Steeped in Blood | TO BE REWRITTEN

V. GEORGE FAIRFAX

NIGHT HAD FALLEN ON HONG KONG, BUT THE ISLAND was far from quiet. In his Peak apartment, the newly appointed governor of Hong Kong stared at the ocean and waited for the Mui Tsai to finish lighting his kerosene lamp (1). His housekeeper had noted that they were nearly out, which reminded him that they would have to buy more when Standard Oil brought in its shipments. In England, he had bought whale oil of course, not the cheap coal used by the lower classes, but no one in Hong Kong used the stuff and Standard Oil's red oil cans were ubiquitous here—even if he knew that most of the working class used cai or wood to heat their braziers. (2)

That was only one of many changes. It all felt too sudden, too fast. Why had he been made governor of what was, for all intents and purposes, a minuscule fishing village? This felt more like an exile than anything... and he had a feeling that secrets must have been discovered for him to have been exiled to this place. Even the last governor, Austin, had warned him that the briefer his tenure here, the better. This... this steaming little island filled with superstition was to be his Elba. Perhaps it was a touch arrogant to compare himself to Napoleon, but he and the emperor had both dared too greatly and been punished for it.

He brushed those thoughts aside now. There was no time for them, not when he had correspondence to read and positions in British society to re-attain. George sliced open an envelope with his silver letter opener, engraved with the Fairfax crest in its hilt. Unfolding the letter inside, he read.

13 April, Anno Domini 1880

Government House, Government Hill
Victoria, Hong Kong
His Excellency Lord George Fairfax

Dear Father,

I write to you with a heavy heart and have been told to inform you that Mother is missing your absence more than I suppose that the company does. I am informed by Jack that the business is doing as well as it can be without your presence. I must inquire as to how you are settling in at your new home, however temporary it may be. Perhaps when Mother is feeling better, we could make the journey to visit you and William.

Speaking of William, you must tell us what his fiancee (or is it wife now by the time this letter reaches you?) looks like. If we come to the colony, could we meet her? Is she terribly disfigured--is that why you have not even shown us her cameo or her miniature? I only jest, of course--I trust your taste, even if my trust does not extend far enough to allow you to choose my future husband.

You must tell me all about Hong Kong! Is it really so foreign a place as the papers and stories make it out to be? In that book by Verne, I caught only a glimpse of it but it seems highly exciting! (3) Of course, knowing my father as well as I do, I know you shall be stingy with any details that do not pertain to your work there.

Yours truly,

Felicity Fairfax

He refolded the letter from his daughter, not wanting to read it again. It was a reminder of all that he had left behind: missing his daughter's first season as a debutante in London, unable to see for himself how the EIC was doing in his absence, and certainly unable to have any direct influence on its affairs in this little backwater fishing village. George sighed, put away his papers into a drawer, and went to bed.

Still, he lay awake, remembering all that he had done to be exiled here...

It had all happened so fast. One moment, he had been on top of the world. The next, he had been falling from grace. 

(1) 妹仔 - literally, little girl. Female domestic servants who were daughters sold from poor families who wanted sons and often mistreated.

(2) 柴 - firewood. Kerosene came much later in Hong Kong and wood was used mainly by the working classes.

(3) Jules Verne's Around the World in 80 Days, published 1873.