“Of course not,” he lied. “I believe she gets overwrought when people disagree with her.” That was as polite a statement as he could make in front of his mercurial parent.
“They say that in China, as well,” Yihui said. “Women never get help from my father. But if a man clutches his heart as you do, there are seven doctors to give him medicine.”
“Really?” his mother asked, clearly hanging on every word.
“She is just overwrought,” Max repeated.
“Yes, she is.” Yihui turned to his mother. “I will make you the tea. It will calm you for a time, but you cannot allow yourself to become so upset. No matter what people do, you must keep yourself calm. Your life depends upon it.”
“My life!” the lady gasped.
Oh good heavens. He should have warned Yihui about his mother’s dramatics.
“I will show you,” Yihui continued. “Do you feel your heart?” She tapped her neck. “It beats very hard?”
“Yes! Yes, it does!”
“You must learn to control that.”
“What? But it’s my heart! How can I—”
“I can teach you if you want to learn, but you cannot expect them to understand.”
By them, she clearly meant Max, which was deeply insulting. He cared for his mother. He loved her, but he also understood her faults.
Nevertheless, Yihui continued. “You have had this most of your life?”
“Since Max was first born.”
Yihui nodded. “So he has seen you like this his whole life. He does not believe.”
“None of them do. Not even Emmaline, and she sometimes has fits of her own.”
Max frowned. “She does not.”
His mother sniffed. “She does! But she doesn’t tell you because of how you react. And your father, too.”
He folded his arms, irritation getting the better of him. “But there is nothing wrong! You will be up and railing at me again in five minutes as if nothing happened.”
“But something did happen!” his mother shot back. “And no one listens!” She was dabbing at her face with a handkerchief as if she cried. It was all playacting, and it irritated him that Yihui was falling for his mother’s lies. Especially when she patted his mother’s hand.
“Men do not listen to women’s complaints,” Yihui said. “That is why there must be women doctors, women who give medicine.”
“But are there any of them?”
Yihui straightened up. “I am an apothecary.” She struggled to form the English word, but it was clear enough. “If you will let me, there is a tea. But you must remember, it will only ease the pain for a little while. You must learn to control yourself.”
“But is that truly possible? I have no control over my heart.”
Yihui tsked loudly, her expression as fierce as he had ever seen it. “What do they teach girls in this country? Why dothey say you cannot learn?” She looked to him. “Girls can read. Women can control themselves.”
He opened his mouth to argue, but what could he say? He’d wanted his mother to control herself from his earliest memories. And he wanted her on Yihui’s side instead of railing at them both. He just hadn’t expected that they would bond together in this way.
Meanwhile, Yihui looked about the room. “Take me to your place of medicines. I will find you what is needed for the tea.”
She’d had his mother complete cooperation until that point. The woman had reveled in the attention but fell short the moment it involved a strange Chinese tea.
“Oh, I don’t know,” she said. “The duke says they aren’t real fits.”
