White Ghosts

19. YIN AND YANG

Don Fernando replied to Daniel Bernard’s telegram telling him that he had been with Klim Rogov when they both came under artillery fire and that the fugitive journalist had been struck on the head by a falling statue of the Guan Yin goddess. It appeared that the celestial forces had decided to come to Daniel’s aid.

On his return to Shanghai Daniel had bought the Avro 504 from the Cossacks, and every day now, he went up in the air to spy on the movements of the warships on the Yangtze and Huangpu rivers. He made a point of flying over Nina’s house on these reconnaissance missions. Sometimes he would see a woman’s silhouette down below, and every time his heart felt as if it were falling into an abyss.

I’ll get her back, he repeated to himself, but still he didn’t dare visit Nina. After all that had happened between them, he was worried that she might not let him into her house.

He found out through Tony Aulman that Nina had started a calendar publishing business and that she had hired an actress named Hua Binbin to help. Daniel arranged a meeting with Binbin and learned that she was dreaming of shooting a film of her own but so far had failed to find any sponsorship. The issue of women’s rights she was trying to address was too divisive, and the authorities could easily end up banning the movie, which would lead to financial losses for everyone involved.

Daniel found a way of inveigling himself into Binbin’s confidence. He told his wife about the screenplay, and Edna immediately coughed up the money for the good cause.

Binbin didn’t know how to thank the Bernards. Excited, she began preparing for the movie, working at Nina’s publishing house in the mornings and rehearsing with her fellow actors in the evenings. Now, instead of the Shanghai Club, Daniel would go to see her on the set and make casual inquiries about Nina.

It seemed initially that Nina’s business had been going well: the first print run had been sold out, and she had signed several contracts for advertising. She had told the artists to place the pretty girls in the center of her new posters, the calendars at the bottom, and the adverts with images of lavender soap, combs, and tooth powder in the corners.

Everything had been ready for printing, but the Jesuits had delayed sending Nina’s order to the printing shop. It was paid for out of the debt they owed her, and other cash-paying clients were a greater priority. Meanwhile, having found out that calendars with Chinese girls were proving very popular, other publishing houses proceeded to flood the market with similar products.

“I doubt Miss Nina will manage to keep her head above water,” Binbin confided to Daniel. “Recently, she hasn’t been capable of doing anything. She’s been waiting for a letter from somebody and is crazy with worry.”

Daniel realized that he couldn’t postpone his visit to Nina any longer.

At first Nina refused to receive Daniel. He stood in front of her house for a long time, wondering what to do. The ground around him was covered with a carpet of white acacia flowers, and Daniel absentmindedly drew question marks on it with his cane.

He heard a slight rustle above him, looked up, and noticed the curtain flicker in the second-floor window.

He raised his hat. “Good morning, Nina.”

“What do you want?” she asked angrily.

“We need to talk. I know that you’re on the verge of bankruptcy because of the Jesuits.”

In the end, Nina let Daniel in, and he followed the amah into the house. There were no men’s umbrellas in the stand in the lobby. Toy bricks, napkins, and rattles were strewn over the carpet. He could see the clear signs of negligence typical in houses where their owners have no time for their chores.

Nina was waiting for Daniel on the sunny terrace. Pale and tense, she sat on a wicker couch, a small black satin fan trembling in her hand.

The guest’s armchair had been placed next to the garden steps, as far as possible from Nina, but Daniel chose to ignore his hostess’s seating arrangements and sat on the sofa next to her instead.

“Tell me what’s going on,” he said.

Nina tried to put on a brave face, saying that she was perfectly capable of coping with her problems, but then suddenly dropped her mask and enumerated the entire list of disasters that had befallen her since their last meeting.

“The monks knew that I couldn’t take them to the court,” Nina fumed. “If I did so, I’d have had to admit that I had sold them pornography. Anyway, what were my chances of winning against the Jesuits?”

Daniel looked at her affectionately. You silly girl, why did you go and get yourself involved in men’s business? he thought. Did she really think that any man would take her seriously?

“If you allow me, I can help you,” he said softly.

Nina closed her fan and folded her arms. “What do you want in return? I want things to be clear from the start to avoid any misunderstandings… like the last time.”

“Do you not think my motives are unselfish?”

“No, I don’t.”

“Where’s your telephone?”

They went to Nina’s studio, and Daniel made two calls: one to the Consul General of France and the other to the Abbot in Siccawei.

Fifteen minutes later, Father Nicolas called Nina to tell her the good news that her calendars would be in print the next day. He apologized for the long delay and asked Nina to convey his warmest greetings to Mr. Bernard.

Nina hung up and stared at Daniel in amazement. “You’re a miracle worker.”

She left the room and returned soon after, holding a small ivory disk in her palm.

“This is the only thing left from Gu Ya-min’s collection,” she said. “I like this woman, sleeping on a chrysanthemum. Take it as a keepsake.”

Daniel couldn’t believe his eyes: it was a kitsune, a Japanese fairy tale fox. What Nina had thought were chrysanthemum petals were, in fact, the vixen’s nine tails—the mark of its wisdom and magical power.

“Do you know what it is?” Daniel said.

Nina shook her head. “No, I don’t.”

“It’s a netsuke. Japanese kimonos have no pockets, and they use the netsuke to attach special boxes for small personal belongings to their belts.”

Daniel didn’t tell Nina that the netsuke was also considered to be an amulet. In the fairy tales, a mortal would never ask a kitsune for material riches—the coins and gold given would immediately turn into worthless rocks or wood bark. But as payment for a service, a kitsune could give a much more valuable gift, an amulet that grants love and the ability to read thoughts.

At their parting, Nina didn’t directly invite him over again, but Daniel knew that she wouldn’t be making him wait on her porch next time.

He was constantly on the lookout for a chance to see Nina, and every time they met she made it clear that there was to be nothing more between them than their brief conversations and the provision of an occasional favor.

Is she still mad at me? Daniel thought. Can she really still be waiting for news from Klim Rogov? Nina never mentioned him, and it was difficult to say for sure.

She released her new calendars, but the opportunity had been missed, and her business once again started going downhill. Her small publishing company was unable to compete with the big boys. They outbid her for the services of her artists and models, the cost of the posters was constantly on the increase, and her profits began to fall. Soon, Nina wasn’t even able to pay her employees on time, and before long she had issued two promissory notes to Daniel, borrowing money for her expenses.

He was beginning to feel uneasy, too. His order to go back to Canton could arrive any moment, and then what would happen? Would he have to abandon Nina again? There was only one way out: to take her with him. But how on earth could he persuade her to drop everything and go to a half-ruined city full of Bolsheviks? And what were they going to do about Kitty? Send her to some boarding school? Nina would never agree to this. Daniel had watched Nina playing with the Chinese baby girl—and she was besotted with her.

He began to drop hints that her publishing business was not going to work out, and the sooner Nina gave it up, the better. “If you don’t have a powerful patron, you won’t last until the summer. Your competitors will eat you alive.”

“Is that what you call ‘friendly support’?” Nina snapped, frowning.

Intimidating her was a dangerous tactic, but reassuring her was even more so.

“I admire your tenacity,” Daniel said, “but if a person close to me is about to make a mistake, I would always consider it my duty to warn them and let them know.”

The business dilemma finally came to a head when the distributors point blank refused to accept Nina’s posters anymore. The Heaven Peony, the largest publishing house in the city, could extend their payment schedule to six months, and Nina couldn’t.

She was in utter despair, and Daniel didn’t know what to do. In theory, he should have been happy, because if Nina didn’t have any income, she would be much more compliant. But against all logic, Daniel acted quite to the contrary.

“I’ll give you a loan so you can stay afloat,” he said. “Tomorrow I’ll be at the regatta. Come, and I’ll give you the money.”

The British expatriates in Shanghai had set up their own version of the annual Henley Royal Regatta, and it had become one of the highlights of the white community’s social calendar. Grandstands were set up on the river banks, and the waterfront was lined with a fleet of sampans hired by keen spectators. Orchestras played and children screamed joyfully, while bluish smoke crept over the trampled grass where cooks were roasting lamb and pork.

Daniel tensely surveyed the ladies sitting under their parasols. Nina was nowhere to be seen. He had been invited to give out prizes at the competition, but was unable to concentrate on anything and asked Tony Aulman to stand in for him.

Once the regatta started, Daniel left his seat and began to amble between the tables. Nina hadn’t shown up, and there was nothing to keep him waiting here any longer.

Daniel was puzzled. Had she decided not to deal with him and found herself another lender? Had something happened to her?

Suddenly he noticed a familiar hat in a white gazebo that stood apart from the crowd. Nina had come after all. Daniel almost ran to meet her.

“I didn’t think you’d come,” he said, sitting down next to her on the bench.

“I’m sorry I’m late.”

She took a black satin fan out of her purse. It looked strangely mournful and out of place next to her white dress and its red belt.

“I brought you the money,” said Daniel, pulling a wad of banknotes from his pocket. “Count it: there are five thousand dollars.”

Nina smiled gratefully. “Thank you, but I don’t need it. You mentioned you’re going to Guangdong province soon. Would you be able to take me and Kitty with you?”

Daniel was dumbstruck; this was the last thing he had been expecting.

“Are you serious?”

“Absolutely.”

He wanted to kiss her hand, but couldn’t resist taking her into his arms instead. “I’m so glad that you’re no longer angry with me.”

She tried to pull away. “What if somebody sees us?”

“Who cares.”

She freed herself from his embrace. “What’s the best way to get to Canton? By steamer? I know that there’s unrest in the south, and it’s a bad place for a woman and a baby at the moment. But if you could help me when we get there, I’d be very grateful to you.”

Daniel looked at her for a long time. “I’ll think of something.”

It was clear as day that Nina had decided to go to Canton to find Klim Rogov.

That night, Daniel couldn’t sleep. Should he tell Nina that her husband was dead? But then she would start asking questions, and possibly even give up on her idea of going to Canton.

Daniel sat at the window, chain-smoking until he almost felt sick. He knew only too well how the kitsune fairy tales usually ended. Once wounded, a vixen would convince the man she had enchanted to share his vital energy with her; her strength would be restored but he would go crazy. Indeed, it was utter madness for him to sacrifice himself willingly for her sake.

The next morning Sam announced the arrival of Captain Wyer.

“I’m not at home,” said Daniel and hurriedly went off to the stables.

It smelled of hay and horse sweat. Beams of light penetrated through the narrow windows under the ceiling.

The grooms took the golden-red horse from its stall, but as soon as Daniel put his foot into the stirrup, the tall figure of Captain Wyer appeared in the doorway.

“Get out,” he snapped at the grooms, and they immediately disappeared.

Daniel dismounted and took the horse by the bridle.

“I didn’t know you were here, sir.”

“You did,” Wyer said, cutting him short, “but I’m not interested in your pathetic attempts to avoid me. It’s Edna that I want to talk about. As far as I’m concerned you may visit whores, like any other decent man, and I will think none the worse of you for it. But don’t you dare go dragging my daughter’s honor through the mud by getting yourself a mistress.”

Daniel felt the blood rush to his face. He released the bridle, and the horse stepped back in its stall in fear.

“Mind your own business, sir,” Daniel said quietly. “Otherwise you may live to regret it.”

“Are you threatening me?” Wyer chuckled.

“If certain people in London get to know that you provide protection to smugglers and drug dealers, you’ll find yourself out of office and straight into prison in no time.”

“Listen, you sleazy son of a bitch, in this city the only person who makes threats that mean anything is me!”

Wyer took a stack of photographs from his map case and shoved under Daniel’s nose. The images had been taken near Nina’s house, and the photographer had taken a snap every time Daniel had visited her.

His meeting with Nina at the regatta has also been captured. The first picture showed Daniel offering her money, a second caught them locked in an embrace, while a third showed them getting into the same car.

“I’ve been following your mistress,” Wyer said. “And if you’re caught with her again, I’ll show these pictures to Edna. Then, once she’s divorced you, I think we’ll have another look at the Czechoslovak Consulate case and re-examine the evidence Jiří Labuda told us about you. So think hard about it.”

Daniel returned Wyer the photographs without saying a word.

“You’d better realize I’m deadly earnest,” the captain said, and he went out into the street.

For a while Daniel stood there, tapping the top of his boot with his riding crop. Things could be a lot worse, he told himself. Wyer evidently knows nothing about “Comrade Krieger.” But in any case, it would be best if he and Nina were to leave Shanghai immediately.

But what about the airplane? Would it be possible to take her to Canton by air? He needed a map and to refuel along the way. But to the south of Shanghai, there was nothing but endless Chinese countryside, where electricity was a rarity, let alone aviation fuel.

On his way to the house, Daniel met Ada.

“Good day, sir,” she greeted him.

He looked at her inquisitively. Whatever happened, he would need to register his airplane with a front, preferably a person who knew nothing about military equipment. When Don Fernando got better, he would be able to bring the Avro to Canton by sea.

“Miss Marshall, I’ll require your help tomorrow,” Daniel said. “I’ll pick you up at six in the morning.”

“Are we going somewhere?” Ada asked.

“It’s going to be a surprise. So don’t tell anyone about it.”

The poor girl was so confused that she was barely able to mumble, “Yes, sir, as you wish.”

Daniel winked at her and went to his room.

An hour later, he passed the library and peeped in through the open door. Ada was dancing to a popular song, “I Was Waiting For You, Sweetheart.”