The Coffee Trader

18

The letters had been coming in at the rate of two or three a week, and Miguel stayed up late, straining his eyes against the thin light of a single oil lamp, to answer them. Animated by coffee and the thrill of impending wealth, he worked with jubilant determination, making sure his agents understood precisely what he required of them.

Miguel had not seen Geertruid since his return from Rotterdam, which made it easy to avoid dwelling on having lost most of her capital. He knew of men who had lost their partners’ money, and they invariably broke down in confession immediately, as though the burden of living in falseness was too much to endure. Miguel felt he could live with the falseness as long as the world let him get away with it.

Nevertheless, he wanted to see Geertruid and tell her of his progress, and he had other things to say too, but Geertruid was nowhere to be found. It was a cursed time for her to hide herself. Miguel sent messages to all the most likely taverns and paid visits to those places at even the most unlikely hours, but he found no sign of her.

Once, by coincidence, he ran into Hendrick, who stood idly near the Damrak. He leaned against a wall and busied himself with his pipe, watching as men and women paraded past him.

“Ho, Jew Man,” he called out. He puffed smoke cordially in Miguel’s direction.

Miguel hesitated a moment, wondering if he could pretend to have neither seen nor heard Hendrick, but it was no good. “What news of Madam Damhuis?” he asked.

“What?” Hendrick asked. “You don’t ask after my health? You injure me.”

“I am sorry for the injury,” Miguel said. He had, over time, learned to defuse Hendrick’s bombast by pretending to take it seriously.

“As long as you’re sorry, that’s the important thing. But it’s Madam Damhuis you want, and I can’t hope to serve as Madam Damhuis serves. I haven’t her charms.”

Was he jealous? “Do you know where I might find her?”

“I haven’t seen her.” Hendrick turned his head and blew a long cloud of smoke.

“Perhaps at her home,” Miguel began hopefully.

“Oh, no. Not at her home.”

“Still, I should not mind looking for myself,” Miguel pressed, wishing he could be more clever and subtle. “Where might I find her home?”

“It’s not for me to say,” Hendrick explained. “You foreigners are perhaps not so clear about our customs. If Madam Damhuis has not told you, it would not be my place to do so.”

“Thank you, then,” Miguel said as he hurried off, eager to waste no more time.

“If I see her,” Hendrick called after him, “I’ll be sure to give her your regards.”

Such was his luck that day. He decided, on a whim, to visit the coffee tavern in the Plantage, but when the Turk Mustafa opened the door-only a crack-he stared suspiciously at Miguel.

“I’m Senhor Lienzo,” he said. “I’ve been here before.”

“This is not the time for you,” the Turk said.

“I don’t understand. I thought this was a public tavern.”

“Go away,” the Turk said, and closed the door hard.

Hannah sat in the dining room, eating her breakfast of white-flour bread with good butter and some yellow apples that an old woman had been peddling door-to-door the previous evening. Her wine was more heavily spiced and not nearly so watered down as usual. Annetje knew how to be parsimonious with the wine and generous with the water-more wine for herself that way-so Hannah understood what the strength of her drink meant. The maid wanted to talk with her and so tried to loosen her tongue.

Miguel had given her coffee, and now Annetje gave her wine. The world plied her with drink in order to make her do its bidding. This thought saddened her, but even so, Hannah could not quite forget the thrill of having consumed Miguel’s coffee. She loved learning the true nature of that fruit; she loved the way it made her feel animated and alive. It was not as though she discovered a new self; rather, coffee reordered the self she already had. Things at the top sank to the bottom, and the parts of herself she had chained down rose buoyantly. She had forgotten to be demure and modest, and she loved casting off those constraints.

She now recognized, perhaps for the first time, how Miguel had always seen her: quiet, foolish, stupid. Those Iberian virtues of femininity held no allure for him. He enjoyed connivers like Annetje and his wicked widow. Well, she could be wicked too. The thought almost made her laugh aloud. Of course she could not be wicked, but she could want to be wicked.

Annetje came up from the kitchen and stood in the doorway, eyeing, as Hannah had suspected she would, the now-empty goblet. Daniel and Miguel had both left to attend to their business, so the girl took a seat at the table, which she loved to do when they were alone together, poured herself some wine from the decanter, and drank it down quickly, apparently unconcerned with how loose her own tongue became.

“Did you and the senhor have a pleasant talk yesterday?” she began.

Hannah smiled. “You didn’t listen at the door?”

Something violent flickered across Annetje’s face. “You spoke too rapidly in your language. I could hardly understand a word of it.”

“He asked me not to talk of what had happened. I am sure he told you the same thing.”

“He did, but he did not give me any special potions to make me obey. Perhaps he has more faith in my silence.”

“Perhaps he does,” Hannah agreed. “And perhaps you’ve no faith in mine. That’s what you want to know about, yes? If I spoke to him about the widow.”

“Well, I would know if you spoke about the widow. You may count on that. Just as I know from your face now that you haven’t, but that you’ve done something else.”

Hannah said nothing. She cast her eyes downward, feeling the familiar rush of shame that gripped her when she spoke out of turn or made eye contact with a guest of her husband’s.

Annetje arose and took a seat next to her. She took Hannah’s right hand in both of hers. “Are you ashamed of talking so intimately with the senhor?” she asked sweetly, her pretty green eyes locking onto Hannah’s. “I don’t think it so wrong that you should enjoy a little innocent congress. The women of my nation do so every day, and no harm comes to them.” She squeezed Hannah’s hand between hers. Here was the Annetje who had first shown herself, who had lured Hannah into revealing her secrets.

Hannah would have no more of it. “I don’t see anything evil in speaking with him. I may say what I like to whom I like.”

“Of course, you are right,” Annetje cooed. “Let’s forget this incident altogether. Shall we go this afternoon?”

“Go?”

“Has it been so long that you do not recall?” Both had understood from the beginning that the name of the place must never be spoken aloud, not in the house, not in the Vlooyenburg, not anywhere Jews or Ma’amad spies might lurk.

Hannah swallowed. She had known this conversation must come, and she had done all she could to brace herself. Even so, she felt unprepared and perhaps even surprised. “I cannot go.”

“You cannot go?” Annetje asked. “Are you afraid because of that silly widow?”

“It’s not that,” Hannah told her. “I won’t risk it. My child.”

“The child again,” she snapped. “You act like no one has ever been with child before.”

“I won’t take any more chances. God has shown me, He has warned me of the dangers. I was almost caught once, and I would be a fool to ignore His mercy.”

“God did not save you,” Annetje told her, “I did. I am the one who saved you from being discovered. God will damn you to hell if you do not go today, and your child too.”

Hannah shook her head. “I don’t believe it.”

“You know it’s true,” the maid said petulantly. “We’ll see how many nights you can endure, lying awake, knowing that if you are to die in your sleep, you are destined for hell’s torments. Then you will change your mind.”

“Perhaps,” Hannah said ambivalently.

“In any case,” Annetje announced more cheerfully, “you must remember to say nothing to Senhor Miguel. You must keep silence. Will you promise me to do so?”

“I promise.” As she said the words, she knew she lied and felt a strange new pleasure in how easily the lie came. She knew she would tell Miguel, though she could not say when or why or what would be the consequence of an act that could well mean her ruin.

A week after his conversation with Hendrick, Miguel sat with Geertruid in the Singing Carp. She had sent him a note announcing that she wished to see him, and Miguel had hurried over. He found Hendrick in the midst of telling a story when Miguel arrived, and though Geertruid stretched her pretty neck to kiss Miguel, she made no effort to interrupt.

Hendrick spoke in a rapid rural Dutch, and Miguel had a hard time following the circuitous narrative, which had something to do with a childhood friend and a stolen barrel of pickled beef. When he finished, he laughed in appreciation of himself. “That’s some story, eh, Jew Man?”

“I like it very much,” answered Miguel.

“He likes it very much,” Hendrick said to Geertruid. “He is kind to say so.”

Why did Geertruid not send away this clown? But Miguel could tell that she had been drinking a little too much. Hendrick had been drinking too. “Now it is your turn,” he said to Miguel. He grinned broadly, but his eyes had a kind of cruelty in them. “You tell a story.”

This was a test of some sort, but Miguel had no idea how to proceed. “I have no story to tell,” he answered, “or none that can compete with your pickled beef tale.” In truth, Miguel could not make himself calm. He had only a third of Geertruid’s money remaining, and when the time came, he would have no way of paying Nunes. He’d been able to put the lost money out of his mind, but here with Geertruid he could not bring himself to forget it.

“I have no story to tell,” Hendrick repeated, imitating Miguel’s accent. “Come now, Jew Man. Show yourself to be game for once. You enjoy my generous entertainment, and I would so like you to give something in return. Would you not like to hear a story, madam?”

“I’d love to hear a story,” Geertruid agreed. “The senhor is so witty.”

“I see I’m outnumbered,” he said, making a show of good nature. “What sort of story should I tell?”

“That’s for you to say. Something that tells of your mighty adventures. You can tell us a story of your amorous victories or the strangeness of your race or some incomprehensible plan to conquer the Exchange.”

Miguel had no time to respond, for a man had come behind Hendrick with a tankard in his hand and swung hard, aiming to hit Hendrick in the head. It was his good fortune that Hendrick had leaned in a few inches to make some comment to Geertruid, so the pewter tankard came down hard, but it struck the Dutchman in the shoulder and then flew from the assailant’s hand, spraying beer into Miguel’s face before it clattered upon the wooden floor.

“God’s fucking whore,” Hendrick said, with surprising calm. He leapt from his seat in an instant and turned to face his attacker, a man at least a head shorter than Hendrick and thin-almost shockingly so-but for an enormous belly. His face had turned red with the exertion of his blow and the failure to bring it home.

“You rotten bastard!” the man shouted. “I know who you are, and I’ll kill you!”

“Christ,” Hendrick said petulantly, as though he had been asked to perform an unpleasant chore. He let out a puff of breath and struck the man hard in the face. The blow came fast, and his assailant went down on the floor to the cheers of the patrons.

In an instant the barkeep came out and, with the help of a servant, dragged the attacker toward the kitchens. Miguel guessed he would be thrown into the alley out back.

Hendrick smiled sheepishly. “I’d wager that fellow doesn’t much like me.”

Miguel nodded as he wiped the beer from his face.

“I don’t think there will be any trouble,” Geertruid said, “but you may wish to get gone.”

Hendrick nodded. “I take your meaning. Good day to you, Jew Man. ”

The pair sat in silence for a few minutes once Hendrick had left, and Miguel pondered the unanswerable question of how Geertruid understood what had passed.

“Tell me once more why you associate with him,” Miguel said, after a moment.

“Anyone can make enemies,” Geertruid said unconvincingly. “He is a rough man with rough friends, and they sometimes settle their differences uncouthly.”

It was true enough. Miguel found himself secretly hoping that Joachim might someday confront him with Hendrick nearby.

“In any case,” Geertruid said, still sounding a little drunk, “I am sorry you had to witness such trouble.”

He shook his head. “Where have you been these past days?”

“I never stay in one place for long,” she told him. She set a hand on top of his. “I like to visit my relatives in the countryside. It is a sad bird who never leaves her nest.”

“I wish you would inform me of when you plan to go away and when you plan to return. If we are to do business together, I must be able to find you.”

She patted his hand and looked directly into his eyes. “Of course. I’ll be good to you.”

Miguel took his hand away. He was in no mood for her nonsense. “It is not a matter of being good to me, but of being good to our business. This is not some silly woman’s game.”

“And I am not some silly woman,” she answered, her voice now hard as steel. “I may be soft, but I am not a fool to be lectured.”

Miguel felt himself go pale. He could not recall her ever having spoken to him thus. Like a Dutch husband, he wanted nothing so much as to placate her. “Madam, I of all men would never call you a fool. I only wished to say that I must be able to speak with you.”

She turned to him, her head at an angle, her thin lips spread in a warm smile, her eyes wide and inviting. “Of course, senhor. I have been at fault.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Miguel muttered. “And we have more important business to discuss. I have received several letters from our agents, and I’m optimistic that we’ll receive more good news within the next few weeks.”

She took a drink from her tankard. “Have we all the agents we require?”

“Not quite. We still lack Madrid, Lisbon, and Oporto.” He made every effort to sound unconcerned, but the truth was that there could be no control of the market without Iberia. “It is a problem,” Miguel added.

Geertruid studied him. “How will you solve this problem?” Her voice sounded icy.

“If I could answer that question I would have already solved it.”

“I put forth the money. I’ve done my part. Your part is to make it work-otherwise I should hardly need you.”

Miguel shook his head. “If you have no faith in this project, you must tell me now. There is still time to cancel the sale, though we lose the premium.”

Geertruid shook her head. “I don’t want to cancel the sale. I want the problem solved, and if it cannot be solved, I want to know that I can trust you to tell me so.”

“Very well,” he said sullenly. He had hardly been prepared for her to take this posture. “If I have not resolved the question of the Iberian agents in two weeks, we’ll cancel.”

Miguel showed no emotion, but even the thought of abandoning the deal filled him with misery. Perhaps he could find someone else, someone in the Jewish community to fund him. But that idea presented its own host of problems. He would have to discuss the plan in order to try to bring someone on board. Once he discussed it, it would no longer be a secret. His brother might have put up the money if they were on better terms, but Daniel had no faith that Miguel could manage his own affairs. No, if he lost Geertruid’s money, he could never proceed.

Then there was the matter of canceling the sale. Geertruid had been concerned about her money, and her lack of trust irritated Miguel. Though he had lost two thirds of her investment, he wasn’t the sort of person who handled money irresponsibly. He had only been unlucky.

Guessing that Geertruid had no idea how such sales were actually ordered, Miguel had simply invented his two-week estimate. He doubted he could get Nunes to cancel the deal in two weeks or even right now. But that difficulty could be dealt with another time. Now Miguel had no concern greater than regaining Geertruid’s confidence.

She nodded. “Two weeks is a goodly amount of time.”

“I had better redouble my efforts.” Miguel stood up. “I should hate to disappoint you.”

“Don’t think I’ve lost faith.” She reached out and took his hand in both of hers. “It is a great deal of money I’ve put forth, and I must protect my investment.”

“Of course, madam,” Miguel said. “I understand your heart in all things.”

Miguel stopped next at the Flyboat, where he found Isaiah Nunes engaged in conversation with a few other merchants of Miguel’s acquaintance. Nunes knew well how to read the expressions on a man’s face and, understanding that Miguel needed to speak with him, he pushed his muscular form upward.

The tavern was far too noisy, so they stepped outside into the cool of the late afternoon. Both men looked around carefully to make sure their conversation could not be overheard.

“If I choose to cancel the sale,” Miguel began abruptly, “by what date must I do so?”

“Cancel?” Nunes demanded. His face darkened. “What’s gone wrong?”

“Nothing,” Miguel told him warily. “I have no real plans to cancel, but one of my partners is nervous and asked me to make an inquiry. Besides, you were the one who advised me to be rid of coffee.”

“But not to be rid of our contract. You may tell this partner of yours it is far too late to back out. We don’t deal here with some friend of our Nation, you know. We deal with the East India Company, and the Company does not allow a buyer to change his mind no matter how politely one might ask.” Nunes paused for a moment. “I know you understand how things stand. I would hate for you to put me in an awkward position, Miguel.”

Miguel forced a smile. “Of course.”

Nunes shrugged. “In any case, I had actually been planning on sending you a little note tomorrow. I have made all the arrangements, and I now require a portion of the payment.”

“I had thought I would pay upon delivery,” said Miguel, who had thought no such thing.

“You know better than that,” Nunes said, his brow wrinkled in obvious displeasure.

“Shall we say a quarter up front?”

Nunes laughed and put a hand on Miguel’s shoulder. “You’re making me laugh now. You know how these things are done. If you’ll transfer half the amount to my account by the end of next week, I’d be most appreciative.”

Miguel cleared his throat. “Sadly, one of my partners has suffered a small-and temporary, I assure you-setback. We cannot come up with the entire sum by next week.”

The smile dropped from Nunes’s face.

“I can pay you a thousand,” Miguel suggested. “No small sum, and certainly an indication of our seriousness.”

Nunes’s hand had remained on Miguel’s shoulder, but it now pressed so hard he pushed Miguel up against the tavern wall. “Have you lost your wits?” he asked in a husky whisper. “There is no maneuvering with the Company. If I say I need fifteen hundred, I need that sum, not some token. I’ve contracted with them, you’ve contracted with me, and the deal is to be done. If you don’t give me that money, I will have to pay it out of my own account. You’re my friend, Miguel, but you have put me in a terrible position.”

“I know, I know.” Miguel held his hands up like a supplicant. “It’s these partners of mine-good for the money but slow with payment. But I’ll have the funds-by the end of next week, as you say.” Miguel would have told him anything to end the talk of contracts. “Perhaps,” he suggested as he turned away, “you could say a word or two to Ricardo on my behalf.”

“I’ll not fight your battle for you,” Nunes called after him, “nor get between you and Parido.”

He’d had enough disquiet for one day, but when he walked into his brother’s house, he knew at once that something terrible had happened. Daniel sat in the front room with a strange look on his face, disappointment and satisfaction all at once.

“What is it?” Miguel asked him. “Have you been searching-” He stopped. It was a line of inquiry that could lead to no good.

Daniel stretched out his arm to present a sealed letter. A sealed letter. How many times would Daniel confront him about his correspondence? But even as he thought the words, Miguel knew this letter was different-and Daniel already knew its contents.

Miguel numbly broke the seal and opened the triply folded paper. He did not have to read the ornate handwriting or the carefully chosen words in formal Spanish. He knew what it said. Miguel had been summoned to appear the next morning before the Ma’amad.