“The thought of living for eight years in the jungle without Bach’s music is horrid to me.” Edgar paused, then added, “It sounds beautiful on an 1840 Erard.”

“That may be, but our soldiers are still fighting.”

Edgar Drake took a deep breath. He could suddenly feel his heart beating faster. “I apologize, I do not intend my remarks to seem presumptuous. In fact, every minute of your history makes me more interested. But I am confused. If you so disapprove of our pianist, Colonel, then why am I here? You are a very important person; it is rare for someone of your rank to spend several hours interviewing a civilian, even I know this. I also know that the War Office must have invested a tremendous sum in shipping the piano to Burma, let alone purchasing it. And you have offered to pay me generously—well, fairly in my opinion, but from an objective perspective, generously. Yet you seem so disapproving of my commission.”

The Colonel leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “Very well. It is important that we discuss this. I am open with my disapproval, but please do not confuse that with disrespect. The Surgeon-Major is an extremely effective soldier, an unusual person perhaps, but he is irreplaceable. There are some, very high within this office, who have a great interest in his work.”

“But not yourself.”

“Let’s just say that there are men who get lost in the rhetoric of our imperial destiny, that we conquer not to gain land and wealth but to spread culture and civilization. I will not deny them this, but it is not the duty of the War Office.”

“And yet you support him?”

The Colonel paused. “If I speak bluntly, Mr. Drake, it is because it is important that you understand the position of the War Office. The Shan States are lawless. Except Mae Lwin. Carroll has accomplished more than several battalions. He is indispensable, and he commands one of the most dangerous and important posts in our colonies. The Shan States are essential to securing our eastern frontier; without them we risk invasion, French or even Siamese. If a piano is the concession we must make to keep him at his post, then it is a small cost. But his post is a military post, not a music salon. It is our hope that when the piano is tuned he will return to his work. It is important that you understand this, that you understand that we, not the Surgeon-Major, are hiring you. His ideas can be…seductive.”

You don’t trust him, thought Edgar. “Just a concession then, like cigarettes,” he said.

“No, this is different, I think you understand.”

“So I should not try to argue that it is because of the piano that he is indispensable?”

“We will know when it is tuned. Won’t we, Mr. Drake?”

And at his words, the piano tuner smiled. “Perhaps we will.”

The Colonel sat forward. “Do you have any other questions?”

“Only one.

” “Yes, what is it?”

Edgar looked down at his hands. “I am sorry, Colonel, but what exactly is wrong with the piano?”

The Colonel stared. “I think we have discussed this.”

The tuner took a deep breath. “With all due respect, sir, we discussed what you think is wrong with a piano. But I need to know what is wrong with this piano, with the 1840 Erard that sits somewhere in a jungle far away, where you are asking me to go. Your office has told me little about the piano besides the fact that it is out of tune, which, I might add, is due to the swelling of the soundboard, not the body, as you mentioned in your letter. Of course, I am amazed that you did not anticipate this, the piano going out of tune. Humidity works horrors.”

“Again, Mr. Drake, we were doing this for Carroll. You will have to make such philosophical inquiries of the man himself.”

“Well, then may I ask what it is that I need to mend?”

The Colonel coughed. “Such details were not provided to us.”

“He must have written about the piano somewhere.”

“We have only one note, strange and uncharacteristically short for the Doctor, usually a man of eloquence, which made us somewhat incredulous of the request, until it was followed by his threat to resign.”

“May I read it?”

The Colonel hesitated, and then passed a small brown piece of paper to the piano tuner. “It is Shan paper,” the Colonel said. “Supposedly the tribe is famous for it. It is odd, as the Surgeon-Major has never used it for any other correspondence.” The paper was soft, a handmade matte with visible fibers, now stained with a dark ink.

Gentlemen,

The Erard grand can no longer be played, and must be tuned and repaired, a task which I have attempted but failed. A piano tuner who specializes in Erards is needed urgently in Mae Lwin. I trust that this should not be difficult. It is much easier to deliver a man than a piano.

Surgeon-Major Anthony X Carroll, Mae Lwin, Shan States

Edgar looked up. “These are spare words to justify sending a man to the other side of the world.”

“Mr. Drake,” said the Colonel, “your reputation as a tuner of Erard grands is well known by those in London who concern themselves with the matter of music. We anticipate the entire duration of the journey to be no longer than three months from when you leave to when you return to England. As you know, you will be rewarded well.”

“And I must go alone.”

“Your wife will be well provided for here.”

The piano tuner sat back in his chair.

“Do you have any more questions?”

“No, I think I understand,” he said softly, as if speaking only to himself.

The Colonel set the papers down and leaned forward in his seat. “Will you go to Mae Lwin?”

Edgar Drake turned back to the window. It was dusk, and wind played with the falling water, intricate crescendos and diminuendos of rain. I decided long before I came here, he thought.

He turned to the Colonel and nodded.

They shook hands. Killian insisted on taking him to Colonel Fitzgerald’s office, where he reported the news. Then more words, but the piano tuner was no longer listening. He felt as if he were in a dream, the reality of the decision still floating above him. He felt himself repeating the nod, as if doing so would make real his decision, would reconcile the insignificance of that movement with the significance of what it meant.

There were papers to sign and dates to be set and copies of documents to be ordered for his “further perusal.” Doctor Carroll, explained Killian, had requested that the War Office provide a long list of background readings for the tuner: histories, studies of anthropology, geology, natural history. “I wouldn’t worry yourself too much with all of this, but the Doctor did ask that we provide them for you,” he said. “I think that I have told you all you really need to know.”

As he left, a line from Carroll’s letter followed him, like a faint trail of cigarette smoke from a salon performance. It is much easier to deliver a man than a piano. He thought he would like this Doctor; it is not often that one found such poetic words in the letters of military men. And Edgar Drake had much respect for those who find song in responsibility.