The Scarlet Kimono (Choc Lit) (28 page)

Hannah continued to look into his eyes, trying to read his mind, her own in turmoil. Did he want her to stay? Did she mean anything to him? Did it matter? ‘I don’t know. I … should go, you know I should.’

She knew what she ought to do, of course, where her duty lay, and yet, her entire being rebelled against doing what was right. She didn’t want to go back. It was too soon. She wanted to stay with Taro, just a little longer.

Her indecisiveness seemed to galvanise him into action. Without further ado, he pulled her to her feet and, holding her hand in a firm grip, towed her towards the temple entrance. ‘No,’ he said. ‘I take back what I said. You have no choice. I’m keeping you for the time being whether you want to or not.’

Taro didn’t know why he was so angry. He had known this day would come and it would have been very simple to abandon Hannah in the crowd so she could rejoin her countrymen. She would never have been able to prove that it was the mighty Taro Kumashiro who’d had her kidnapped. It would have been her word against his.

But he couldn’t do it.

The thought of her with that yellow-haired captain turned his stomach. She’d said she didn’t want the man and their marriage was over, but what if she had changed her mind? Seeing her former husband after weeks as a captive among strange people might have made her look upon him more fondly. After all, she didn’t exactly fit in at Shiroi Castle.

No, she was bound to be homesick. Perhaps to the extent that even a man she’d previously scorned would begin to look attractive. Though how anyone could find that stinking brute to their liking was more than Taro could understand.

He balled up the fist that wasn’t holding Hannah’s arm in an almost painful grip. Realising how hard he was squeezing her, he lessened the pressure a little, although she didn’t seem to notice either way.

How had he got himself into this mess? Why couldn’t he let her go? The questions swirled around inside his brain endlessly, all the way back to his mansion. There was no answer, however, except for the fact that this was how it was. Somehow he was ensnared in her tentacles, whether they were real or not.

He would have to consider this some more, but right now he couldn’t think straight. He just wanted Hannah.

Now and for the foreseeable future.

Taro virtually frog-marched her back to his Edo house at high speed. The two guards who followed them had to trot to keep up. Once there, he dragged her back to his quarters and pulled the door shut with a thud.

Out of breath, Hannah turned to him, intending to say something. She didn’t get any further than opening her mouth before he swooped on her, pulling her into a crushing embrace. He tugged impatiently at her boyish clothing and the cloth that bound her hair, until she was half-naked with her hair tumbling all around her in a mass of curls.

‘I want you,
Akai
,’ he whispered hoarsely. ‘I am
not
giving you back, not yet.’

‘But I –’

‘No, you have no say in the matter.’

He didn’t give her a chance to tell him she was profoundly grateful, despite the guilt that gnawed at her. As he made love to her with an almost desperate urgency, she felt as if she’d had a very lucky escape. Leaving him would have been sheer agony. She loved him, she knew that now beyond any doubt. And even though it was a love that was doomed from the start, she’d hang on for as long as she possibly could.

Chapter Thirty-Three

‘I hear you’re staying a bit longer,
gai-jin
. That’s too bad.’

Hannah looked up from the piece of paper she was sketching on and shielded her eyes from the sun with one hand. She had been sitting in the peaceful private garden attached to Taro’s quarters, waiting for him to return for the evening meal. He had finally calmed down when she’d made him understand she was in complete agreement with him and was, in fact, very happy to stay. She gathered he’d thought she preferred to go back to Rydon, but he soon realised this was far from the truth. After that, he returned to his usual imperturbable self.

Now here was the Lady Reiko instead, glaring at her with her piercing dark eyes.

‘I’m sorry?’ Hannah didn’t know what the woman was doing here, nor why she had come. She decided to act stupid in an attempt to deflect Reiko’s anger.

‘You should have gone back to the other foreigners when you had the chance. I was told what happened at the temple,’ Reiko said. ‘You may come to regret your decision.’

‘I had no choice in the matter.’ Hannah gritted her teeth, becoming angry now, more so because she knew Reiko was right. ‘Lord Kumashiro dragged me away and threatened to kill me if I so much as opened my mouth.’ The first part, at least, was true. If Reiko had sent someone to spy on them, which she must have done or she wouldn’t have known about the foreigners, then she knew this was what had happened. Hannah saw by the tightening of Reiko’s mouth that it had been reported to her.

‘I’m sure you didn’t resist too much,’ she spat. ‘Tell me, is it the done thing in your country to steal other women’s husbands?’

‘Lord Kumashiro isn’t married,’ Hannah stated boldly.

‘As good as,’ Reiko muttered, but Hannah ignored this.

‘I’m the injured party here. I was abducted, if you’ll remember?’

‘I haven’t seen you try very hard to escape,’ Reiko sneered.

‘How can I, in a foreign country where I don’t know my way around and with no money?’

‘So if I give you money and the opportunity to go, you would leave?’ Reiko regarded her with her eyebrows raised, as if in disbelief, and Hannah felt a strong urge to hit the woman. She wanted to scream,
of course I don’t want to leave
, but knew that would be extremely foolish.

‘Yes, I would,’ she said calmly, fixing Reiko with a glare from her blue eyes, which seemed to disconcert her opponent slightly.

‘Very well, I’ll arrange it then. I might even be able to find someone who can take you to Anjin-
san
’s house. He will no doubt know how to return you to your countrymen. But just remember, if you breathe so much as a word to Lord Kumashiro about this, you’ll regret it.’ Reiko swept back down the path with an angry swish of her
kimono
, and Hannah was left alone once more.

She leaned her head against the wall behind her and took deep breaths to calm herself. What on earth was she to do now?

As it turned out, she had no need to worry. Taro came striding out into the garden half an hour later with his mouth set in a grim line.

‘We’re leaving for the north in an hour and I’ve posted guards so don’t even think of trying to escape.’

‘What?’

‘You heard me. Now if you have anything to pack, do so, or it will be left behind.’

He strode off again, presumably to issue more orders, and Hannah was left staring after him. It dawned on her that he must have been playing the same game as Reiko. Someone had been spying on them when she came to visit earlier. Presumably Taro now thought Hannah wanted to leave, since her words must have been reported to him, and he wasn’t best pleased. She shook her head and sighed.

‘What a tangle,’ she muttered, but there was nothing she could do to soothe his ruffled feathers at the moment. She would have to wait until they were well on their way and had left Reiko behind, her plotting to no avail.

At least Hannah had been spared having to fake an escape attempt.

They travelled back to Castle Shiroi with slightly less of an entourage, which made their progress faster. As soon as they stopped for a midday meal, Hannah realised Taro hadn’t been angry with her at all, he’d only been play-acting for the benefit of any audience.

‘Everywhere in Edo there are ears listening, reporting back to someone, somewhere. I was told of Reiko’s conversation with you, so I had to sound harsh. For your own safety, it had to appear as if I was giving you orders you couldn’t refuse.’

‘I see, but what about now?’ Hannah glanced around at the rest of the men, feeling as if she was under constant scrutiny. ‘Can’t your words be reported back to Edo from here?’

‘Of course, but we must take care never to speak about anything of importance when someone else is nearby. At the moment, no one is within earshot so we’re safe.’

‘Very well, I’ll be on my guard. You know I didn’t really want to escape, don’t you?’

The look he sent her was one of pure male satisfaction. ‘I gathered that last night. You didn’t seem like a woman trying to avoid me then.’

Hannah felt her cheeks heat up and cuffed him playfully on the arm. ‘Taro!’

Serious once more, he took her hand for a moment and squeezed her fingers. ‘You must promise to tell me if you really want to leave though.’

She nodded. ‘I promise.’

Somehow, she didn’t think that day would ever come.

‘Show me the paintings you have done. Your teacher tells me you are progressing well.’ They had been back at Castle Shiroi for two weeks. Taro had come for an unexpected visit to Hannah’s quarters, flustering all the serving women who bustled about finding him the best cushion to sit on and some green tea to drink.

‘He’s too kind. Do you really want to see them?’

‘Of course. I wouldn’t ask otherwise.’

Hannah showed Taro not only her new paintings, but all her charcoal drawings as well.

‘These are good, very good.’ He seemed more taken with the drawings than with her attempts at traditional Japanese painting. ‘You should do more of them, perhaps different views of the castle and its interiors. I particularly like this study of the
ikebana
.’

Hannah looked at the drawing he was holding up of a flower arrangement. ‘Yes, I’m quite pleased with that one myself. Do you mean I would be allowed into the other parts of the castle to draw? Yukiko-
san
said I had to stay in the east wing.’

‘You have my permission to go wherever you like. But if you enter the audience chamber you must stay silent and unobtrusive, you agree?’

‘Yes, of course. Thank you.’

Hannah was thrilled to be given leave to explore the castle. She had been itching to do so, but hadn’t dared since she didn’t want to break any of Taro’s rules and there were fierce-looking guards posted at every turn.

Some of the rooms had a painted frieze at the top of the walls and many of the wooden posts had been decorated with a carved version of Taro’s circular emblem. It was the same one she’d seen on his men’s armour. Hannah knew all the Japanese noblemen had such a motif which was exclusive to their family. It was similar to a lord’s coat of arms back in England, and she studied that of the Kumashiro family. It was some kind of flower, but it wasn’t one she was familiar with and she didn’t dare question the guard about it. Instead, she drew it carefully so she could ask Taro himself later.

The audience chamber was a vast hall with carved pillars and ceiling beams, painted walls and ceiling panels and sliding doors with hammered bronze decorations. The
tatami
mats that covered the floor were extra thick and luxurious. There were also folding screens painted in bold, bright colours against a background of gold leaf. Jewel-hued silk cushions were spread at exact intervals, and on some of these sat formally clad officials. Lesser mortals waited patiently at one end of the room for their turn to approach their lord.

‘Who are all the official looking men?’ she whispered to Sakura, who followed her wherever she went.

‘They are Lord Kumashiro’s stewards and advisors.’

He himself sat on a dais at one end of the room, ramrod straight with his hands in his lap and his swords by his side. Hoji had told Hannah that
samurai
always carried two swords, one short – the
wakizashi
– and one longer one – the
katana
. She’d also found out from her serving women that Taro was accounted a master swordsman.

Hannah went to the huge room quite often, sketching the people and various parts of the interior and its decoration. She sat half hidden behind a screen in a corner, so she wouldn’t disturb the proceedings. Sometimes she simply watched Taro and listened. He was so regal and yet, it seemed to her, fair in his dealings with his retainers. Her heart swelled with love and pride when she looked at him, and she could have happily stayed there forever.

The weeks flew by and autumn arrived, bringing out the vivid red colours of the trees, just as Hannah had imagined. As the weather grew colder, Hannah’s walks in the garden became shorter each day. Instead she roamed the castle, accompanied by the faithful Sakura. Hannah carried a thick pile of rice paper in one hand and a small string bag full of charcoal in the other, while searching for suitable motifs. She became a well-known sight and some of the guards started to bow a greeting whenever she passed.

‘I wonder what they make of me,’ she whispered to Sakura.

The maid giggled. ‘I wouldn’t know, but I think they’re becoming used to you now at least.’

‘As are you?’ Hannah smiled at the girl. Although Sakura was her servant, she did feel as though they were friends too, at least as much as was possible in such a situation.

Sakura nodded. ‘Indeed, Lady Hannah.’

Hannah asked Taro more or less the same question about the guards one night and he stared at her as if she was mad. ‘It is not their place to judge you in any way,’ he told her. ‘I have let it be known you are my official consort. That means you’re under my protection and they are bound to serve you.’

Hannah was taken aback. ‘You never said I was your consort.’ Although she knew he was affording her a great honour, still the word consort had a ring to it which didn’t sit well with Hannah. It was only marginally better than concubine.

‘Nevertheless, that’s how it is. Why would you care what the guards think anyway?’

‘I’d rather they weren’t hostile to me. I do still feel as though I stand out entirely too much and it would help to know I’m not actively disliked.’

Taro smiled at her. ‘Perhaps you stand out in a good way?’ he suggested. ‘They may be secretly admiring your beauty.’ He reached out a hand to stroke her curly hair, winding a lock round his fingers as he often did.

Hannah shook her head. ‘I doubt that very much.’

‘Whatever the case, they have to obey you or lose their lives. That is all there is to it.’ He was at his most haughty again, so unlike the man she spent most of her nights with. It was at times like these that Hannah wondered what on earth she was doing here. She didn’t think that she would ever fit in and she really ought to leave.

‘Taro, what’s going on? The entire castle seems to be buzzing with activity.’ Hannah had been asking her ladies, but they claimed not to know what had caused such excitement. Hannah had to wait until the evening to ask Taro.

‘We are to have the honour of a visit from my father-in-law and the rest of Lady Reiko’s family,’ he told her. He seemed none too pleased at the prospect and Hannah touched his arm in concern.

‘You don’t like him?’

‘Oh, I like him well enough. It’s just that he’ll probably press me for an answer regarding Reiko and I’m not ready to give it to him yet.’ He sighed. ‘It will also mean I’ll have to spend most of my time with them while they’re here. You will have to amuse yourself with your ladies.’

‘It’s fine, I understand.’ Hannah swallowed her disappointment and berated herself for her stupidity. She had no right to feel this way. He didn’t belong to her. Of course it would be awkward if he were seen to spend time with someone other than his former wife’s family during their visit. Besides, it would surely only be for a few weeks.