Victoria Holt - The House of a Thousand Lanterns

Lottie talked about the house as though it were alive. She feared it had lost face because it now belonged to a woman.

I retorted that the very goddess on whose temple it was said to have been erected had been a female. Wouldn’t she therefore be pleased rather than dismayed?

Lottie was certain this was not so. “Women,” she would say and shake her head grimacing, “of no account. Men… that is different.”

Lottie herself would have had evidence of the lack of importance of her sex. She would remember that at the time of her birth she had been put out into the streets to die; every day in the floating city of sampans one would see baby boys tied to the boats so that they could not fall over into the water and drown, while no such precaution was taken with baby girls. I felt indignant on behalf of Chinese women. Their feet were mutilated if they were of the upper classes and their only education was how to embroider and paint on silk and serve the men who would be chosen as their husbands. Even then when they were given in marriage they must suffer their husband’s concubines under the same roof.

When I considered all this I saw Lottie’s point that the house which was essentially Chinese might be affronted to be in the possession of a woman.

“In a year you marry,” said Lottie confidently. “Then master in the house. No more lost face.”

I said: “It would still be my house.”

Lottie lifted her shoulders and laughed. She didn’t believe that.

Since he had given me the Chou figure my relationship with Adam had changed.

We had taken to going to sales together and we often met at dealers. I think Toby was a little piqued at our growing friendship although he was too discreet to mention it.

Adam was like a man with a purpose; there was about him a quiet determination. I knew that when my year of widowhood was over he was going to ask me to marry him.

And so was Toby.

I pondered about them a great deal but Joliffe was always in my thoughts for he would be back. It was impossible to consider Joliffe dispassionately as I could the others. When I thought of his breaking into Sylvester’s Treasure Room and taking away the goddess to have it valued, I reminded myself that Toby would say that was unethical for Toby was a man of honor. And Joliffe? Joliffe was an adventurer; in the old days he would have been a buccaneer. I could imagine him on the high seas storming ships and carrying off their treasure… and perhaps their women. I had loved Joliffe; but I did have an affection for both Adam and Toby. Yet I think I was not involved with them. Was that being in love? I could stand outside my relationship with Adam and Toby, but I could not as far as Joliffe was concerned. I might make up my mind to take one course of action with him and when he was there he could completely change it. There was one other with whom I was deeply involved—my son Jason. But he must come first. I had married Sylvester for his sake, and now if I married again, Jason should once more be a major consideration.

Both Toby and Adam seemed to realize what an important part Jason would make in my choice.

Of the two Toby was Jason’s favorite. Jason was perfectly happy in his company. Both Adam and Toby had given him riding lessons and at that time riding was his passion. Toby knew how to handle him; he had the right amount of firmness and friendship; he never talked down to him; they were man to man and at the same time Jason looked up to him. Adam was more aloof. He was not a boy’s man at all but I noticed that Jason had a great respect for him.

Once I asked my son whether he liked Adam.

Oh yes, he answered, he liked him. “Joliffe’s his cousin,” he added, as though that were the reason.

I should marry in time. I was not a woman to want to live my life alone. Jason was growing up; he needed a father. So as the weeks passed I thought often of marriage and living out my life—perhaps between England and Hong Kong as Sylvester had done. I wanted more children; I wanted a full life. I wanted the comfort of a large family and a man beside me to be my companion, and at the same time I wanted the satisfaction of increasing my knowledge and the thrill of the hunt for treasures. Strangely enough all the three men who were constantly in my thoughts could share my interests.

I wanted someone to share this house with me, and as these thoughts refused to be banished from my mind I was trying not to think too much of Joliffe. Oh Sylvester, I would think, if you were here I would not be in this dilemma.

One day when Adam and I were returning after a visit to a sale we talked of the house. I said: “I expect you will laugh at me, but since it passed into my hands I feel it is different.”

“Different in what way?” he asked.

“I can’t explain. It’s a subtle difference. When I’m in a room alone I feel that there’s a presence there… that something is being conveyed to me.”

He smiled. “That was at dusk I’m sure.”

“It might have been.”

“Shadows set the imagination working and in a place like The House of a Thousand Lanterns the imagination would be on the alert.”

“What is it about the house that makes me feel this aura of mystery… and that there is something rather sinister about it.”

“It is the house of an Oriental. Despite your knowledge of things Chinese, it is alien to all you were brought up to expect in life. It’s a strange house, too, I grant you that. All those rooms… every alcove fitted with lanterns.”

“And you think this is the only reason why I feel this strangeness?”

“I think it very likely.”

“Sylvester said that it contained some treasure.”

“That’s the legend.”

“Where could it be?”

“Who can say?”

“If there is something, there must be a secret hiding place in the house.”

“If there is it has eluded all the previous owners. They have searched in every room.”

“Do you think it is just a legend that has grown up?”

“I think that may well be.”

“I am the first woman to own this house. It seems a challenge in a way.”

“What will you do?”

“I shall try to find the solution.”

“Where will you begin?”

“I shall have to wait for some inspiration. Where would the treasure be likely to be?”

“It depends what the treasure is.”

“Sylvester did not think it was gold or silver or precious gems. He believed it was something more subtle. Do you know it has occurred to me that it could be the statue of Kuan Yin. You know the statue. The one every dealer seeks to find.”

“Whatever gave you that idea!”

“This house was built on the site of a temple. There is a statue of her in the pagoda and one in the house.”

Adam was looking at me intently. His eyes had darkened with an excitement he sought to suppress. To find the Sung Kuan Yin was the dream of every dealer.

“Do you think that if the mandarin who gave my great-grandfather the house had possessed Kuan Yin he would have given her away?”

“It might have been the ultimate sacrifice. His wife and son had been saved.”

“Your imagination runs away with you, Jane.”

“That’s what my mother used to tell me. It may be a wild idea, but I am going to find that piece if it is in this house.”

“How?”

“I shall search every room.”

“That’s been done a hundred times.”

“Yet the secret must be there.”

“If there is one, no one has discovered it in over eighty years.”

“Perhaps I shall be the one.”

Adam gave me one of his rare smiles.

“I am going to join forces with you. Where shall we begin?”

“That is what I shall have to discover. Perhaps the house will tell me.” I smiled at him, for I saw the curl of his lips.

He was the most practical of men. He would never be given to flights of fancy. Perhaps he was the man I needed in my life. I asked myself: Was I right in thinking Sylvester meant this? He must have trusted Adam since he had named him Jason’s guardian.

And Jason? Jason liked him. He felt the confidence children feel in a strong man—besides he was Joliffe’s cousin.

We were going to visit Chan Cho Lan. Adam, Lottie, and myself.

Adam explained to me.

“The lady is quite a power in the district. The family has known her for some years. At one time she acted as a kind of liaison between us and some of the wealthy mandarins. She is of a good family and there is no one quite like her in Hong Kong for like you she is mistress of her house and has no husband now. She keeps a large establishment in which she trains girls in the graces of social life.”

I told him that Lottie had taken me to her and we had already met.

“Lottie holds her in great awe,” I said. “I think she was afraid when she took me that I should not observe the correct etiquette. Lottie, being brought up in her house for a time, was well aware of it. I found it all fascinating. Why does she invite us again?”

“She invites members of our family now and then. It is to show she maintains good will towards us.”

I remembered last time I had been there and the strange grace of this woman. I dressed myself in white silk chiffon, as I was still in mourning for Sylvester. It was a color becoming to me and I was glad. Not that I would attempt to rival the beauty and grace of Chan Cho Lan but I did feel that I should look as well as possible.

Lottie was delightful in a light green silk cheongsam; her hair was loose and she wore a frangipani flower in it.