The Scarlet Kimono (Choc Lit) Read online

  The Scarlet Kimono

  Christina Courtenay

  Copyright © 2011 Christina Courtenay

  First published 2011 by Choc Lit Limited

  Penrose House, Crawley Drive, Camberley, Surrey GU15 2AB

  www.choclitpublishing.co.uk

  The right of Christina Courtenay to be identified as the Author of this Work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

  All characters and events in this publication, other than those clearly in the public domain, are fictitious and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying. In the UK such licences are issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London, W1P 9HE

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

  ISBN 978-1-906931-49-0

  For Richard, Josceline and Jessamy

  With all my love

  Contents

  Title

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Acknowledgements

  Author’s Note

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  About the Author

  More Choc Lit

  Introducing the Choc Lit Club

  Acknowledgements

  As a teenager, I had the great good fortune to live in Japan for a few years. I knew nothing about the country when I arrived, but it didn’t take me long to fall in love with everything about it. While there, I met some wonderful people and although I can’t name them all, I would like to thank all my friends and teachers at ASIJ (The American School in Japan), who made my time there special – domo arigato mina-san!

  As always, thanks to the Choc Lit team for everything they do, to my family and my critique partners who keep me sane, and all my friends in the Romantic Novelists’ Association who make being an author such fun!

  A special thank you to Neil Lloyd for help with writing a haiku poem – I wish I was as good at it as he is!

  Author’s Note

  This story is a work of fiction and as far as I know, nothing like this ever happened in reality. The historical truth is that foreign women were not allowed in Japan under any circumstances and therefore Hannah’s visit and subsequent stay there is probably a very unlikely scenario. However, since women through the ages have often successfully pretended to be men, I decided that it could have happened. And as this is fiction, not fact, I allowed my imagination free rein.

  I was inspired by the real life adventures of the Englishman William Adams (Anjin-san), who really did end up in Japan and who became the protégé of the Shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu. What intrigued me the most about him was that when he was finally given the opportunity to go back to England (where he had a wife and child), he chose not to. Instead, he stayed in Japan until his death. This was probably for many different reasons, among them the fact that most of his wealth was tied up in his Japanese estate. But he had also married a Japanese woman and it does seem as though he chose her for love, so perhaps this influenced his decision too.

  Although I have tried to stick to as many true facts as possible, I have had to take some liberties in order to make them fit the narrative and make the story more exciting. The English East India Company’s ship, the Clove, didn’t actually reach Japan until 10th June 1613. This means that my fictional Mr Marston was right in supposing his ships could beat them to Japan if they sailed the other way, via the Straits of Magellan. However, since the historical fact is that Captain Saris of the Clove was the first Englishman to reach Japan and be given trading rights by the Shogun, I changed their date of arrival slightly to make them the first to arrive in my story too.

  With regard to Japanese facts, the law called sankin kotai which I mention didn’t actually come into force until some years later, but I decided to use it here as it fit in with my story. It was an ingenious way of controlling the daimyo of the country and making sure they couldn’t conspire behind the Shogun’s back and it worked the way I describe it in this novel.

  For anyone wishing to learn more about Will Adams, I can recommend Samurai William: The Adventurer Who Unlocked Japan by Giles Milton (ISBN 0 340 82634 7). And if you’d like to learn more about Japan, I’d urge you to go there if possible – it’s a wonderful country!

  Prologue

  Northern Japan, May 1611

  The old man sat cross-legged on the small verandah outside his house, contemplating the tranquillity of his rock garden. The last lingering rays of the dying sun burnished his leathery face. They cast the innumerable wrinkles into relief and made his high cheekbones appear more prominent than usual. A breeze stirred his long white goatee beard and rippled the sleeves of his silk robe. Closing his eyes, he tilted his head back to catch the sun’s warmth and then he let the peace flow over him and through him. His breathing became deep and even.

  In the distance, he could hear the voices of the other inhabitants of the castle compound, but they were far away, unreal in the stillness of his haven. The only other sound was the gurgle of a small waterfall, which gushed its way across moss- and lichen-clad stones down into a pool filled with tiny goldfish. Occasionally one of the fish would make a small splash by flipping its tail fin too hard near the surface of the water, but the noise didn’t disturb the old man. His mind drifted off into another realm and he let his thoughts roam as they wished.

  He never actively sought the visions, but simply gave them the opportunity to come. Sometimes they did, sometimes not. This time, however, when an image did appear, he was almost startled out of his trance by the unfamiliarity of the scene he beheld. It was unlike anything he had ever seen before. A woman stood by the railing of a ship; a strange ship, large and clumsy, with many masts. The wind caressed her hair and sent it flying out behind her like a flapping sail. And such hair – the colour of a fiery sunset and strangely curved as if it were composed of a nest of writhing snakes. He shivered, imagining himself entangled in that coppery mass, burning from the heat of it, strangled by its tentacles.

  She was approaching, although where she came from or how far she had travelled, he had no idea. As she looked towards him, his heart stuttered, sending a shock wave through his bo
dy. Her eyes were the colour of the sky and as clear as the water in his pond. To someone who had never encountered anything but dark eyes, they seemed empty and cold and he felt as if he could see right through her. The old man shuddered and lost the vision abruptly out of sheer fright. His heart beat became a frantic tattoo and it took him a while to realise that he wasn’t alone any longer.

  ‘Yanagihara-san, what’s the matter?’ Taro Kumashiro, the young lord of the castle, was bending towards him with a solicitous look in his amber eyes. ‘Have you had a bad prophecy?’

  ‘I, I … perhaps, Kumashiro-sama.’ The old man blinked, but the image of the red-haired woman lingered in his memory. ‘I saw a woman, coming towards me.’

  The younger man’s handsome face broke into a smile. This transformed his normally stern features, making him look happy and carefree. He nodded. ‘Ah, my prospective bride. She should be on her way here very soon.’ He sat down next to his old retainer, suddenly serious again. ‘But why did you look as if you had seen a ghost? Was she that bad? I was assured by her father that she has a pleasant countenance and much grace.’

  ‘No, no, I didn’t see your bride, my lord, but a gai-jin, a foreigner.’ The old man clutched his master’s sleeve in agitation. The fear churning inside him made him forget to whom he was speaking, but Lord Kumashiro was always more indulgent with his old mentor than with others. He gently tugged the delicate black silk away without making any comment.

  ‘A female gai-jin you say? I saw foreigners last time I went to Nagasaki, but only men. You’re sure it was a woman? I didn’t think they were allowed.’

  ‘Oh, yes. She was dressed strangely, but I couldn’t be mistaken. And she had long, shining red hair.’

  ‘Red?’ The young man laughed. ‘No wonder you were so scared, you probably took her for an evil spirit. Kami usually have red hair, don’t they?’

  Yanagihara shuddered once more. ‘Perhaps I thought so at first, but she was no spirit. She was real, and I believe she represents a threat to us. There were none of the usual indications, but why else would I see her? The foreigners have been coming in greater numbers recently. This must be a bad omen. The Shogun should never have let them stay.’

  ‘Come now, how could a foreign woman possibly be a threat to me? I’m a daimyo, a lord with thousands of men at my command.’ Lord Kumashiro drew himself up to his full height and crossed well-muscled arms over his chest. Even excluding his gleaming, black top-knot, he was taller than most of the men in the castle. He was also a formidable fighter. Yanagihara knew no one would challenge his lordship lightly, least of all a woman, but that was beside the point here.

  ‘I didn’t mean to you personally, my lord, but perhaps our entire nation. What if she is their empress?’ The old man added after a moment, ‘She had very strange eyes. Horrible, in fact.’

  His young master raised his eyebrows, still looking sceptical. ‘Oh? In what way?’

  ‘They were blue, like pale sapphires, and clear. That was what frightened me. I could see right through them into her very soul and I’m not sure I liked what I saw.’

  ‘This is most intriguing.’ Lord Kumashiro smiled again. ‘I shall have to see her for myself. You’re sure she is coming here? To our shores?’

  ‘Well, I believe so, but be careful, my lord. Don’t do anything rash.’

  ‘Don’t worry, Yanagihara-san, I only want to look at her. Besides, if she is a threat she’ll have to be dealt with. If I am the one to thwart her evil plans it would surely enhance my status. Perhaps I’ll even earn the personal gratitude of the Shogun.’

  ‘No, I really don’t think it wise to …’

  ‘I shall send some men to keep a lookout for her. If she exists, she’ll have to come to the trading station at Hirado, won’t she? The foreigners aren’t allowed to enter any other port so it should be easy to spot her. Thank you for telling me.’

  ‘She might not arrive for some time, perhaps even years.’

  ‘No matter, my men are patient.’

  ‘Yes, but …’

  Yanagihara had seen many things in his life, received warnings and advice both from the gods and spirits, and naturally it was gratifying when someone believed in his prophecies. More often than not, the people who were told of these visions didn’t listen and so they were for nothing. Usually it didn’t bother him. It was his opinion that each person had to make up their own mind and he could do no more than relay the message he had been given. Today, however, when his lordship had trusted every word, Yanagihara would rather have been ignored. He had a very bad feeling about all this.

  Lord Kumashiro was already halfway through the garden though when the old man called after him, ‘Please, my lord, have a care. Who knows what calamities this woman brings? She might be very powerful.’

  ‘You worry too much.’ Lord Kumashiro laughed. ‘After all, you and my father taught me well. I’ll be on my guard.’

  Before the old man could protest further, his lordship strode off and Yanagihara was left to wonder what he had set in motion. Still, it was too late for regrets. Only fate knew what lay before them.

  Chapter One

  Plymouth, Devon, 1st June 1611

  ‘A plague on it!’ Hannah Marston exclaimed in unladylike fashion and threw down her graphite pencil in disgust. It landed on the floor and rolled out of sight, but Hannah didn’t bother to pick it up. There was no point, she wouldn’t need it now.

  Sitting on the window seat of the little room she shared with her older sister Kate, she’d been half-heartedly sketching the view of Plymouth harbour. This could be seen from her vantage point on the third floor of a house high up on a hill facing the quay, which could be glimpsed in the distance. It wasn’t the result of her efforts that annoyed her though, but the clatter of feet that could be heard on the stairs outside. The peace and quiet she had enjoyed in her sister’s absence was rare in a household which normally teemed with people, and the solitude had been very welcome. She only wished it could have lasted longer.

  She should, of course, have made her presence known the minute Kate and another girl hurtled into the room, giggling in a slightly hysterical manner. Instead she shrank back even further into her corner and tugged surreptitiously at the curtain, hoping to remain undetected. Perhaps, with a bit of luck, her sister wouldn’t stay for very long.

  ‘You’re not going to believe this,’ Kate whispered and slammed the door shut. ‘I was wandering round the main deck of the ship with the captain when father inspected the cargo and after a while I feigned a swoon. The captain had to pick me up, of course, and take me to the main cabin and he held me very close while carrying me. It quite sent shivers down my spine.’

  ‘Heavens,’ hissed the other girl, Kate’s best friend Eliza whose voice Hannah recognised immediately.

  ‘Yes, but wait, that’s not all. Listen,’ Kate lowered her voice, but it was still perfectly audible to Hannah, ‘he put me down on his bunk and when I pretended to recover and opened my eyes, he was kneeling very close to me. It was unbelievably thrilling, and the expression on his face … Well, then he whispered that he wants to meet me in the garden on the night of my betrothal feast. Father has invited him, you know.’

  Hannah gasped, but because Eliza did too, her sister didn’t hear her. Hannah clapped a hand over her mouth to stop any further noise from escaping inadvertently.

  ‘But Kate, what about Mr Forrester?’ Eliza protested. ‘You haven’t forgotten your betrothed, surely? How can you meet another man at such a time?’

  ‘Oh, Henry.’ Kate’s tone dismissed him as being of no importance whatsoever. ‘He won’t suspect a thing if I’m careful. Perhaps I shall develop a sudden headache. Yes, or I’ll tear the hem of my dress and have to make repairs. Henry will be well in his cups by the time supper is over. I’ve seen it happen before.’

  ‘Kate!’ Eliza sounded scandalised and behind the curtain Hannah gritted her teeth. Headstrong and self-centred, Kate was a master at getting away with behaviour Hannah co
uld only dream of, but this? This was a different matter altogether, Hannah thought. Her sister was definitely going too far this time.

  ‘I don’t understand,’ Eliza added. ‘Why are you marrying Mr Forrester if it’s Captain Rydon you want?’

  ‘For social advancement, of course.’

  Hannah recognised the words her father had used to persuade his eldest daughter to accept the match. At the time, Kate had been inclined to turn down Mr Forrester’s offer, pouring scorn on her suitor. He wasn’t exactly the kind of man a young and beautiful girl such as Kate would ever look twice at. However, Kate was nothing if not mercenary and when the advantages had been pointed out to her she soon changed her mind. Hannah’s lip curled. She would never have let herself be swayed by money and a title if her heart belonged to another. A man such as …

  ‘Captain Rydon, well, he may be all that a woman wants in certain respects,’ Kate continued with another giggle, ‘which I’ll grant you Henry is not, but most of the time he’s away at sea and there is no guarantee he’ll come back. I’d be bored to tears for months on end. And if I marry Henry I’ll be Lady Forrester as soon as his father dies, whereas if I married the captain I’d be no better off than I am at the moment. This way I can enjoy both.’ She laughed out loud and danced around the room. ‘Faith, Eliza, I can’t wait until the feast. Isn’t this exciting?’

  ‘You haven’t agreed to meet him, have you?’ Eliza’s question came out in a breathless whisper.

  ‘Oh,’ Kate did another twirl, ‘not precisely, but I might venture into the garden by mistake and who knows what will happen?’

  Hannah heard the front door shut and glanced out of the window and down onto the street. The object of the discussion sauntered away from the house with a self-assured gait, his fair hair glinting like gold in the sunlight before he put his hat on at a rakish angle. He must have returned to the house with her father for a business discussion, but now Captain Rydon didn’t appear to have a care in the world. And indeed, why should he, Hannah wondered, when there were women as stupid as her sister around to pander to his every need. If he had asked Hannah, she’d never have agreed to meet him alone unless they were at least betrothed. That was going too far.