Jewel of the Pacific (15 page)

“I was so thrilled, so happy. I can rest now, knowing you are all—perhaps even more—of the young lady I wanted you to be. Others have done my work in answer to my constant prayers for you. Eden, my dearest, I’m so very proud of you!”

T
he first indication that Rafe’s vision showed any hope of improvement had come on the tenth day aboard the steamer after he left Honolulu.

Now, after a month in San Francisco had crawled by, Rafe drummed his fingers. He was bored and miserable. He felt as if he were wandering about on one of San Francisco’s foggiest nights. All he could hear was the deep groan of a foghorn. He’d lost Eden, and his sight. His house and plantation were in a state of neglect. What else could go wrong? He may never again see a God-given Hawaiian sunset, or look into Kip’s happy face.

“Keep this up and I’ll soon be crying in my cup,” he mocked himself.

“You say something, Mr. Rafe?” Ling asked.

“Coffee,” Rafe repeated.

“I get some. You wait here.”

“Yes, Ling. I’ll wait right here.”

The first month of his stay was spent at the Parker Judson mansion on Nob Hill, where his mother, Celestine, babied him against his wishes and told heroic stories about how wonderful her son was to Miss Bernice Judson, Parker Judson’s niece.

Celestine’s stories frustrated Zachary, who held his angered tongue in her presence. When alone with Rafe, however, he released his displeasure and put miles of wear on the Judsons’ fancy carpet by pacing to and fro.

“Doesn’t your mother know I’m in love with Bernice and want to marry her?” Zach complained. “What is your mother trying to do? Marry you to Parker Judson’s niece?”

“Why not?” Rafe pricked him, also in a foul mood. “Look at this big mansion I’ll inherit on Nob Hill.” He spread his arms wide. “Trouble is, I won’t be able to see it.”

“Very funny.”

“Not really. Relax, Zach. Sit down. First, old chap, no one will marry me to any woman unless I decide it’s the woman I want. But if you plan on marrying Bernice, you’ll first need to break off with Claudia Hunnewell. From the stalwart plans of Ainsworth and her father, Thaddeus, you won’t find it all that easy.”

“Never mind,” Zach grumbled. “I’ll handle the Hunnewell family.”

“Sure you will. Ainsworth, too, right? You’re just fortunate Claudia didn’t come along on the steamer to keep an eye on you. She’s a determined girl. And she knows about Bunny.”

“Look, Rafe, I don’t find any of your goads amusing. You knew Bernice in the past,” Zach accused.

Rafe had to judge everything from tone of voice. In his vision all he could see was a ghostly figure that he knew to be Zach moving about in grayness. It was frustrating to say the least. From Zach’s voice he could
see
that he was upset.

So, then. Bernice must have said something to Zach about having known Rafe. He wished she’d kept silent. Bernice was spending too much time with him. If the circumstances were different he would have avoided her company. Because of his anger with Eden, and perhaps, also, because of boredom and frustration, he’d allowed her to have her way. Now that Zach noticed the camaraderie and was jealous, it was time to leave.

He wished now that he’d gone straight to the Palace Hotel on his arrival as Ainsworth and Hunnewell had done. Rafe had come here to Parker’s house because he was a friend and business partner, and P.J. had insisted.

Then, too, Rafe had wanted to discuss the Hawaiiana pineapple plantation with P.J. He remained determined to see that Keno was granted opportunity to take over a portion of Hawaiiana before marrying Candace.

His mother and Kip were also here. They still had a great deal to discuss about the adoption, and whether or not he should sign the papers that would make Kip his son. So he delayed, waiting until he knew more about his future and whether he’d regain his sight.

His eyes had improved some, but not enough. Dr. William Kelly was contemplating surgery, but was in no hurry, even though Rafe was. The wise and calm Dr. Kelly wanted more healing time.

“I continue to believe this is a temporary loss of sight, Rafe,” he’d said that afternoon. “We need to be patient, and wait.”

Between Celestine commending her son to Bernice and Zach’s jealousy flaring up, Rafe decided he’d have Ling make arrangements for him to move to the Palace Hotel the next evening.

“You’re quiet about discussing the question,” Zach grumbled. “You knew her in the past, so why not admit it?”

“When I was making runs in the Caribbean a few years ago, I met Parker Judson at the Palace Hotel when King Kalakaua was there. You should remember. You, too, were there.”

“I remember,” Zach said morosely.

“I met Parker there that night. He had me over here to meet the big sugar giants like Claus Spreckels. Parker was interested in my pineapples, and I was interested in his land. So I came. That’s where he introduced me to his niece. I knew her casually for a short time. That’s all.”

“Well, lately you’ve spent too much time in her company. And don’t forget Eden.”

The mention of Eden riled Rafe even further. “Then maybe you should spend more time keeping Bunny happy, instead of running off for the day trying to dig up dirt on your brother, poor old Silas.”

“I’m not amused about poor old Silas.”

“And neither is the woman you’re enamored with. I’d prefer she had someone else to sip tea with each day. So don’t make things so easy for me by running off.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Zach said.

“A wise decision. And, I’m also leaving. That should help.”

He heard Zach straighten abruptly. “What! Leaving?”

Rafe heard self-incrimination in Zachary’s voice. The pendulum of his emotions had swung from accusation to affection. “What do you mean? You can’t go yet! Why, Dr. Kelly isn’t through with you. There may be more tests. Even surgery. You can’t give up. Your sight will come back—it’s got to.”

Rafe smiled. “Thanks. I meant to say, I’m going to get rooms at the Palace Hotel. It’s less complicated. And I actually prefer the quiet.”

“If you go, I’ll go too. You’ll need help.”

“There’s Ling.”

“We’ll both go. Come to think of it, Grandfather Ainsworth’s still there, too. He may not go with Mr. Hunnewell to Washington, D.C., after all.”

Rafe found that news curious. Ainsworth had been keen to go to Washington to meet with Thurston for the discussion with the Secretary of State on the possibilities of annexation. They wanted to do this before President Harrison left office and Grover Cleveland, who was against annexation of Hawaii, was sworn into office.

“Did Ainsworth say why he’d decided to stay here in the Bay City?”

“No, but I don’t think he’s feeling well. Hunnewell is going on, though. He’s promised to keep me updated by wire on everything important that happens in the meeting. I’ll be the first with a big story in the
Gazette.
A personal interview with Hunnewell. Maybe even old Thurston. Great-aunt Nora will smother me with beautiful
leis
when we get back to Honolulu.”

And you’ll be more indebted to not disappoint his daughter Claudia with that big diamond engagement ring
, Rafe thought. The truth was, Rafe liked Miss Claudia. She was an unpretentious girl. She was not as beautiful as Bernice, but was attractive, and more importantly, he believed she sincerely loved Zach, and believed the Scriptures to reign in all matters of life. He couldn’t say the same about the troubling Bernice Judson and her determined ways.

When Rafe moved to the Palace Hotel his condition unexpectedly changed. It began with a letter from Ambrose Easton, written from the leper settlement of Kalawao.

Rafe kept Ambrose’s letter inside his pocket for a day. Finally he’d sent Ling to Ainsworth’s room to ask Ainsworth to come read it to him. Having to do such things was a key point of Rafe’s frustration. Always independent, the need to “ask” for help was particularly menacing to his peace of mind.

Ainsworth came over at once to see Rafe.

On an earlier occasion Zach had told Rafe that his grandfather was ill, but as far as Rafe could tell by his voice Ainsworth was as determined of spirit as ever. He told Rafe of how he was in communication with Thurston and Hunnewell who were hard at work in Washington, D.C.

“I believe, my boy, that the annexation issue is going our way,” he said after he and Rafe had settled into comfortable chairs. “Thurston is assured that a revolution to unseat the corrupt monarchy will take place this year. Naturally, we cannot unseat Queen Liliuokalani without cause, but if the information we’ve received of her intentions to overturn the legal Constitution is true, we will have ample legitimacy. Secretary of State Blaine has privately assured Thurston that the president will back us before he leaves office, if he should lose this election to Grover Cleveland. I believe he’ll call a special meeting of Congress and ask for a vote to annex the Hawaiian Islands.”

“If that proves true, sir, it’s the best news I’ve had in months.”

“Indeed, indeed … and now, this letter from Ambrose you wish me to read.”

Ainsworth drew his chair closer and accepted the envelope from Rafe. He opened it and read the contents quietly, showing respect in treading on another’s privacy. Rafe didn’t mind sharing the letter from Ambrose, but he would have if it were from Eden.

Most of Ambrose’s letter was personal, written to Rafe not merely as his blood uncle, but as his spiritual mentor—the decent man and lay pastor who’d brought him to Christ and discipled him through childhood and into Rafe’s robust teen years as a pearl diver in the old Easton lagoon. Many times Ambrose had kept him and Keno out of trouble.

As Ainsworth concluded the letter he must have decided Rafe needed to be alone to digest the news. He stood from the chair, returned the letter, and, with a firm but brief pat on Rafe’s shoulder said, “I have a meeting with Spreckels and Hunnewell.” He left the room for his own suite.

Rafe mulled over what he’d heard.

Ambrose had given Rafe some wise and compassionate advice, as well as affirming they were all well on Molokai, but Ambrose did not mention Eden.

He might at least have discussed how she was responding to Kalawao. Why hadn’t he written anything about her? If anyone knew Eden, it was Ambrose. They were
all
well, he wrote, so there was no cause for Rafe to be concerned. What then, had changed about Eden that caused Ambrose to avoid mentioning her, or passing a message she may have had for him?

Rafe could conceive of only one reason—Eden must have no personal thoughts she wished to share. Rafe realized their relationship must be truly broken.

Rafe had written to Eden before he’d left on the steamer for the mainland, and from San Francisco when at Parker Judson’s. But neither of his letters had produced a response.

He’d been forthright—perhaps too straightforward about the likelihood of permanently losing his vision. He hadn’t told her, however, how her father, at the medical ward in Honolulu, had strongly urged that they end their relationship until the outcome of Rafe’s condition could be determined.

The request had put him in an uncomfortable position. If he’d said no, he would have appeared self-centered and inconsiderate of the yoke he’d be placing upon Eden.

In his physical and emotional condition at the time, the test had weighed heavily, and he’d been brief in the message to Eden that her father had written out for him. Rafe had thought she would answer by a return message before he left for the mainland. When she sent no reply, Rafe thought she’d made her decision. She had stepped back from his crisis and run off to Molokai.

Evidently, her decision had pleased Dr. Jerome. This had always been his goal. But perhaps that was somewhat unfair since seeing her mother and helping with the leper settlement had been Eden’s goal from the time she was sixteen.

More than six weeks ago now, Rafe had written her a second message, with Ling’s help. He’d told her that after two months in San Francisco under the care of the vision specialist, Dr. William Kelly, the problems with his eyesight continued, and that Rafe saw little hope of recovery.