The Willow Pattern
- Автор: ван Гулик Роберт Ханс
- Серия: Judge Dee #11
- Год: 101
- Язык: английский
- Жанр: Другие детективы
Электронная книга - «The Willow Pattern». Краткое содержание книги:
As Judge Dee copes with the administration of the plague-ridden Imperial Capital, he must also bring his skills to bear on the mystery of two seemingly unconnected murders that could mean the extinction of the city's oldest, most aristocratic families.
'Put your hands on my shoulders and keep still!' he hissed. He saw to his relief that her lips twitched. She began to retch. He let his legs sink down till his feet found a clear space. Treading water, he passed his right hand along her smooth legs and deftly freed them from the tangled trailers. He realized that, tired and out of training as he was, it would be an arduous job to get her safely to land. With a pang of anxiety he saw that her eyes had closed. She had passed out. He reflected that, although this fact would make her easier to handle, he had to hurry to prevent her from dying on his hands, for her bosom didn't seem to move any more. 'I must hurry without hurrying, a devilish job!’ he thought, taking a deep breath.
He turned over on his back and put her limp body between his legs, keeping her mouth and nose clear of the surface by cupping his left hand under her chin. His feet got caught in a new mass of waterweeds, but he succeeded in freeing himself. He swam with the current, heading for a tree that overhung the bank beyond Hoo's garden.
'Hefty wench!’ he grunted as he clambered on land with his burden. He felt about with his foot till he found a clear space among the shrubs where there was long grass. There he stretched her out face down and began to move her arms vigorously. He had to do it all by feeling, for here among the tall shrubs it was pitch dark. She brought up a great deal of water, and he realized with immense relief that she was still alive. When he put his hand on her face he felt her eyelids flutter, and her lips moved. He quickly turned her over on her back. Kneeling by her side he began to massage her cold, stiff limbs. He was panting heavily, and he did not know whether the moisture that gushed down his face and shoulders was canal water or his own sweat.
Suddenly he heard her whisper:
'Keep your hands off me!'
'Shut up!' he gasped. Then, realizing that she could hardly have recognized him, he added more gently: 'I am the soldier who helped you clean your sleeve in the tavern, remember? I had been talking there with your father.'
He thought he heard a faint chuckle.
'You fell flat on your face,' she murmured.
'So I did,' Ma Joong said sourly. 'Planned to help you, but you can take care of yourself. Except tonight. How did you get into the canal?'
Rubbing her thighs he noticed with admiration how firm the solid muscles were.
'I am feeling rotten,' she said softly. 'Tell me first how you happened to discover me. It's hours past midnight already.'
'Well, we are supposed to kind of make the rounds, you see, at night. I was standing on the bridge over there, and spotted you. My name is Ma Joong, by the way.'
'Lucky you saw me. Thank you, Mr Ma.'
'It was all in the day's work. Now, what about you? I don't suppose Mr Hoo chucked you over his balcony, eh?'
'Very funny indeed! As a matter of fact Mr Hoo didn't chuck me over the balcony. I jumped.'
'Jumped? From the bridge?'
She heaved a sigh.
'Since you saved me from drowning, I ought to tell you, I suppose. Well, to cut a long story short, my father used to work for that man Hoo. He left Hoo's service years ago, I never knew why. Hoo told me to come to his house tonight because he had discovered something about my father, he said, something he thought I ought to know. Like a fool I went there. I found out that the dirty rat is a lecher. You can stop rubbing me now, by the way. I am feeling fine. Well, we were all alone in the library up there, and he wanted to have me. We had a kind of wrestling bout. I know a thing or two about the game, but the scoundrel is an old hand, and strong as an ox. Finally, when my jacket and skirt were in tatters I was able to place a kick in his stomach that made him reel back. I ran to the balcony and jumped into the river. I am not a bad swimmer, but I hadn't reckoned with those damned weeds.'
MA JOONG SAVES A DROWNING GIRL
'The son of a dog!’ Ma Joong exploded. As soon as you are feeling all right, we'll pay him a courtesy call, and I'll beat a full confession out of him.'
Suddenly he felt her hand on his breast.
'Don't do that, please!' she said urgently. 'He could ruin my father, you know.' Then she added in a bitter voice: 'Besides, there were no witnesses. Who would believe my word against that of an important man like Hoo?'
'I!' he said promptly. 'Anywhere, any time.'
He felt her arms round his neck. She pulled his head down and kissed him full on his mouth, pressing her bare bosom against his broad chest. He folded her in his muscular arms.
There was none of the hesitant exploration that marks a first embrace. The complete darkness allowed unreserved yielding to passion, yet created an infinite tenderness. When at last he lay down in the grass, one arm still round her shoulders, the other on her heaving bosom, he thought exultantly that he had never before possessed a more delightful woman. They remained lying there side by side for a long time. Ma Joong wished this could last for ever.
Her first words, however, dampened his elated mood.
'It had to happen anyway sooner or later,' she said casually. 'Besides, on an eventful night like this, one more accident doesn't matter.'
He was so taken aback that he didn't know what to say. Suddenly she resumed:
'Now, what about clothes? Those mosquitoes are the meanest creatures.'
'I'll go and have a look at Hoo's backyard,' he muttered.
'That damned darkness!’ he grumbled as he made his way through the shrubs. 'Wish I could've seen her face! Was it her idea of a joke, or did it really mean absolutely nothing to her? Ow!' The stubbly ground and sharp stones were hurting his bare feet.
He climbed over the wooden garden fence, and found a washing line with a few pieces of clothing the servants had apparently forgotten to take inside. He took a patched jacket and a pair of blue trousers.
Handing her the jacket, he said:
'I don't know whether it'll fit you, but it has nice long sleeves for putting those iron thingummies in. Didn't you have them with you tonight?'
'No. I told you I was a fool, didn't I? Thought that a man like Hoo had enough women available to last him for the rest of his life. Didn't you get any shoes?'
'I'll carry you to the place where I left mine.'
Disregarding her protests he took her in his arms and walked off. She was not exactly a light burden, but her cheek against his was adequate compensation for his labour. He set her down by the side of the road, then went to retrieve his belongings. He still had the woodman's instinct acquired during his long years in the 'green forest', so that he found the spot without difficulty. After he had rejoined her, he tore his neckcloth in two, and stuffed the pieces in his shoes.
'Here,' he said. 'You won't skip about in those like a young doe, but they'll at least protect your dainty feet. Where do you live?'
Not too far from here, in the quarter behind the Taoist Temple.'
After that they walked along, in a rather awkward silence. Ma Joong looked askance at her a few times, but he could not distinguish her face in the dim light, and he hesitated to reopen the conversation. When they had left the Halfmoon Bridge behind them, however, he began diffidently: