Jewel of the Pacific

by Linda Lee Chaikin

  Eden now remembered where she had first seen the woman. At the time a man had been in her company, a tall, slim man also wearing dark colors—rather unusual for the tropics. This had been at Kalihi hospital months earlier when she’d followed Dr. Jerome to Hunnewell’s garden.

  She had seen them together again before she went to Kalawao—at Kea Lani the morning after the prayer meeting for Rafe in the mission church. Eden had heard voices in the garden. One of those voices had belonged to Silas—and the others had belonged to this same couple.

  Eden was further surprised when the woman walked confidently toward the corridor that Zachary said led to the queen’s private apartments. She seemed to know the way. She heard voices as a man greeted the woman. Then she heard a door open and shut. A few moments later Eden heard other voices sounding as if they were coming up the stairway. Eden sped back to the guest room.

  Inside with Great-aunt Nora again, she regained her composure. A few minutes later she answered the door to an attendant who had come from the queen. Was Madam Derrington feeling better? Was anything needed, or could anything be done to make them more comfortable? If they wished to stay the night they would be quite welcome to do so. If Madame preferred, the royal physician, Dr. Trousseau, could see her when he arrived early the next morning.

  Eden thanked the attendant profusely, but assured him her great-aunt was much better, and they would both leave for Kea Lani plantation as soon as Dr. Jerome came. With a bow the attendant left, and Eden leaned against the door. After being treated so kindly, she felt ashamed she had been sneaking about spying.

  Eden bowed her head and did the one thing she could to help. She especially prayed for Queen Liliuokalani, asking that she would be led into all truth and would escape the deceptive lures of the dark spiritual netherworld. “May the queen seek spiritual guidance only from the Spirit-breathed Word of God.”

  Eden was waiting by the door to the corridor when Dr. Jerome returned. He checked Nora’s pulse, listening with the stethoscope.

  “Good,” he said. “Then for some reason, Nora merely had a fainting spell. Perhaps it was all due to the excitement. Her age, you know.”

  Where was Zachary? Eden stepped out of the room and looked along the corridor. She saw no one, not even the usual guard near the stairway. She had turned to reenter the room when Zachary came up the stairs.

  He drew her away from the doorway.

  “We need to be quick. Learn anything?”

  “Yes, I recognized her,” she whispered.

  “The woman with the veil, all in black?”

  “Yes. But you seem to already know who she is.”

  “Yes, but there’s been no proof of her contact with the queen until tonight. She’s German and called Fraulein Wolf. She went to the royal apartments?”

  “Yes.” She glanced about nervously, hoping the guard wouldn’t appear. “I’ve seen her before tonight on at least two occasions. Recently, in the garden at Kea Lani.”

  His eyes gleamed. “Silas, of course. I’ve got to let Rafe know.”

  “What do you and Rafe know about her?” Eden inquired.

  “Enough to know she’s probably been hired by a certain group to influence the queen to sign the lottery and opium bills. Rafe says she’s fortune-telling with tarot card readings.”

  “Yes, but why would Silas—” She stopped.

  “You’ve seen him with the fortune-teller?”

  Reluctantly she nodded. “At Kea Lani.”

  She told him what happened in the garden on that morning when she’d heard voices arguing.

  “Ah! Did you hear any of the conversation?”

  She told him what Silas had said. “There was a strong disagreement.”

  Zachary frowned.

  “I’d give anything to sit in on the meeting Fraulein Wolf and Liliuokalani are having right now,” he said.

  Eden was troubled. “I wonder how much Silas knows?”

  “Too much, as Rafe puts it. Anyway, Rafe will find out in a day or two. He’s going to confront him, but he’ll have Ambrose there, too.”

  Eden was relieved. It was wise to bring Ambrose, and safer for Silas who would have an opportunity for spiritual guidance.

  “I say Silas is working with those who are deceiving the queen with tarot cards and advice on who to pick for her cabinet. It’s all a ruse to get what they want.”

  Eden was dismayed. Had Nora seen or heard something about Fraulein Wolf? If so, it could account for the shock that had caused her to faint. What would she do about supporting the monarchy?

  Eden believed Nora, with all of her firm moral convictions would be troubled enough to stop supporting Liliuokalani. She was not likely to work for annexation, but she would do nothing for the monarchy either. She would probably quietly withdraw.

  Eden now faced her own decision. She knew it would not be pleasant, either way. Truth divides. And in the world of spiritual truth it was the same: “He that is not for me,” Christ had said, “is against me.” A decision for or against the Savior is required of all.

  “You should know,” Zachary whispered, glancing down the corridor, “that Rafe is sure Oliver is working with the cartel. He thinks Oliver came tonight to pass information to the soothsayer. She’ll then repeat these secrets to the queen who will then be amazed that the tarot card reader could know such private matters about her, as well as events occurring around her.”

  “But where would Oliver get this kind of information?”

  “That’s just it, Eden. As Rafe says, there has to be someone else. Someone close enough to the queen. That’s what Rafe and I are trying to learn. Grandfather Ainsworth will be devastated because I was right about old Silas all along.”

  Dr. Jerome poked his head out the door. “There you both are. I almost thought you’d deserted us. Come along, Zachary, I’ll need your help. Nora is awake and anxious to leave.”

  “I can walk on my own,” Great-aunt Nora said a few minutes later when Eden insisted that she let Zachary carry her to the coach.

  “Now, Nora,” Dr. Jerome said firmly, “you may not walk yet. Zachary will carry you. Come now, no protestations.”

  Zachary came to the daybed and offered her an elegant bow. “Your servant, my lady. Permit me.”

  Nora smiled weakly. “Oh very well, dear boy. How can I turn down such chivalry?”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  A Land Fairer by Far …

  After the Reform Party leader, Loren Thurston, returned to Honolulu from Washington, D.C., his plan on the annexation of Hawaii by the United States—as laid out in a treatise written aboard the steamer coming from San Francisco and then sent to Secretary of State James G. Blaine—was fast sliding downhill. His plan to influence the native Hawaiians to give up their monarchy was a dream. Rafe knew the native Hawaiians were far more loyal to the idea of their chiefdom and their ancient spirits’ religion than they were to annexation and allegiance to a republic or a democracy.

  Rafe Easton stood with Parker Judson, Thaddeus P. Hunnewell, and a few other men from the Legislature’s Reform Party across the street from Iolani Palace. The event of the night before had not changed political viewpoints.

  If they knew the queen was listening to political advice from a soothsayer with tarot cards they’d be even more determined to end the monarchy, Rafe thought.

  All of the men held strong views on the annexation issue. They had left Aliiolani Hale, the government building across the street from the palace, and stood by King Street waiting for the last member of their group to join them for a meeting with Queen Liliuokalani.

  Ainsworth Derrington finally arrived from Kea Lani. Rafe was relieved to see that Silas Derrington was not with him. Of late Ainsworth had brought his grandson with him to every important meeting of the Reform Party. Rafe had not commented, however he was now certain Silas was walking a tightrope between loyalty to the Derringtons and to previous commitments to the Louisiana gambling cartel.

  Rafe needed more information on
Oliver, the cartel, and the soothsayer before he confronted Silas. Until then, it was wiser to say nothing of what he knew to the Reform Party men, especially with Hunnewell’s own son, Oliver, involved.

  After the greetings, Hunnewell hauled out his gold timepiece. “It’s time, gentlemen. The queen expects us. Let’s register our disappointment in her choice of new cabinet members. Let’s make it clear we won’t support certain men.”

  Ainsworth looked at Rafe. “Do you have the list of our Reform men, Rafe?”

  “Right here, sir.”

  Ainsworth snatched his walking stick and his hat. “Then let’s walk over together, gentlemen. We need to show unity in insisting at least one Reform Party member be admitted to her cabinet.”

  Rafe was uneasy. As they walked it reminded him of a military cadence. Only drums are missing, he thought wryly.

  Whenever Thaddeus P. Hunnewell was the spokesman for something, Rafe had discovered that the cause would usually end like the nursery rhyme he’d read to Kip the night before—“Humpty Dumpty.” Humpty was more than likely to have a great fall. He wished he hadn’t shown up this morning. He looked toward the ocean. On this sunny day with blue skies and blooming flowers he thanked Father God for His compassion and for the return of his vision.

  But then Eden appeared in his mind as if to remind him he had not come to the throne of grace for help in time of need concerning her.

  He frowned. No matter how much she had hurt him, he needed to forgive her, forget the injury, and leave any thought of “getting even” behind him. He must move forward in faith.

  Rafe knew what to do. How often had he told others to do the same thing? He understood what was expected of him, and yet anger wrestled within, demanding satisfaction.

  Don’t listen to sin’s demanding voice, he kept telling himself. It has no more authority over you. You have a new Lord, Christ. He is there for you, on the throne of grace. Therefore, go to Him for help with confidence—

  Inside Iolani Palace, the gentlemen waited in the reception hall to be received by Queen Liliuokalani. A few minutes later they were shown into the Blue Room where the Hawaiian queen sat with her skirts spread around her feet.

  “Your Majesty,” Rafe said and lowered his head with respect.

  Liliuokalani appeared pleased with him; her dark eyes softened perceptibly.

  Rafe ignored the impatience in Hunnewell’s gaze. If Hunnewell expected him to be rude, he must reconsider. Liliuokalani was, after all, the queen of Hawaii. At one time Rafe had supported the monarchy as vigorously as he was now anxious for the Islands to become annexed by the United States. He did not trust men. He could see how in future generations the people and culture would go astray as mankind always did and the strategic location of the harbor becoming a greedy morsel for military usage. The change that Rafe went through from monarchist to annexation had been gradual. First he was overwhelmed with the unfairness of being unable to adopt Kip. If the babies and children born on Molokai were free of leprosy, they should be free citizens of the Islands—not kept behind fences as unadoptable. There was also the problem of having one person on the throne who ruled over all. This was the reason his family had left England in the early 1700s to sail to the American colonies. Freedom!

  “I remember stories of your great-grandfather, Daniel Easton,” she said to him pleasantly. “We learned about the early missionaries at royal school. He was one of the first, I believe, from—” She bounced her fingers on the arms of the chair thoughtfully. “New York. Long Island. That was it, wasn’t it?”

  “I’m flattered you remember, Your Highness.”

  “Most early missionaries came from Boston or Connecticut, so your great-grandfather stood out to me as unusual. He was a physician, was he not?”

  “He was. He’s buried here, in fact, behind Kawaiaha’o,” he said of the historical church down the street from Iolani, where most of the kings and royal families attended worship.

  Thaddeus cleared his throat. “Madame,” he interrupted, “we received your summons to meet with you.”

  She turned a somewhat cold stare upon him, obviously not pleased by his too bold interruption.

  “Be seated, gentlemen,” she stated. “I have a luncheon appointment this noon and unfortunately I am wanting time.”

  “Just so,” Hunnewell said, clearing his voice again. “This shouldn’t take much time, Madame.”

  Rafe did not sit, but believed he should leave the main discussion to the older men, despite his knowledge or ability or zeal for annexation. He stood to one side near a window that faced the street.

  Liliuokalani was accompanied by several men who were her friends and personal advisors. These included Paul Neumann, attorney and a former cabinet member, and Samuel Nowlein, captain of the queen’s Royal Guard, and Joseph O. Carter, of Bishop and Co. Bank.

  “Madame,” Hunnewell began, “I have a list of names the loyal Reform Party has circulated to the Legislature. Several would be beneficial to you as you choose qualified men to serve you and the Islands in your new cabinet.” He looked at Rafe, who opened his leather binder and removed the list he had created the night before in his hotel room.

  Hunnewell handed her the folder including the list.

  At first she did not accept the folder. Rafe glanced at her lap where her hand clenched under a partial fold of her sedate black dress. She was partially lame in one foot and wore dresses that covered the sight.

  Trouble, Rafe thought. Hunnewell is making things worse with his arrogance. Hunnewell has no clue of how to work with her.

  Hunnewell kept holding the papers toward her, his mouth tightening.

  Rafe’s eyes met those of Ainsworth Derrington, and could tell he was thinking the same thing. Always the most intellectual and dignified of the Annexation Club, he politely intervened. He behaved as though Liliuokalani could not reach the folder. So he slipped it from Hunnewell’s rigid hand and with a light bow passed the folder not to the queen but to her ally, the attorney, Neumann.

  Neumann accepted the folder, exchanging a brief smile with Ainsworth. Ainsworth knew most of Liliuokalani’s allies and he had wealth to shine his self-placed halo.

  “Madame,” said Ainsworth with quiet dignity, “we of the Reform Party would indeed beseech you to appoint at least one man from our party to your cabinet. When you have time to look at this list of some of the most qualified gentlemen in the Islands—all of them, Madame, second-and even third-generation Hawaiians, and proud to be so—you will find the names of men absolutely trustworthy when it comes to the good of the Islands.”

  Liliuokalani’s round face and solemn dark eyes remained cool.

  “Thank you, Mr. Derrington; however the men I will appoint as my cabinet officers will all be sworn to uphold the good of my people and of the Islands of our long and fortunate ancestry.”

  Rafe saw Hunnewell’s broad shoulders stiffen.

  “Unfortunately,” Liliuokalani continued, “I cannot think the same for all of those in the Legislature who plot to steal away my rightful throne in order to annex the Hawaiian Islands to a foreign government. Nor do I believe the American president and Congress will safeguard the scheme to do so.”

  Hunnewell turned white. Rafe saw his hands go behind his back and knot tightly.

  “Madame,” he said coldly, “if there is discontent among members of the Reform Party and among the haole Hawaiians it is due to the scheme of another making! I speak of the royal intention to overthrow the legal Constitution of 1887 and replace it with a new Constitution that undermines the freedom and security of families that helped build Hawaii into the country it is today!”

  Liliuokalani leaned forward in her chair, hands on the armrests. Rafe expected the grand show of her dignified standing and walking out on them, but she did not. From behind them he heard the steady voice of Charles B. Wilson, the head of her security.

  “Take it easy, boys,” he said. Rafe had seen him enter by a side door a minute earlier. He now stood gazing at T
haddeus P. Hunnewell. Hunnewell turned toward him matching scowl for scowl.

  Ainsworth moved swiftly to tone down Hunnewell’s frustrated rhetoric.

  “Madame, in all due respect, may I say that Mr. Hunnewell is correct in voicing his concerns? Certain individuals among us have heard that you intend to usher in a new Constitution to replace the 1887 laws—laws the High Court of the Islands have upheld since your brother, King Kalakaua signed the document.”

  Liliuokalani’s expression remained inexorable, but Rafe sensed her rage. The pulse slammed at the side of her wide throat. Her fingers curled around the arms of her royal seat. Obviously she saw them as arrogant men trying to steal what was hers by birthright.

  “Do you speak of the so-called Bayonet Constitution? In which my brother was all but held at rifle point while Mr. Thurston, Mr. Dole, and others held him hostage?”

  “Madame! That dreadful story has been so exaggerated that it’s become little more than a fable to rile up the people!”

  “I was there, Thaddeus,” Neumann spoke up. “The king had no choice but to agree to the demands of Thurston and Dole.”

  “I was there also,” Ainsworth said, with steely gray eyes. “And I say there were no guns and no bullets. Just common sense. It was imperative for Hawaii’s good that we stop from sinking the Island into bankruptcy through the mismanagement of Walter Murray Gibson.”

  Hunnewell turned on Ainsworth. “Better speak the true facts as they are, Ainsworth. You know them as well as I do. Recklessness, that’s what it was. Plain recklessness made possible by the king himself, and by that conniving thief he allowed to run his government—Gibson!” Hunnewell pulled a handkerchief from his front pocket, wiping his brow.

  Well, Hunnewell’s done it, Rafe thought. He’s turned any possibility of working with her into hash by riling a proud woman. The man we need here is Ambrose.

  Nothing is ahead except conflict, Rafe thought as he left Iolani Palace. The meeting with Liliuokalani was over. Little if anything had been accomplished except stirring up indignation in royalists and annexationists alike.