father dies. So we will wait until then.”

“Even then she will not wish to go. It will be very difficult to convince her—”

“It will not be difficult at all. I shall, after all, be her future son-inlaw.”

Mei Lin opened her mouth but no words came out.

Chambers chuckled. “What else did you think I intended? You are to be my wife, beautiful Mei Lin. You will be Woman Chambers, my supreme lady. Our house is ready and waiting. It is right next door to the one where your mother and Ah Chee will live. It is far enough uptown so there will be no near neighbors, no
yang gwei zih
, to make the
tai-tai
—I suppose we must call her first
tai-tai
once we are married—to make first
tai-tai
uncomfortable.”

“You keep saying
yang gwei zih
, but you are one of them. You are white.”

Chambers did not smile. “Only on the outside,” he said.

When Mei Lin got home, dazed as much by what she’d heard as the wines and the Mirabelle, her mother had fallen asleep in the throne chair. It was Ah Chee who undressed Mei Lin and put her to bed, taking careful note of her privates while she did so. She nodded in satisfaction when she saw no sign of bruising or disturbance. Later the old woman made a careful examination of the blue silk dress. She could discover not a speck of blood.