"This person is extremely awkward in all things, but allow me at least to kindle the kitchen fire for you!"
Mrs. Lee looked pleased. She took Dark Orchid across the rear courtyard to the kitchen.
The girl took off her upper gown and bound up her sleeves. Then she rekindled the fire from the glowing embers. Mrs. Lee sat down on the low kitchen bench and started a long story about her husband who had died suddenly shortly after their wedding.
Dark Orchid found a bamboo box with noodles. She chopped a few onions and garlic, and took a dozen dried mushrooms from the string hanging outside the window.
While Mrs. Lee talked on, Dark Orchid put fat in the fryingpan and added the chopped vegetables and soy, stirring with the long iron spoon. At the right moment she put the noodles in the pan. Soon an appetizing smell filled the small kitchen.
Mrs. Lee fetched bowls, chopsticks and a platter with pickled vegetables. They sat down on the kitchen bench to eat.
Dark Orchid had a healthy appetite but Mrs. Lee ate very little. She put her bowl down when it was still half full. She laid her hand on the girl's knee and complimented her on her cooking. As Dark Orchid looked up from her bowl she surprised a look in Mrs. Lee's eyes that made her curiously uncomfortable. She reasoned with herself that it was ridiculous to be shy before another woman. But somehow or other she felt ill at ease. Imperceptibly she edged away a little.
Mrs. Lee rose. She came back with a pewter jug and two small cups.
"Let us have one cup to aid the digestion!", she said with a smile.
Dark Orchid forgot her embarrassment. She had never yet tasted wine. This seemed a very lady-like and exciting thing to do.
She sipped from her cup. It was the delicious scented liquor that is called Rose Dew; it is served cold and much stronger than the ordinary yellow wine which is always taken warm.
After Mrs. Lee had filled the girl's cup a few times, Dark Orchid felt very happy. Mrs. Lee helped her to put on her upper gown and took the girl back to the reception room. She made Dark Orchid sit down next to her on the couch and continued her story about her unlucky marriage.
Mrs. Lee drew her arm round Dark Orchid's waist. She intimated that married life has many disadvantages for a woman. Men were rough and had no understanding, one could never talk really intimately with them as one could with a person of one's own sex. The girl thought that there was much in what Mrs. Lee said. She felt very proud that the elder lady talked so confidentially with her.
After a while Mrs. Lee rose.
"How rude of me!", she exclaimed. "I made you work in the kitchen without thinking about your comfort! You must be very tired. Why don't you rest a little in my bedroom while I do some work on my painting?"
Dark Orchid reflected that she ought to go home. But she did indeed feel tired and somewhat dizzy and she thought it would be interesting to see the dressing table of such an elegant lady.
As she was making some half-hearted protests, Mrs. Lee led her to a room at the back of the house.
The bedroom surpassed Dark Orchid's expectations. A delicate perfume emanated from a ball-shaped cloisonné censer that hung from the ceiling. The ebony dressing table bore a round silver mirror on a carved sandalwood stand. In front she saw over a dozen elegant small boxes of porcelain and red lacquer. The broad couch was of ebony, intricately carved and inlaid with mother of pearl. The bed curtains were of fine white gauze with designs woven in gold thread.
Mrs. Lee casually pulled aside a screen. Two marble steps led down to a small bathroom. Turning round she said:
"Make yourself comfortable, my dear! As soon as you have rested we shall have a cup of tea in my studio!"
Mrs. Lee left, closing the door behind her.
Dark Orchid took off her upper gown and sat down on the tabouret in front of the dressing table. She eagerly inspected the contents of the toilet boxes, sniffing the powders and salves. When she had satisfied her curiosity she turned to the four red leather boxes that stood in a pile by the side of the couch. The boxes were marked in gold lacquer with the characters of the four seasons. They contained Mrs. Lee's robes, Dark Orchid did not dare peep inside.
She pulled aside the screen and stepped down into the
bathroom. Next to the low wooden tub there stood a small bucket, and in a corner she saw the large wooden containers for cold and warm water. The lattice window had been pasted over with opaque oilpaper. The sunlight threw on | it the shadows of the bamboo in the garden outside, so that the window looked like a delicate ink-painting of waving bamboo leaves.
Dark Orchid lifted the cover of the warm water container. The water was quite hot. Fragrant herbs floated on the surface.
She quickly slipped out of her robes, and poured a few buckets of hot water into the tub. When she was adding cold water she suddenly heard a sound behind her. The girl turned round quickly.
Mrs. Lee was standing in the doorway leaning on her cane. She said with a smile:
"Don't be afraid, young girl, it is only me! I thought that after all I would take a nap too. It is very sensible of you to take a bath first, it will make you sleep better!"
As she spoke Mrs. Lee looked at the girl with a queer fixed stare.
All of a sudden Dark Orchid felt very much afraid. She hastily stooped to pick up her clothes.
Mrs Lee stepped forward and jerked the under garment from Dark Orchid's hands.
"Were you not going to take a bath?", she asked in a strained voice.
Dark Orchid started to apologize in confusion. Suddenly Mrs. Lee drew the girl close to her. She said softly:
"You need not be prudish, my dear! You are very beautiful!"
A feeling of revulsion surged up in the girl's breast. She pushed the woman away with all her force. Mrs. Lee stumbled back. When she had steadied herself her eyes were blazing in her contorted face.
As Dark Orchid stood there trembling not knowing what to do Mrs. Lee's cane suddenly lashed out and struck the girl a sharp blow on her bare thigh.
The pain made Dark Orchid forget her fear. She quickly stooped to pick up the small bucket with the intention to throw it at Mrs. Lee's head. But she had not reckoned with Mrs. Lee's expert handling of her cane.
Before Dark Orchid's fingers had touched the bucket Mrs. Lee hit a vicious blow across her hips that made the girl jump aside screaming with pain.
Mrs. Lee laughed contemptuously.
"Don't try any tricks, my dear!", she said softly. "Remember that with this cane I can stab as well as strike! You are more difficult than your sister White Orchid, but you'll soon learn to behave!"
The unexpected reference to her sister made Dark Orchid forget her pain.
"Where is my sister!", she cried out.
"Do you want to see her?", Mrs. Lee asked with an evil leer. She did not wait for an answer but quickly went inside the bedroom.
Dark Orchid stood there paralysed with fear and anxiety. She heard Mrs. Lee chuckle behind the screen.
Then Mrs. Lee pulled the screen aside with her left hand. In her right she held a long, sharp knife.
"Look!", she said triumphantly and pointed to the dressing table.
Dark Orchid uttered a piercing scream of stark terror.
In front of the mirror stood the severed head of her elder sister.
Mrs. Lee quickly stepped down in the bathroom testing the edge of the knife on her thumb.
"You don't like me, foolish girl!", she hissed. "Therefore I shall kill you just as I killed your sister!"
DARK ORCHID SURPRISED WHILE TAKING A BATH
Dark Orchid turned round, screaming for help at the top of her voice. She had a vague idea to smash the lattice window and escape to the garden.