Victoria Holt - The House of a Thousand Lanterns

“It bring great bad luck to disobey the father,” she said.

I took her by the shoulders.

“Yes Lottie,” I said, “Mr. Joliffe is Jason’s father but you have not told him this?”

“No, I have not told. I would not tell.”

I believed her. For one thing it was something Jason would never have been able to keep to himself.

“You must never tell,” I said. “If you do…” I hesitated. Then I went on: “If you do, you shall go away. You will go back to where you came from.”

A look of intense horror came over her face. She began to tremble.

“I will not tell. It is not good to tell. He but child. But it is bad luck to disobey father.”

“And Mr. Joliffe asked you to take him out to the pagoda, did he?”

She hung her head.

“Never do it again,” I warned. “If you deceive me again in this way I shall send you from here.”

She nodded wretchedly. She wanted to kneel again. The kowtow meant that she was abject in her misery and her desire to expiate her sins was all that mattered.

I said: “It’s all right, Lottie. You are forgiven. But don’t dare do it again.”

She nodded, and I was satisfied that I had made my point.

But I was very anxious because I knew that Joliffe was capable of doing anything to get his way. I remembered vividly the occasion when I had found him in Sylvester’s showroom in the middle of the night; and even then when I should have been warned of someone who employed such devious methods, I had refused to heed the warning, now while I wondered what he would do next I was afraid every day I would hear that he had decided to go home.

* * *

There was undoubtedly change in the house. It had started soon after Joliffe’s return. I had become aware of the shadows when darkness fell; and the lanterns seemed to cast an eerie light over everything.

When the house was quiet I would fancy it was listening, brooding, waiting, which was absurd. I visualized what must have stood on this very spot in those days before the house had been erected. There would have been priests passing to and fro through the courtyards of the temple; I could imagine their chanting and the striking of gongs and their performing the kowtow before the image of the goddess. So vividly did I picture them in their yellow robes with their shaved heads that I almost expected to see the ghosts of some of them flitting up and down our stairs.

It was as though a new mood had crept into the house. Sylvester sensed it too. I knew it although we never mentioned it.

It might have begun in our minds. Fear was there. Sylvester clearly feared what might happen… and so did I.

He seemed to shrink; he looked older. There were days when he did not leave his bedroom.

Adam noticed this. He asked me if I did not think we should call in Dr. Phillips, the European doctor, to look at him.

To my surprise I was relieved that Adam was in the house. Now that Joliffe had come to Hong Kong he seemed to provide a certain safeguard. I felt that if I had given in to Joliffe, as Joliffe rather obviously was hoping I would, Adam would have displayed a certain smug satisfaction. There was a very practical side to his nature too. If I went away with Jason, would not Sylvester have to take him into partnership? I imagined I could see the thoughts behind Adam’s inscrutable expression.

He had looked at several houses but had found nothing really suitable and Sylvester had shown quite clearly that he was pleased for him to stay. I was aware that since Joliffe’s return Sylvester’s attitude towards Adam had changed. Sylvester had a great affection for his nephew and an admiration for his knowledge and dedication. I imagined at one time he had felt the same towards Joliffe. Sylvester and Adam had so much in common. I was constantly coming upon them in deep and excited discussion over some piece one of them had found.

I agreed that the doctor should see Sylvester and because Sylvester was against this, Adam decided to ask Dr. Phillips to dine with us and then he proposed to bring up the subject of Sylvester’s health in a casual manner.

Sylvester was a little annoyed, but at length decided to submit to an examination.

The doctor’s verdict was that he could find nothing wrong. He talked to Adam and me for some time and pointed out that a life of inactivity was bound to have its effects. There was a weakness, a tiredness, but that might be the inevitable result of his accident.

“Just keep him cheerful and don’t let him risk getting chilled.”

Adam said he was relieved but he still thought he had done the right thing in getting the doctor’s opinion.

Later Sylvester asked me for the truth of what the doctor had said.

I told him.

“I’d like to know, Jane,” he said. “There’s a theory that invalids shouldn’t be told how bad they are. It’s good in some cases, I suppose. But I’d like to know my fate… my joss as they say. If I hadn’t long to live I’d like to know it.”

“Whatever gave you such an idea? He merely said that you were probably feeling the effects of your sedentary life, and you should take care to keep interested in what’s going on and not get chilled.”

“I’m glad that Adam is here. Of course I believe that he is finding business a little difficult and would like to come back. I don’t want that, Jane. Oh, I have the greatest respect for his talent. He’s quite an authority in several ways. But I have my reasons for not wanting him back with me. He has been talking about the house. He believes the legend that somewhere here there is a secret to be discovered.”

“Have you searched for this mystery, Sylvester?”

“I have been through the house, tested each room as my grandfather, father, and others have before me.”

“There must be a hidden door somewhere.”

“If so it has never been found.”

“Tell me about your brother Magnus.”

“Joliffe is so like his father that sometimes I could almost believe Magnus is back with us. Magnus was our father’s well-beloved son. We used to say he was like Joseph and that if our father had had a coat of many colors, Magnus would have been the one to inherit it.”

“Yet he left this house to you.”

“Magnus died before he did. Even so, he would have left the house to me. There are some who say that this house might be a burden.” He looked about him. “I am sure many of the servants believe it to be haunted in some way. I have always thought that my father left it to me because I was more serious than Redmond who was alive at that time and he thought I would be the one to overcome the difficulties of living here.”

“You surprise me.”

“Oh there is an aura here. You sense it, Jane. My grandfather’s wife ran away soon after he came here. She was always frivolous, it was true, but it was actually when this house came into my grandfather’s possession that she left him. He never got over it. My father was not a happy man. He lost his beloved son. You see misfortune befell all those who owned the house. My father believed I would ride any storm more successfully than Redmond.”

“But he divided the business between you.”

“Yes, equally. And there was a share for Joliffe. My father apologized to me a few months before he died. ‘In a few years time,’ he said, ‘this equality will have vanished. You, my eldest son, will be in command and the others will fall far behind you.’ It was true I had the biggest instinct for business.”

“And then you divided.”

“Our personalities clashed. They were held in check while our father lived, but afterwards we wanted our own way. My father was right. I was soon more successful than Redmond and Joliffe too. They had more… outside interests. Perhaps I was more dedicated. It was not long after we split up that Redmond had a sudden heart attack and died. Adam took over. He did not want to join up with me then; he was sure he could succeed on his own and he has done well, to a certain extent. So there we are—three rival firms one might say—the uncle and his two nephews.” He hesitated. “I’ve told you before that when I was young I admired an actress. We became great friends. My brother Magnus saw her. He married her. Joliffe was their son.”

I wondered then whether Sylvester felt a certain animosity towards Joliffe because he was the son of a woman he had loved. But that was not really Sylvester’s nature. Rather would he have loved Joliffe the more because of this. It was due to Joliffe himself that he had lost Sylvester’s regard.

“It wasn’t really a happy marriage although she was devoted to Magnus. He had that fascination for women. He was exuberant, adventurous, good-looking, gallant, and charming… all that women look for. He liked all women too much though to care deeply for one. I had none of these gifts. I was the serious one dedicated to my business.”

“Well, it provided some consolation.”

“That’s what we learn, Jane. There are always compensations in life.”

“Did she regret her choice?”

“Oh no, no. If she could have had her time over again it would always have been Magnus. She was often hurt but she never wavered in her adherence to him. They died together. She wouldn’t have wanted to go on without him.”

“And Joliffe was their only son?”

He nodded. “I made plans to adopt him. I decided he would be like my own son. I tried to mold him to my ways. That was like trying to hold back the tide. He was Magnus’s son.”

He was silent for a while. Then he went on: “Well, then you appeared, Jane. Right from the beginning, you know I was aware that you would play an important part in my life. When Joliffe came and I thought you were truly married to him, it seemed like some sort of terrible pattern repeating itself.”

“Yes,” I said, “I see that. And now he is back.”

“Yes,” he said, “and I wonder.”

“That pattern is changed,” I assured him. “I think I am not unlike you. I am serious. I acted rashly once. I don’t think I would do so again.”

“No, you will not. And this is part of my pattern. It is going to be as I planned.”

He looked tired and I could see that he did not want to talk any more.

I suggested he sleep a little. But he said he would like to play mahjongg.

When I came back with the board his eyes were closed and I saw that he was asleep.

He looked so tired and there was a new parchment-like tinge to his face. I felt a great pity and tenderness for him.

* * *

I was spending more time with Sylvester. I could see that he was growing weaker every day. I could not say exactly what was wrong with him; nor could he. He was just tired and listless. Sometimes he would spend a whole day in bed; at others he would get up in the afternoon and sit in his chair. There was a kind of meek resignation about him. I had the impression that he had made up his mind that his life was drawing to an end and had resigned himself to this.

It was an attitude which I found exasperating. I wanted him to make an effort. He smiled at me gently when I suggested that he try to dress for dinner.

“There comes a time in life,” he said, “when one must let it flow over one. The tide is coming in, the waves gently touch one and one knows that it is only a matter of time before one will be submerged.”

I said with vehemence that I did not accept such a philosophy.

“No, Jane,” he said, “you are one of the fighters of the world.”

I would bring Jason to him and my son would read aloud to show how he was progressing. He would chatter freely and tell Sylvester stories which he made up himself. There was almost always a dragon in them. Sylvester taught him to play his beloved mah-jongg and I was clearly happy in a quiet satisfied way.

Toby came often to see him and they would be closeted together; the English lawyer came too and I knew that Sylvester was setting his house in order.

Up to this time I had made an effort to ignore the utter strangeness of The House of a Thousand Lanterns. Now it could no longer be ignored. It was like a living thing, a presence, a personality; it thrust itself upon me. I refused to believe that any misfortune which had befallen previous owners had been due to an evil influence which emanated from the house, and yet it was there… this vague indefinable sensation.

Sylvester talked to me about the house. “I shall never know the secret now, Jane,” he said sadly.