Fortune's Son

by Jennifer Scoullar

  Luke doffed his kettle-edged homburg hat. ‘M’lady.’

  Belle offered her hand. Luke took it, kissed it. Had he noticed her wedding band was missing?

  A car came down the street and stopped. A man jumped out and began taking photographs. A reporter, or perhaps a private investigator hired by her husband?

  Luke swiftly stepped in and closed the door behind him. She’d worry about the photographer later. Right now, her mind was too full for any other thoughts.

  ‘You look lovely,’ he said. ‘All grown up.’ They shared a smile. ‘When you surprised me at Binburra, you looked like a young girl.’

  Belle was far more flattered than she should have been. ‘Let’s sit out in the sunshine,’ she said. ‘I’m not used to being inside with you.’

  She led him into the parlour, through the French doors and out to the garden. Luke looked around in wonder. He hadn’t been at Coomalong since he was a child. They sat side by side on a cast-iron bench, beneath a dappled canopy of scarlet roses. He took her hand and Belle swallowed hard, overcome by the romance of the moment. Her body felt tight and loose all at once, the strangest of sensations.

  Perhaps if she filled the space between them with words? ‘Becky said you came back to pay your respects to my parents.’

  ‘I did. Your father was a great man. Just knowing that he lived was a comfort to me in exile.’

  ‘In exile? Is that how it felt?’

  ‘That’s how it was.’

  ‘I’m glad you’re back.’ Belle leaned over to kiss his cheek.

  He stiffened into a splendid statue. In the back of her mind she heard Becky say . . . what he’s feared all along – that he’s not good enough. It seemed impossible that this magnificent man could suffer even a moment of self-doubt, but then again, Becky knew her brother.

  ‘I understand why you stayed away.’

  ‘If I’d known you were married to such a cad . . .’

  She squeezed his hand. ‘Eddie told me about the salted diamond field. I now know my husband betrayed you all those years ago. Is that why you wanted to ruin him? For revenge.’

  Luke’s eyes blazed. ‘I held no gun to his head, Belle. At every stage he could have stepped back, but weakness and greed led him on. Edward has been the master of his own destruction.’

  ‘Eddie won’t be the only one to suffer, though, will he? The Hills End mine will close, throwing hundreds out of work. His woolgrowers will lose their farms.’ She moved a fraction closer to him. ‘Eddie is so distraught, I think he’s forgotten he banned me from my children. In any case he tolerates my visits, confides in me even. The girls are too young to understand, but Robbie is fifteen now, a young man. Against my advice, Eddie told him about the bogus diamond mine. Robbie is furious at you for engineering his father’s misfortune.’

  ‘I am his father.’

  She gave him her kindest smile. ‘No, you’re not, Luke. Eddie has been the best father he knew how to be to our son. For that I cannot fault him. When his humiliation becomes public, it will devastate Robbie.’

  Luke lit a cigarette. ‘So, what, you want me to let that bastard off the hook?’

  ‘I don’t want innocent people to be hurt, especially our son.’ She took the cigarette from between his lips and took a deep drag. ‘Mama never did like me smoking.’

  Luke took the cigarette back and tossed it away. ‘Your mother never liked you doing this either.’ He drew her to him, wrapped her in his arms, pressed his lips to hers. She savoured the tremor where he touched her, the eagerness of his mouth, the wanting in his body. She wanted him too. His kiss sang through her veins.

  He pulled her down on the grass, ran his hand down her spine, traced the soft swell of her breast. And there, in the sunshine beneath the roses, they explored a love long overdue.

  CHAPTER 66

  ‘Show Mr Abbott up, please.’ Luke put down the telephone. Bright sunshine lit the hotel suite. It was a fine day for a reckoning.

  Luke nodded to Molly, Francine and Nurse Kendall, who were playing cards by the window. ‘If you three wouldn’t mind waiting next door?’

  ‘Come on, girls,’ said Molly. ‘But don’t think we won’t be listening through the wall.’

  Edward strode in without a word, clutching a copy of The Mercury. His face was puffy and florid from drinking, though it was but ten in the morning. He folded the newspaper and thrust it forward.

  The headline read The Millionaire and the Magnate’s Wife and the article itself was no less salacious.

  Wealthy South African diamond tycoon and war hero Colonel Lucas Buchanan has scandalised Hobart society by courting the wife of local mining magnate, Edward Abbott. Mrs Isabelle Abbott, mother of three, has abandoned her husband and children, moving out of Abbott House, the family home.

  A grainy photograph of Luke’s car outside Coomalong, and another of Belle opening the door, accompanied the article.

  ‘Well?’ Edward thundered. ‘Do you deny it?’

  ‘Not at all.’ Luke folded the newspaper and put it on the desk. ‘I’m in love with your wife, Ed. I’m going to marry her.’

  At first Edward seemed more astonished than angry. The whites of his eyes showed, like those of a startled horse. ‘Damn you, sir.’ He extracted some crumpled sheets of paper from his pocket and hurled them in Luke’s face. ‘My own engineer’s report on the diamond field. Apparently it’s worthless.’

  ‘Apparently so. It seems the mine’s initial promise did not pan out.’

  ‘Don’t give me that. You’re a swindler, Colonel, and I’ll sue for fraud. You salted that mine.’

  Luke settled in his chair with exaggerated slowness. ‘Why would I do that, Ed? My shares are as worthless as yours.’

  ‘I haven’t figured that out yet.’ Edward jabbed a forefinger in Luke’s direction. ‘But I know you’re responsible.’

  ‘Careful, Ed. You’re sounding a little unhinged.’

  Edward whirled on him. ‘What’s left of my assets will go to repay the bank. I’m ruined. My family’s ruined.’ Luke shrugged one shoulder. ‘I don’t understand. I thought we were friends.’

  ‘Painful, isn’t it, Ed, to be betrayed by somebody you trust? To be brought to your knees.’

  Edward gave him a searching look. ‘Why did you really come here, Colonel? To destroy me? It almost seems personal.’

  ‘Oh, it always has been, Eddie boy.’ Luke leaned back, stretching his arms. ‘It always has been.’

  Edward’s eyes narrowed, bored into Luke’s until they pierced right through him.

  Luke waited. Aah, there it was, as clear as a perfectly cut diamond. The delicious shock of recognition.

  ‘Good Lord, can it be? Luke?’

  Luke pulled a chair up to the desk. ‘Take a seat, Ed. We need to talk.’

  Edward sat down in a daze, rubbing his forehead like he was getting a headache.

  Luke opened the drawer, took out a sheaf of papers and spread them out on the desk. ‘These four documents require your signature. Number one is an agreement with your tenant farmers, setting a minimum floor price for their wool. Number two is a proposal to the miners’ union, offering wage rises of 50 per cent. Number three – you’ll submit to an independent safety audit of the Hills End mine, and act on the recommendations within two months.’

  Edward grimaced. Already he seemed smaller, his suit a size too big. ‘Back from the grave, and behind all my misfortune. I suppose there was no impoverished farmer either, no war hero cheated out of his land?’

  ‘A moral test, Ed, one you failed.’

  Edward started to laugh, an empty, hollow sound. ‘What’s number four? Sell my daughters?’

  ‘Very close. You’ll give custody and guardianship of the children to Belle, and agree not to fight the divorce petition. In return for signing these four documents . . .’ Luke pulled out a valise from under the desk and flipped it open. It was filled with wads of banknotes. ‘One hundred thousand pounds, and clearance of all your debts. In addition, de
tails of our unfortunate joint mining venture will never reach the press. Edward Abbott will emerge from this whole sordid business with his reputation intact.’

  ‘Or I could give you up to the police.’

  Luke inclined his head. ‘It is your style, of course.’ He lit a cigarette. ‘Years ago you paid a woman thirty pounds to turn me in. Knowing my dog acted only to protect Belle. Knowing I’d hang.’

  Edward’s face went white. ‘That was before Father died. I believed you faced no more than prison.’

  ‘No more than prison? You should try it, Ed.’

  Edward sank down on the chair beside Luke’s. ‘How could you know this?’ He helped himself to a cigarette. ‘I’ve never told a soul.’

  Luke gave him a light. ‘You knew Henry was dead when you released the bloodhounds.’

  ‘I had no choice.’ Edward ran a hand over his face. ‘Damn it, I saw you die. What have you done, Colonel? Made some kind of Faustian pact?’

  ‘That does not concern you.’

  Luke handed him a pen. Edward rolled its smooth barrel between his fingers, and then put it down. ‘I don’t want a divorce.’

  ‘It’s not up to you, Ed. Belle can show infidelity, and a pattern of drinking, gambling and opium abuse on your part that amounts to cruelty.’

  ‘That might be hard to prove.’

  ‘I have witnesses and the best attorneys money can buy. You, more than anybody, should know that money and power trumps everything. Belle will win, with or without your cooperation.’

  ‘I’ll get the children. The husband always does.’

  ‘Ed, Ed, Ed . . . times are changing. Women have rights. Ask Emily Durant, she’ll tell you about it.’ At the mention of Belle’s suffragette friend, Edward’s nostrils flared. ‘There’s a new legal presumption that, all things being equal, children belong with their mother.’ Luke took a long puff and exhaled in Edward’s direction. ‘But all things won’t be equal, will they? Not after my lawyers finish dragging your name through the mud.’

  Luke stubbed out his cigarette. For a long time neither spoke. The tick of the wall clock counted out the seconds.

  ‘I wanted Belle,’ said Edward at last. ‘With you out of the way . . .’ He threw his hands in the air. ‘I was fooling myself. Belle was always yours, even when she thought you dead. I sacrificed my honour, my humanity. Betrayed a sacred trust, and in return? A loveless marriage and a life of self-loathing.’ He picked up the pen. ‘You’re doing me a favour.’

  Luke pushed the documents forward and Edward began to sign.

  When he’d finished, Luke handed over the valise. ‘Have the children at Coomalong by five o’clock Sunday.’ He locked the papers away in the drawer. ‘You can see yourself out.’

  Francine and Molly were waiting in the hall outside. Edward stopped short when he saw them.

  ‘Surprised to see me?’ asked Francine with a defiant tilt of her chin.

  ‘I suppose I shouldn’t be. So the Colonel . . . he’s the gentleman?’

  ‘You ain’t fit to speak his name, you ain’t.’

  Molly stepped forward. ‘You might not remember me, sir, but I’m ashamed to say that years ago I took your blood money. You should be ashamed as well.’

  ‘My dear lady, be assured that I always have been.’

  ‘Here they come.’ Belle ran to Coomalong’s front hall.

  Luke hovered in the library entrance. His customary self-assurance had completely deserted him. Until now, he’d only seen photographs of his son.

  Belle flung open the door. ‘Clara, Anne . . . my darlings, I’m so very happy you’re here.’

  They threw their arms around each other, chattering away in great excitement. Where was Robbie?

  Nine-year-old Anne looked like a picture-book princess, with pale golden ringlets and roses in her cheeks. Twelve-year-old Clara was taller than he’d imagined, with hair the warm colour of a golden chestnut horse. She looked so much like her mother. Clara cast him a curious glance: serious green eyes beneath arched brows, eyes that seemed too large for her face. ‘Is that him, Mama?’

  Belle heaved a big breath. ‘Yes, that’s him. Come and meet the Colonel.’

  The girls came over with shy smiles and he shook their hands.

  ‘Are you going to live with us now, instead of Papa?’ asked Anne.

  Belle put a hand on her shoulder. ‘Shush, Anne.’

  ‘Why shouldn’t she ask?’ said Clara.

  Luke dropped down on one knee. ‘Anne, Clara . . . You’ll still see your father as much as you want, but I love your mother and we are going to be married. When that happens, I’d be honoured if you’d let me stay.’

  ‘Will you take me riding?’ asked Anne. ‘And will you let me climb trees? Papa never lets me climb trees.’

  Luke grinned. ‘So, the princess is a tomboy, like her mother.’

  ‘And will you take me fishing?’

  A voice came from behind him. ‘No, he won’t take you fishing, and we’re not staying here, ever.’

  Luke turned round. He’d been so intent on the girls, he hadn’t seen his son come in. Lanky and well-built, halfway between a boy and a man, with clear brown eyes and dark hair that brushed his forehead. The boy’s resemblance to Luke was obvious, except for a certain naivety in his expression.

  Robbie grabbed Clara’s arm and pulled her towards the front door.

  ‘Let her go,’ said Belle

  Clara tried to shake him off, but he was too strong. ‘Stop it, you’re hurting me.’

  Luke stepped between them and the door. ‘You heard your mother.’

  Clara squirmed free and ran to Belle.

  ‘Get out of my way,’ said Robbie. ‘I know what you did to my father. He told me, and I hate you.’

  Belle moved towards him. ‘Robbie, please.’

  Robbie retreated a few steps, his eyes accusing. ‘And you, Mama, how could you betray us like this? You’ve destroyed our family.’ He eyed the front door, but Luke still blocked his escape.

  Belle kissed the girls on their cheeks. ‘Go upstairs to your rooms. They’ve been redecorated. See if you like them.’

  Anne and Clara glanced at each other, then retreated upstairs.

  ‘Your father has agreed to this, Robbie,’ said Belle. ‘He and the Colonel have come to an arrangement.’

  ‘Papa’s been tricked. He would never send me away.’ Robbie’s eyes clouded with tears. ‘I’m going home.’

  Robbie shoved his way past Luke and flung open the front door. He kicked aside the bags on the porch and ran to the car, which was still parked in the road. Edward sat in the driver’s seat. Robbie climbed up beside him.

  Belle followed her son down the front steps.

  ‘Wait,’ said Luke. ‘Let me try.’

  Belle hesitated, and cast him a tortured look. ‘You can’t tell him,’ she said. ‘Not yet. Not like this.’

  A painful knot in his gut twisted tight. Today was a day he’d thought might never come. He’d waited sixteen years to meet his son, imagined dozens of ways it might happen. This wasn’t one of them.

  As Luke approached the car, Robbie inched away from him and turned to Edward. ‘I won’t go with that man, Papa. Please don’t make me.’

  Edward’s gaze met his, and Luke saw something he hadn’t expected to see. A tender expression of love and compassion for his son. A plea to not push him. A plea to let him go.

  ‘You’re no longer a child, Robbie.’ Luke felt hollow with the knowledge he was losing something he’d never had. ‘You can do what you want.’

  Robbie glared at him. ‘I want my father. I’ll always want my father. I’ll never trust you.’

  A wild desire gripped Luke, a longing to claim his son. To say: I am your father. Come with me. Let me know you. Fearing those words were years too late. The look on Edward’s face confirmed this wasn’t about him. This was about Robbie, and what he needed. And right now he needed the only father he’d ever known.

  Luke wrung his hands, as if to s
crub away the disappointment. ‘You can pick the girls up on Saturday.’

  Edward nodded and put an arm around his son’s shoulder. Robbie slumped against him. ‘I’ll tell him if you like, Colonel. He deserves to know who his father is. It will be better coming from me.’

  Robbie shot him a puzzled look.

  Luke nodded a silent thank you, trying to swallow the lump lodged in his throat. ‘Goodbye, Robbie.’

  The boy looked into the distance as Edward started the car and drove away.

  Belle ran down the steps and took his hand. ‘He’ll come round, in time. When he knows the truth.’

  He pulled her to him and wrapped her in an embrace, resting his head on the top of hers. Knowing the truth could make things worse.

  CHAPTER 67

  Luke spent the week getting to know the girls. He’d never seen Belle in a maternal role before and it opened his eyes. The pampered, carefree girl he’d known long ago had grown into a wise, mature woman and a loving, devoted mother. What a pleasure it would have been to have taken that journey with her. To have seen her grow into motherhood, with Robbie and the girls. Mingled with his happiness was a profound understanding of all he’d lost.

  The day after they arrived, Luke presented Anne and Clara with a present. It had taken a while to track down Bear’s puppies, but in the end he’d found a litter of direct descendants, and purchased a fine male. Bruno was meant for Robbie. The pair of females from a different lineage were for the girls.

  However, it was Belle who seemed the most delighted when he released the jet black trio of joyful pups onto the lawn. They each wore a different colour collar to tell them apart. ‘How old are they?’

  ‘Ten weeks. Bruno already weighs twenty-five pounds,’ he said. ‘You can name the girls.’

  ‘They’re beautiful.’ Belle clapped her hands like a delighted child. ‘If I half-close my eyes, I can imagine these are Sasha’s babies and we’re young again and back at Binburra.’

  Anne sat down and the shaggy puppies piled on top of her. ‘Help, help.’