‘Cathy, I don’t know what to say. I’ve been waiting so long — and now …’
From under the brim of her hat Mrs Burnham shot Kesri a glance that brimmed with gratitude. Then slowly they moved away.
*
‘There you are, Reid!’
Throwing an arm over Zachary’s shoulder, Mr Burnham led him aside. ‘Have you been able to have a word with Captain Mee yet?’
‘Not yet, sir,’ said Zachary. ‘It may be difficult here, with so many people about, but I’ll try.’
‘Best to do it now,’ said Mr Burnham. ‘If we don’t get to him soon you may be sure that someone else will.’
With that Mr Burnham went off to talk to a guest while Zachary took a turn around the crowded quarter-deck, looking for Captain Mee. Seeing no sign of him, his eyes strayed to the maindeck and landed instead on Mrs Burnham: he saw, to his surprise, that she was deep in conversation with — of all people! — the sarjeant of the Bengal sepoys.
Zachary had watched Mrs Burnham from afar at many parties and levées: it seemed to him now that there was something odd about her bearing; her posture was not at all like that of her usual, social self. Her head was cocked in such a way as to suggest that she was hanging on the sepoy sarjeant’s every word.
But what could a havildar have to say that would be of such interest to her?
Even as he was mulling this over, Zachary noticed that a uniformed figure was heading towards the pair. A moment later he realized that this was none other than Captain Mee.
Zachary froze. Standing riveted to the deck, he watched as Mrs Burnham and Captain Mee spoke to each other. When they moved away from Kesri, he leant forward, his knuckles whitening on the deck-rails. At that point Mrs Burnham happened to turn her head so that the glow of a paper lantern fell directly on her face. Zachary had to stifle a gasp — for the countenance she had turned to Captain Mee was not her public visage but rather the one that Zachary had himself come to recognize in her boudoir. So far as he knew there was only one other man who had ever been privy to this other aspect of Mrs Burnham — and that man was a soldier, a lieutenant, she had said, her first and only love.
Zachary noticed now that Captain Mee’s red-coated shoulders were also inclined towards Mrs Burnham in a manner that suggested a more than casual acquaintance. Suddenly suspicion boiled up in him, to be followed by an onrush of jealousy so intense that he had to hold on to the rails to steady himself.
What were they talking about, looking at each other so intimately?
Zachary had to know; the curiosity that had taken possession of him was too powerful to be resisted. Before he was aware of it, his feet were moving, carrying him down the companion-ladder to the maindeck. Plunging into the throng of guests, he began to work his way towards the couple. But he was only a few paces away when he thought the better of it: if Mrs Burnham spotted him she might well guess what he was up to.
He came to a halt, thinking about what to do next, and just then his eyes fell on the white uniform of a fifer: a moment later he realized that it was Raju — the boy was wandering about as though he had lost his way.
‘Hey there, kid-mutt!’
‘Hello, sir,’ said Raju in a small, scared voice.
‘How are things with you?’
‘All right, sir.’
‘Do you like being a fifer?’
‘Yes, sir. I like it. Most of the time.’
‘But not now? Is that why you’re wandering around like a lost puppy?’
‘Sir, the drummers told me to find them some grog. They said the youngest fifer always has to do it. But I don’t know where to find a bottle of grog, sir, and I’m afraid they’re going to be angry with me.’
Dropping to his heels, Zachary squatted close to Raju’s ear. ‘Listen, kid-mutt — I’ll find you a bottle of grog, I promise. But you’ll have to win it from me fair and square.’
‘How, sir?’
‘By playing a game.’
‘What game, sir?’
Zachary inclined his head towards Captain Mee and Mrs Burnham. ‘Do you see those two over there?’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘All right, so the game’s this — you have to sneak up behind them and listen to what they’re saying. But they can’t know that you’re there. It’s a secret game, right? Only you and I are playing.’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘You think you can do it?’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘Go on then.’
Leaving Raju to work his way across the deck Zachary cornered a steward and slipped him a Spanish dollar: ‘Can you bring me a bottle of grog? Jaldee ekdum?’
‘Yes, sir. Ekdum jaldee.’
As he waited for the steward to return Zachary saw that Raju had circled around the deck and was eavesdropping unnoticed on Captain Mee and Mrs Burnham. Then the bottle of rum arrived and Zachary beckoned to Raju to come back.
Dropping into a squat again, he said: ‘Did you hear anything, kid-mutt?’
‘Yes, sir. Mrs Burnham was talking about a milliner’s shop, near the St Lazarus Church in Macau. She said that she often goes there.’
‘Oh? And what did he say to that?’
‘He said he would meet her there.’
‘Anything else?’
‘That’s all I heard, sir.’
Zachary patted Raju on the back and handed him the bottle. ‘You did good, kid-mutt; you’ve won the grog fair and square. But remember, it’s a secret — not a word to anyone!’ ‘Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.’
*
Not for a moment after setting foot on the Anahita’s quarter-deck had Shireen been able to forget that Bahram’s accident had happened here; that it was from this very deck that her husband had fallen to his death. Through the duration of Mr Burnham’s oration and the ceremony that followed, she had wondered whether it was from the jamná side that he had fallen or the dáwa. Or had he perhaps tumbled over the stern? In thinking about these things she was seized by a strange disquiet — a feeling that only deepened when she saw Freddie leading Paulette towards her. But once introductions had been made Shireen took a liking to her; she invited her to sit on the bench and for a while she listened quietly as Zadig and Paulette talked about gardening.
Then at last Shireen gingerly broached the subject that had been weighing on her mind: ‘Is it true, Miss Lambert, that you were on the island the day my husband died?’
‘Yes, Mrs Moddie,’ said Paulette. ‘I was up in the nursery that day and I saw this ship, the Anahita, at anchor below. Although there were many ships in the bay that morning, the Anahita was the one that caught my eye.’
‘Why?’ said Shireen.
‘Because there was a ladder — a rope-ladder — hanging out from an open window, at the back.’
‘You mean from my husband’s suite? In the stern of the ship?’
‘Yes,’ said Paulette. ‘That was where it was.’
Taken aback, Shireen cried: ‘But why would there be a ladder in his window?’
‘I cannot tell you why it was there,’ said Paulette. ‘It seemed very strange to me too, because there was nothing below but water.’
Shireen turned to Freddie and Zadig. ‘Did you know about this ladder?’
Zadig shook his head. ‘This is the first I’ve heard of it, Bibiji.’
‘I did not speak of it to anyone,’ said Paulette. ‘To be truthful, I had forgotten about it until Freddie asked me.’
‘But how would Freddie know?’ cried Shireen, turning towards him. ‘Had someone told you about the ladder, Freddie?’
‘No,’ said Freddie. ‘No one told me. But I see in my dreams, lah, the ladder, hanging from the window. That is why I ask Miss Paulette, ne? Then she tell me, yes, she saw in the morning, but after an hour it was gone.’