by Ann Massey
At least Joe had had the consideration to take himself off to London. The brazen adulterer had decamped to the flat he leased in Belgravia when the story broke. Lady Entwistle couldn’t bear to have him in the house after the way he’d treated poor Xiang, carrying on with that unfortunate young woman right in front of her children. But that’s what happens when you marry a younger man, she thought uncharitably. In no way had Joe’s departure compensated for having his family in her home and the media on the doorstep. For three weeks the paparazzi had been camped outside the gates and she felt like a prisoner in her own home. Sometimes she wished she were living back in the Middle Ages, when it was acceptable to pour boiling oil on an invading army. That’s how it felt: like living through a siege. Hopefully, life would settle back to normal once this wretched girl had gone back to the jungle where she belonged.
Mei Li was debating whether she should confide in the woman who might have been her mother-in-law if things had worked out differently. Should she take the risk and tell Lady Entwistle she was in love with her son? She needed to talk to someone about her feelings for David so much that it hurt. For days she’d been struggling, trying to reconcile her sense of duty with her natural desire to be with the man she loved. Clearly her responsibility was to her grandparents, the only family she had ever known, but she loved David so much. How could she expect him to give up this – and her eyes roamed round Lady Entwistle’s country-house sitting room – to sleep on a mat in a ramshackle longhouse?
Mei Li thought that if there was one member of the family who might understand about putting duty before desire, it was David’s mother. ‘Noblesse oblige’ was one of Lady Entwistle’s pet phrases, usually accompanied by a bray of laughter as she sailed out the door in a tulle-swathed straw boater, with Mrs Smith in her wake carrying a box of discards for the jumble sale.
When Mei Li had asked David what his mother had meant by the words, he explained that the privileged had a responsibility to help the less fortunate. ‘Ma sees herself as Lady Bountiful,’ he’d said and grinned.
Now Mei Li looked into Lady Entwistle’s face searchingly. The older woman’s eyes were gleaming and her stern expression had been replaced by a smile of satisfaction. She’s happy because I’m leaving, Mei Li thought, and she closed up, hoping she wouldn’t break down in front of David’s formidable mother. I’d be a fool to give her another chance to say something hurtful, she thought. Mei Li remembered how Lady Entwistle had raised an arched eyebrow when she had used the wrong fork at one of her elaborate dinner parties, and made sure everyone at the table noticed.
‘I was just telling Colonel Pemberton that you’ve come to us straight from the jungle of Borneo, my dear,’ Lady Entwistle had said and turned to the man seated next to her. ‘It’s simply marvellous how she’s adapted, Colonel. Only weeks ago she was probably eating rice with her bare hands and slurping soup from a wooden bowl. That’s right, isn’t it, Mei Li?’ She had laughed conspiratorially as if she and Mei Li were friends.
But Mei Li hadn’t been fooled. She had glimpsed the enmity behind the smile. But she had felt reassured when David squeezed her hand under the table.
Later that evening Lady Entwistle had told Mei Li to ask Cook to replenish the sherry.
‘She’s just the Lings’ maid, Rosemary,’ Mei Li heard her say to the blond girl with the prominent front teeth and the pale, well-manicured hand resting on David’s arm. ‘The poor girl’s practically mute. I’ve given her a little job, David,’ she explained when she saw him frown, ‘so she doesn’t feel out of things. One must do one’s part to make her feel at home.’
In the sitting room, the silence had gone on too long. When Mei Li finally spoke, it was so quietly that Lady Entwistle had to strain to hear her.
‘Now that mother is with the spirits, it is my responsibility to care for my grandparents.’
For once Lady Entwistle was at a loss. She picked up her cross-stitch and put it down again. ‘That woman … wasn’t your mother. Your real mother’s in prison charged with her murder.’ She shuddered at the thought of how maliciously the county would talk if her son married this tainted girl. ‘But I do understand, my dear. One must act according to one’s principles, noblesse oblige and all that.’ She looked at the clock and frowned. Where was the housekeeper with the tea? ‘Mrs Smith is taking a long time with the tea tray. I’ll just see what’s holding her up.’
When Lady Entwistle left the room Mei Li got off the couch, drawn to the sunshine streaming through the open French doors. The view of the garden swam before her brimming eyes and she fought to stop them from welling over. She’d been in shock since she’d been told that Rubiah had been brutally murdered by Tuff, her birth mother. The horror of her quarrel with David had been too much, coming on top of the trauma of the last dreadful weeks, and she was holding back her emotions with difficulty. She knew if she started crying again she’d never stop. Not only had she lost the only mother she’d ever known, but now she also had to give up David, the only man she would ever love.
Lady Entwistle came back carrying the tea tray herself. She was pleased with the outcome of her talk and she searched her mind for an errand to keep Mei Li busy after she’d finished her tea. She didn’t want her troubling poor Xiang. Looking at Mei Li’s innocent face, it was hard to believe such a lovely girl could be so deceitful, inveigling herself into a position of trust in the home of her mother’s lover. But like her husband often said when he was talking about their friends’ children, the acorn never fell too far from the tree. Obviously Mei Li had taken after her unspeakable mother.
She sighed when Adele opened the door and handed her the post, eyeing the uneaten scones and gooseberry jam greedily ‘Tea?’ she asked resignedly.
‘Yes, please,’ replied Adele, and she sat down, unaware of the strained atmosphere, and helped herself to a scone. ‘There’s a letter for you, Mei Li,’ she said, dropping crumbs from her overstuffed mouth.
‘So there is,’ said Lady Entwistle, looking at the prison envelope, and she shuddered theatrically. The chatty postman would have spread the story all over the village by now. It was mortifying. Was there no end to the shame this girl was inflicting on the family? All the same she was curious. ‘Shall I read it to you, my dear?’ She picked up her paper knife.
‘No, no, I read it later. ’Scuse me, please.’
‘I’d be amazed if she can read,’ Mei Li heard Lady Entwistle say to Adele as she closed the door behind her.
Safely in her room, Mei Li looked at the envelope crumpled in her hand and smoothed out the creases. She would have to wait until David came home this evening and ask him to read it to her. It would provide her with an excuse to apologise. She had cooled down and realised it wasn’t fair of her to get mad at David because he was the timber company’s lawyer. I’m just as guilty. Am I not working for a man who’s getting rich at the expense of my people? Her brow furrowed as she struggled to understand how Joseph Ling, a Chinese man, could own the trees on her people’s ancestral land. Maybe David and she could still be friends if she could make him understand how much she owed to her grandparents and why it was her duty to stand by them. He must see that it wasn’t a matter of what she herself wanted. Her responsibility was to those two good, kind people, even if it meant sacrificing her own happiness. Somehow she had to find the right words to make him understand that her obligation to her family came before all else. She couldn’t stand it if he ended up hating her. Oh, it isn’t easy to do the right thing, she thought tearfully.
When she finally heard the front door open, she flew down the stairs.
‘You’re looking uncommonly lovely tonight, my dear,’ said Sir Roland. It’ll be a lucky man who weds this little girl. David wants to look to his laurels.
In anticipation of reconciliation, Mei Li was wearing an intricately arranged sarong made from the material David had given her as a betrothal gift, and it revealed the perfection of her shapely form.
‘Where’s David?’ she asked, try
ing to look past him.
‘He’s decided to stay in town tonight,’ Sir Roland replied. So that’s what’s up, he thought as he saw the excitement fade from her eyes. A lovers’ tiff. ‘He wanted to complete some research for a project he’s working on. He’s been at it all day,’ he explained in a kindly tone. ‘What’s for dinner? I hope you’ve been teaching Mrs Smith some of your delicious native dishes,’ he added jovially, hoping to cheer her up.
‘Why the best bib and tucker?’ he asked his wife as she came into the hall in a long skirt and sequined top and dutifully pecked him on the cheek.
‘Surely you haven’t forgotten we’re promised to the Petersons’ tonight, Rolly,’ she said in exasperation.
‘Do we have to go, old girl? All I feel like is supper on a tray and an early night.’
‘We can’t cry off. You know what Mavis is like. She’ll have pulled out all the stops, and it was kind of her to invite Xiang and the children. And you, my dear, of course,’ she said to Mei Li. She frowned at Roland when she caught him rolling his eyes at Mei Li.
‘Doubtless she wants to pump you for information she can’t get from the gutter press,’ he said with a snort.
‘She’s only human. Where’s David? ’
‘Staying in town. Snowed under,’ he added for Mei Li’s benefit.
‘Oh dear, we’ll be an odd number for dinner. I better ring Mavis.’
‘No need,’ said Mei Li. ‘I stay … head hurts.’
‘Very wise if you’re feeling off colour,’ said Lady Entwistle, hiding her relief at being absolved from making conversation with the ignorant girl, and she smiled in anticipation of a delicious night of gossip.
Chapter 27
PAU ROARED UP THE GRAVEL DRIVEWAY AND HIT THE BRAKES, barely avoiding running into Lady Entwistle’s old Rolls. Mei Li opened the door but her look of eager anticipation quickly disappeared when she saw it was only Pau.
Obviously it’s not me that she’s dressed up for, Pau thought, and his gaze lingered over slender shoulders and bare arms that gleamed golden in the light of the crystal chandelier in the entrance hall. This was the first time Pau had seen his sister’s amah in anything other than the modest, long-sleeved, high-throated tunic she habitually wore over shapeless Chinese pyjamas. She’s stunning, he thought, staring admiringly at the curves of her slender body revealed enticingly in the tightly sheathed sarong. What a pity David got there first. Like everyone else, he’d seen the sparks that flew like a burst of electricity when she and David were together.
‘Where is everyone?’ he asked.
‘Out,’ she replied dispiritedly.
‘Where’s lover boy tonight then?’
‘David’s working late.’
‘What, with a hot babe like you all dressed up and waiting? How boring is that? What say I take you down to the local for a drink?’
Mei Li shook her head and stood aside to let him in.
‘It’ll make him keener if he knows he’s got competition.’
She stared at him, wavering with indecision. Why not? She might feel better if she got out of the house. She couldn’t take any more of this uncertainty. For the last hour she’d been pacing the room, glancing at her mobile every few minutes, brooding and thinking mean, angry thoughts.
Pau read her open face, taking in her agitation and frustration. ‘C’mon, show him he can’t take you for granted,’ he said with a coaxing smile, his voice innocent of guile.
‘Okay,’ she said, and instantly she felt the tension leave her body and she began to breath normally again. She’d go to the pub with Pau and she wouldn’t take her mobile. Let David find out what it was like to worry.
Well, well, Pau thought. Isn’t this interesting? He was going to take it slowly. He didn’t want to scare her off.
Tuesday was a quiet day at the White Horse. There were only a couple of farmers swapping stories in the oak-panelled public bar. All the same Pau led Mei Li through to the cosy, private snug.
‘Wait right here and I’ll get us a drink,’ he said when he’d settled her in a comfortable chair set inside the Inglenook fireplace. ‘Cocktail, I think.’
Mei Li accepted the strawberry daiquiri and toyed absently with the umbrella. Already she wished she hadn’t given in to the impulse to teach David a lesson. What would he do if he came home and discovered she’d gone out with Pau?
She drank the tangy, syrupy, rum-based concoction as if it was as innocuous as lemonade, fighting the compulsion to get up from her chair and head for home. If she hurried she could get back before the Entwistles, and David need never find out. But how could she walk out on Pau when he was being so kind and considerate.
‘Tastes good,’ she said, trying her best to sound cheerful.
‘Why don’t I get us both another?’ Pau said with a charming smile. ‘And then you can tell me what’s wrong. Maybe I can help.’
After the terrible day she’d endured it was good to find a sympathetic listener. ‘I’ve been thinking about my family,’ she said when he returned with their drinks. ‘I don’t see how my grandparents are going to be able to stay on in the village now Granddad can’t earn a living from fishing. I thought I’d find the three of us a place in Miri and I could work as a maid or something.’
‘It’s a shame the jungle and the Dayaks’ traditional way of life is being threatened by world demand for timber,’ Pau said, leaning forward to give her his full attention. ‘You know, I’ve wanted to do something about excessive logging for a long time. How guilty do you think I feel when my grandfather and father have made a squillion out of timber and I hear about natives like your grandparents living in poverty?’ He reached for her hand and looked earnestly into her eyes. ‘It’s not going to be easy to talk Father around. He’s been influenced by greedy lawyers like David Entwistle, but what the hell, I’ll give it a try.’
‘David not greedy,’ she said, snatching her hand away. ‘He never meet Dayak people, never see jungle.’
‘Maybe,’ Pau replied, doubt written all over his face, ‘but Entwistle and Murthwaite have always been the company’s corporate lawyers and David’s being groomed to take over from his father. That’s why he was living with my parents – to get to know the stakeholders and local conditions.’
‘Couldn’t you make him see spoiling the forest is a bad thing?’ She put down her empty glass and gazed at him, big-eyed and trusting.
‘I’ll try, but do you know the difference between a lawyer and a terrorist?’ He sniggered. ‘You can negotiate with a terrorist.’
Mei Li was puzzled. She couldn’t follow his argument and she felt too dizzy to figure it out. She stared at him hard, trying to focus. There seemed to be three, no, four of him.
‘For goodness sake, Mei Li, it’s a joke.’ Talking to a girl shouldn’t be this hard, Pau thought impatiently. Still, he liked the bodywork, a snappy model built for speed with those long legs. What did it matter if there wasn’t much happening under the bonnet? Another drink and she’d be a pushover. He could hardly wait to get her on her own. He might just have her in the carpark, on the hood of the Lotus.
‘I’ll get us another one,’ he said, picking up the empty glasses.
But Mei Li shook her head, ‘Go now … not feel good,’ and she got to her feet, gazed at him woozily and passed out.
David had intended to stay in the company’s flat overnight but he was impatient to see Mei Li and put things right between them. He’d spent all day and half the night googling everything he could find about logging in Malaysia, its effects on the environment and the local indigenous inhabitants. Mei Li was right, he concluded. It wasn’t something their firm should endorse and he was going to tell his father to have nothing more to do with Baram Hardwood Timber Company. Before he set off he printed the report that described the company’s forestry practices as the worst in the world. As he sped along the A3 he rehearsed his arguments. Pa would agree with him once he read about the atrocities. No decent man could do otherwise.
T
he house was in darkness when he arrived home. Disappointed, he poured himself a drink, took out the report and began to read it again. He was busily making annotations when he heard a car roar up the drive. Great, they were home. He bounded into the hall to let them in.
Pau was panting as he climbed unsteadily up the steps with Mei Li slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. He looked surprised when David opened the door. Pushing past, he staggered into the hall and dumped Mei Li unceremoniously on the bare tiles. She moaned but didn’t get up.
‘What’s happened? Has there been an accident? What’s wrong with her.’ Stooping down so that his face was on level with hers, David breathed in the unmistakeable smell of alcohol and vomit.
‘She’s dead drunk,’ replied Pau. ‘She threw up in my car. Phew!’ He held his nose and made a face. ‘She’s all yours. I’m going to bed.’
‘Not so fast,’ said David, getting heavily to his feet. Madam Ling used to call the handsome, broad-shouldered Englishman her gentle giant but she had never seen him angry. ‘You’ve got some explaining to do. How did she get in this state? And what’s she doing out with you anyway?’
‘While the cat’s away the mice will play. Isn’t that an old English proverb? Well, we have a saying in my country too, pal: The man who plants the tree isn’t the one who enjoys its shade. Figure it out,’ he sneered.
‘You bastard, you slimy bastard,’ said David and he took a step toward Pau, fists up.
‘What you gonna do about it?’ Pau’s hand curved round the handle of the switchblade in his pocket, but before he could draw the knife they heard their tipsy parents’ laughter.
‘This isn’t over,’ said David angrily.
‘You can be damn sure of that,’ replied Pau, hatred shining in his eyes. He spat on the tiles close to Mei Li’s head.
‘Why, you –’
The door opened and Lady Entwistle fluttered in. ‘Pau, David! We weren’t expecting either of you to be home tonight. ‘Look who’s here, Xiang … it’s Pau. What a lovely surprise,’ she said, with a trill of laughter that faded when she saw Mei Li sprawled on the floor.
