"Yes--but I can't understand----"
"Naturally," the Marquis laughed quietly, "that is a thing beyond the comprehension of a Western barbarian--your pardon for so calling you, Kwang-ho," went on the Mandarin, "is an ancestor of mine who lived during the Ming dynasty. He was a sage, and very famous, so I took him as my private god."
Olivia looked amazed and a little shocked. "A private god. I never knew that anyone could have a private god even in China," she said.
"If you have read Roman history, Mrs. Ainsleigh, you will remember the Lares and Penates, which were something of the same kind. I was very unfortunate with the public gods of my country, so I chose Kwang-ho to be my genius--my destiny. I had an image made and offered him incense. It was, in fact what you might call ancestral worship; only I looked upon Kwang-ho as one who could control my destiny. I was right," said Lo-Keong emphatically, "for, from the moment I sacrificed to Kwang-ho, my fortunes changed."
"In what way?" asked Rupert, wondering that a clever man like this should talk so superstitiously.
"In every way. The priest of my new god Kwang-ho consulted the deity and ordered that I should leave the Boxers and attach myself to the party of the Empress Dowager, who was to be all powerful in the future. I think," added Lo-Keong smiling blandly, "that Kwang-ho was right in that. Who is so powerful as my august mistress."
"True enough," admitted Ainsleigh impatiently, "but what has this to do with the death of my father?"
"Patience, Mr. Ainsleigh. I arranged to leave the Boxers. We were fighting for the Emperor, who was then being crushed by the Empress Dowager. I had many papers showing my devotion to the Boxer cause and to His Imperial Majesty. These papers I intended to destroy: but remembering that some day the Emperor might overcome the Empress, I decided to keep the papers. They would show that I had worked for the Emperor, and thus my fortunes would be secure should His Imperial Majesty reign alone. As yet," added Lo-Keong with a shrug, "he has not reigned alone and my august mistress still rules the destinies of the middle kingdom."
"Ah. And if she got those papers?----"
"She would cut off my head," replied Lo-Keong quietly, "so now you see why I thought it best to conceal them. I wished to preserve the papers so as to keep myself in favour with the Emperor, when he became supreme, and I wished to conceal them from the Empress Dowager and her spies, while she ruled China. You understand?"