The Gilded Fan (Choc Lit) Read Online Free PDF Page A

his strange question. She frowned. ‘No, no one liked them apart from my parents. And Ichiro, of course.’ She stopped, realising she may have said too much. ‘But what has that to do with anything?’
    ‘Oh, nothing really, I beg your pardon. I shouldn’t have mentioned it.’
    Midori was becoming impatient and didn’t want to discuss the colour of her eyes. ‘Well, are you going to let me travel on your ship or not?’ she asked.
    ‘No, I’m afraid I can’t help you. Allowing you to sail alone on a ship with upwards of a hundred and twenty men would be madness.’ He shrugged apologetically.
    ‘Why? I won’t mingle with any of them. I’ll pay you for a private cabin.’
    He frowned at her again. ‘Mistress Midori, you don’t appear to lack sense. Surely you can understand that you would represent a great temptation?’
    ‘I can defend myself. Haven’t I already proved it?’
    ‘Against three men perhaps, and three of the clumsiest at that. What of the other hundred-odd? Cabin doors are rather flimsy.’
    ‘Surely they wouldn’t all … at once …?’ Midori tried not to feel intimidated by the image he’d conjured in her mind.
    ‘Wouldn’t they?’
    The quizzical expression on Captain Noordholt’s face as he stared down his haughty nose at her riled Midori. She decided he was just being obstinate, trying to put her off going. She clenched her fists inside the sleeves of her robe as she tried to compose herself. A Japanese lady never lost her temper and she had no intention of letting this irritating stranger provoke her.
    ‘Maybe you underestimate your own charms, Mistress Midori,’ he added in a kindly voice, which annoyed her even more.
    ‘Aren’t you man enough to ensure complete obedience in your crew?’ she challenged.
    He looked surprised. ‘Of course, but tempting them with a tasty female isn’t a normal occurrence on board any ship. I would be a fool to do so and I really don’t need any more complications on this journey. I’ve only recently taken over as captain, so it’s important that nothing goes wrong.’
    ‘
Tasty
?’ Midori almost raised her voice, but managed to resist the temptation at the last moment. ‘If you must know, I have never yet met a man who was tempted by what you call my charms.’ She didn’t count the episode with the three Englishmen as they had thought her a whore and therefore fair game. ‘If your men are so desperate, you should bring along some other females.’
    ‘By all that’s holy, woman, have you lost your mind? I’ll have enough trouble keeping the crew adequately fed during such a long journey. And I don’t need any hangers-on for them to fight over at every opportunity. God’s teeth, but there would be a mutiny before we’d sailed a hundred leagues.’ He shook his head at the thought.
    Midori stepped closer to him. ‘Well, I don’t care how you arrange matters on board your ship. All I know is that I must sail with you and I have plenty of silver to pay for my passage. If I stay here, I die. It’s as simple as that.’
    ‘What do you mean, you’ll die?’
    Nico frowned at the woman, trying to make sense of her words.
    She glared at him. ‘Haven’t you heard? The
Shogun
has decided to persecute all foreigners and Christians. We’re to be evicted from the country, even half
gai-jin
like me. I have no choice but to leave, don’t you see?’
    Nico had heard vague rumours to that effect, but hadn’t taken much notice. Corneliszoon assured everyone on the island they were safe since they had permission to trade and weren’t staying long, so it didn’t concern him.
    ‘I’m sure there must be other options open to you. I’ve been told there is a thriving Japanese Christian community in the Philippine Islands. Couldn’t you go there?’ he suggested. ‘It’s much closer, for one thing, and you could sail on a Japanese vessel.’
    It was a reasonable proposition, but apparently it wasn’t to the lady’s liking. ‘I