The Promise: A Novel of China and Burma (Oriental Novels of Pearl S. Buck) by Pearl S. Buck Page A
Authors: Pearl S. Buck
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wounded, he may discover your presence. If he is not, there is little reason why he should ever know you are with us.”
“That is what I wish,” Mayli said. Now that she had what she wanted she would not stay one moment longer, knowing that nothing makes a man sorrier that he has done a good deed to a woman than to have her linger on after he has done it, and this especially when he doubts himself wise to have yielded to her.
So she rose and leaned on her two hands on the desk, and smiled down at him. “How good you are—how kind,” she said. “And I promise you I will do all my duty and if there is any need you ever have of me, call upon me.”
He nodded at her, and felt warmth stirring in his belly as though he had drunk a draught of sweet hot wine.
Now just at this moment a soldier came in to say that the commanders of the divisions were waiting outside as the General had ordered them to be at this hour.
“Ah, yes,” the General said. “I had forgotten—let them come in.”
But Mayli put her hand to her lips at this. “No,” she whispered. “Let me go out first.”
Ah, yes,” the General said again. “I forgot—yes, he is one of them.” So he said to the soldier. “Well, tell them to wait a moment.”
The soldier went out, and after a minute to allow him time, Mayli said good-by and her thanks again and she went out, too. She was afraid that Sheng might be somewhere to see her, and she drew the collar of her cape high and bent her head and hurried her steps. But she did not see him anywhere and so she thought herself safe.
Now so she might have been safe, if the soldier had not been a dirty fellow who loved to joke about women and men, and so he went back sniggering and told the three commanders that they must wait a while because the General had a visitor whom they must not see.
They looked at each other and did not answer out of respect for their superior, but when the soldier was gone Sheng said plainly, “I did not think that he was such a one.”
“He is not,” the second commander said. “The minds of inferior men are always ready to make such accursed talk, especially about those who rule them.”
Now the room in which they waited was a small room off the main court. A hallway passed between the court and the room, but there was a door into the hallway and this was open, and toward it the third one now stepped.
“I see a woman, nevertheless,” he said unwillingly.
They all stepped to the door then, and they all saw the tall slender woman wrapped in a cape for one quick second, too quick to catch any of her looks. But Sheng knew the moment that he saw her who it was. Many women wore such capes, but he knew this tall woman, and for proof it chanced that his eye fell on her hand holding the collar of her cape about her and he saw on it the green gleam of jade.
Who can tell the rush of terror and fear and anger that now swept up his body? Was this where she was all these days, here in this house? Had she gone nowhere but here? Was his own general his rival with her?
The soldier was back again before he could think beyond his fears. “The General invites you,” the man said.
There was no more time. Sheng was compelled to move forward with his fellows and he marched beside them into the room where the General was. There the General sat, his cheeks flushed and his eyes bright. They stood at attention side by side, and saluted and at that moment Sheng smelled in his nostrils the faint sweetness of perfume left upon the air.
… “The Big Soldier did not come,” Liu Ma told Mayli as she came into the gate again.
“Ah, good,” Mayli said carelessly. She felt happy and yet restless, and when she had taken off her cape and changed her robe to a softer one, she still felt restless. She walked in and out and then in and out again of the little court. If he came she would tell him nothing. They would play and quarrel and fend off their love, and she would tell him good-by when he
“That is what I wish,” Mayli said. Now that she had what she wanted she would not stay one moment longer, knowing that nothing makes a man sorrier that he has done a good deed to a woman than to have her linger on after he has done it, and this especially when he doubts himself wise to have yielded to her.
So she rose and leaned on her two hands on the desk, and smiled down at him. “How good you are—how kind,” she said. “And I promise you I will do all my duty and if there is any need you ever have of me, call upon me.”
He nodded at her, and felt warmth stirring in his belly as though he had drunk a draught of sweet hot wine.
Now just at this moment a soldier came in to say that the commanders of the divisions were waiting outside as the General had ordered them to be at this hour.
“Ah, yes,” the General said. “I had forgotten—let them come in.”
But Mayli put her hand to her lips at this. “No,” she whispered. “Let me go out first.”
Ah, yes,” the General said again. “I forgot—yes, he is one of them.” So he said to the soldier. “Well, tell them to wait a moment.”
The soldier went out, and after a minute to allow him time, Mayli said good-by and her thanks again and she went out, too. She was afraid that Sheng might be somewhere to see her, and she drew the collar of her cape high and bent her head and hurried her steps. But she did not see him anywhere and so she thought herself safe.
Now so she might have been safe, if the soldier had not been a dirty fellow who loved to joke about women and men, and so he went back sniggering and told the three commanders that they must wait a while because the General had a visitor whom they must not see.
They looked at each other and did not answer out of respect for their superior, but when the soldier was gone Sheng said plainly, “I did not think that he was such a one.”
“He is not,” the second commander said. “The minds of inferior men are always ready to make such accursed talk, especially about those who rule them.”
Now the room in which they waited was a small room off the main court. A hallway passed between the court and the room, but there was a door into the hallway and this was open, and toward it the third one now stepped.
“I see a woman, nevertheless,” he said unwillingly.
They all stepped to the door then, and they all saw the tall slender woman wrapped in a cape for one quick second, too quick to catch any of her looks. But Sheng knew the moment that he saw her who it was. Many women wore such capes, but he knew this tall woman, and for proof it chanced that his eye fell on her hand holding the collar of her cape about her and he saw on it the green gleam of jade.
Who can tell the rush of terror and fear and anger that now swept up his body? Was this where she was all these days, here in this house? Had she gone nowhere but here? Was his own general his rival with her?
The soldier was back again before he could think beyond his fears. “The General invites you,” the man said.
There was no more time. Sheng was compelled to move forward with his fellows and he marched beside them into the room where the General was. There the General sat, his cheeks flushed and his eyes bright. They stood at attention side by side, and saluted and at that moment Sheng smelled in his nostrils the faint sweetness of perfume left upon the air.
… “The Big Soldier did not come,” Liu Ma told Mayli as she came into the gate again.
“Ah, good,” Mayli said carelessly. She felt happy and yet restless, and when she had taken off her cape and changed her robe to a softer one, she still felt restless. She walked in and out and then in and out again of the little court. If he came she would tell him nothing. They would play and quarrel and fend off their love, and she would tell him good-by when he
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