Land of Golden Wattle

by J. H. Fletcher

  She had thought Arthur and his funereal face, his funereal house, trial enough after the carefree life she had led in Chatham; now, compared with the horrors of living under the same roof as the gorgon they had just left, the vicarage seemed as desirable a residence as she could have wished. However, Arthur made it clear that her wishes were irrelevant.

  There would be a four-day interlude as her ladyship had guests and did not wish to endure the inconvenience of an ungrateful and seemingly rebellious girl for that period, but after that to Raedwald Hall she would go.

  The day before she was scheduled to leave the vicarage, Emma had a visitor. She had been in the upstairs sitting room when Maudie, the maid, told her a gentleman was waiting and had asked to speak to her.

  ‘I don’t know any gentlemen in these parts. Did he give a name?’

  ‘He’s Captain Dark, miss. Captain Ephraim Dark.’

  ‘I have never heard of Captain Ephraim Dark.’

  Maudie had a coy look.

  Emma looked at her. ‘I gather you know who he is.’

  ‘Yes, miss.’

  ‘Then pray enlighten me.’

  ‘He’s her ladyship’s nephew, miss.’

  The way Maudie coloured up made it clear there was more to the gallant captain than that.

  ‘And?’

  ‘He used to be here often, miss. Afore he went to Van Diemen’s Land with his regiment.’

  And still there was more.

  ‘How well did you know him, Maudie?’

  ‘Us maids was all gone on Ensign Dark, miss. ’im was a reckless devil: used to ride like the wind. We would all turn out to watch ’im, when we could. Oh yes,’ she said, sighing, ‘us was all gone on Ensign Dark.’

  ‘Why does he want to see me?’

  ‘He says he’s an acquaintance of your uncle. Your uncle what lives in Van Diemen’s Land, miss.’

  Emma had always known Father had a brother. His name was Barnsley, Barnsley Tregellas. He lived on the other side of the world and she had never set eyes on him. All she knew about him was that there had been ill feeling between the brothers; she remembered Father getting a letter from him once and being in a black rage about it for days afterwards.

  ‘Once Barnsley gets his hooks in you he never lets go,’ Father had said. He’d given her a ferocious look. ‘Be warned. He’ll suck the blood out of your veins, given half a chance. Well, he’s not going to suck mine.’

  What he had meant by that Emma had no idea. She’d heard of bats that sucked your blood but not men. All she knew about her uncle was that he lived on an island far away where convicts were sent to get rid of them. Imogen Barnes, a girl she’d known in Chatham, had told her that in Van Diemen’s Land the stars were all over the place and people walked upside down.

  Emma had questioned that rumour. ‘How can people walk upside down? Why should they want to, anyway?’

  ‘It’s the punishment they get for the bad things they’ve done.’

  Emma didn’t believe a word of it but since she had no plans to go there it hardly mattered. She found it difficult to imagine what her uncle could be doing in such a place. Sucking convicts’ blood? That seemed even less likely than people walking upside down.

  Imogen had also introduced her to the mirror of love.

  Emma had been fifteen when Imogen had guided her to a pool like a shining mirror set about by stunted trees. The waters of the pool were black and still.

  ‘Come here at night and alone,’ Imogen said. ‘Look into the pool and people say you’ll see the face of your true love.’

  Emma was determined to try it out for herself so the next night her father was busy with one of his ladies she sneaked out. She was conscious of an aura of magic. A fox barked. She came to the pool shining beneath a sky bright with stars. She looked at her reflection and waited. She saw what might be a shadow in the water. A face? A man’s face? No way to know. Were those eyes watching from the pool’s depths? And was there a black figure with a spear behind the first man? Impossible to be sure. She waited but saw no more.

  Eventually, chilled by the night air, she returned home. Had she seen anything? She didn’t know. Yet the feeling of magic lingered.

  When I see him I will know, she thought.

  Now, out of the blue, someone called Captain Dark from Van Diemen’s Land was asking to see her. Perhaps he would be able to tell her whether the stories of people walking upside down were true or not.

  Luckily, Cousin Arthur was from home; Lady Raedwald had summoned him to the hall an hour earlier.

  No doubt Arthur would disapprove of her behaviour – receiving a strange man unchaperoned? – but Emma cared nothing for Arthur’s opinion.

  ‘Ask Captain Dark to come up,’ she told Maudie.

  It would be the first time Emma had acted as hostess since her arrival in Norfolk but in Chatham she had done so regularly in the intervals between her father’s mistresses, so she remembered to tell Maudie to bring tea. While she waited she had a few moments to practise her hostess smile before Captain Dark stepped into the room and her heart stopped. Only for an instant but between one instant and the next a life could change.

  Emma’s cheeks creaked as she gave her visitor the full benefit of her smile while her heart, restored to life, smashed so loudly against her ribs she found it hard to believe he did not hear it.

  The captain was tall and sturdily built, with the darkest of dark hair and brilliant blue eyes: Emma was not at all surprised that Maudie and the other maids had been gone on him.

  He bowed over her hand and talked in a friendly way but he had a nasty limp that made Emma wince to watch him.

  And still her heart pounded while she sat with what she feared was a foolish smile clamped to her face.

  Over tea he explained that the limp was the reason for his being in England.

  ‘Had a problem with the natives. They were making a nuisance of themselves so the governor ordered us in to sort them out. Unfortunately some of them didn’t want to be sorted. There was a skirmish and I ended up with a spear through my foot.’

  A black man with a spear?

  The captain laughed, although what was amusing about a spear through the foot Emma could not see.

  ‘I suppose I must count myself lucky it wasn’t my neck,’ he said. ‘Didn’t look like much to begin with but the confounded thing festered. Local treatment wasn’t doing much good so the colonel decided I should come to London to get it sorted out.’

  Emma didn’t know what to say to a man who on first acquaintance talked about a festering foot. Despite his fine manners it did not seem a genteel thing to do yet she found she did not care what he had to say or how he said it.

  She grappled with the challenge of speech. ‘I understand you know my uncle, Captain?’

  ‘Indeed. He asked me to deliver a letter to your father. He said it was important so as soon as we docked I went to Chatham, only to find that Major Tregellas, alas, was with us no more. Then I discovered you had come to Norfolk and were living not far from my aunt’s place. Couldn’t have been more convenient. As I’m staying with her I thought I’d take the liberty of calling on you. I hope that is in order?’

  ‘Perfectly in order,’ Emma said.

  ‘Aunt suggested it would be the proper form to hand the letter to your guardian but I thought I’d do it this way.’

  ‘Lady Raedwald knows about the letter?’

  ‘I mentioned it to her, but not what it says. Could hardly tell her that, could I, since I don’t know myself?’ He laughed, then winced as he eased his troublesome foot. ‘I was tempted, mind.’

  Emma’s coolness of speech concealed the tumult of her heart. ‘Give it to me and you won’t be tempted any more, will you?’

  The seal on the envelope was intact. She put the letter to one side and gave her visitor another of her special hostess smiles.

  ‘More tea, Captain?’

  ‘Mr Tregellas said the letter was important,’ he said. ‘Aren’t you going to open
it?’

  Emma’s smile remained undented. ‘All in good time, Captain Dark. May I offer you more tea?’

  ‘No, thank you. I must go. Since we shall be neighbours for a time maybe we shall see more of each other,’ he said.

  She gave him a modified smile, the one that said maybe yes, maybe no. When he was gone she sat for a while, stunned and unable to move. The dark water of the pool gleamed. The shadow floated amid a reflection of stars. Imogen’s voice: You’ ll see the face of your true love.

  Eventually she recovered enough to open the letter. After the trouble Captain Dark had taken to get it to her its bleak contents came as a disappointment.

  Sir

  I note that despite numerous undertakings to the contrary you have so far failed to repay the sum of one thousand guineas I loaned you eighteen months ago.

  You will recall that this loan was for a period of six months only and is therefore considerably overdue.

  I am reluctant to approach the colonel of your regiment in this regard but in the absence of appropriate action on your part I shall have no alternative. I shall therefore be grateful if you will place this matter in hand without further delay.

  I shall also be grateful if you will convey my compliments to my niece.

  I have the honour to be, sir, your servant

  BARNSLEY TREGELLAS

  Emma eased her breath as she put the letter down. She remembered a time about two years before when her father had been suddenly in funds. She had thought he must have made a killing at the tables but now it looked as though it had been a loan from his brother. That would explain Father’s unkind remarks about Barnsley putting his claws into him; no doubt her uncle had simply wanted his money back.

  Oh Father, Emma thought. She had loved him dearly and still did but had there ever been a more irresponsible man? Wine, women and cards had been his life, and singularly unsuccessful he had been at all of them. Drinking more than was good for him, taking up with brazen women who fleeced him and left him, he’d rarely picked up a pack of cards without losing every penny he had on him. Charm he had possessed in buckets but even charm could not keep a man afloat forever and at the time of his death Father’s debts had been close to drowning him.

  Of course she’d been foolish to think his windfall could have come from cards yet that had been the one time when her father had acted sensibly, handing her a hundred guineas to hold on his behalf for the time, as he put it, when Lady Luck ceased to smile.

  She still had it.

  No one else knew about it but there it was, in a sealed packet at the bottom of her case. How it had happened was that her father had, yet again, been drunk when he gave it to her. Later he had forgotten all about it and Emma had not enlightened him, holding it as a precaution against the day when Father’s dissolute ways might land them in serious trouble.

  Now Father was dead and Emma thought she had every right to treat the hundred guineas as her own. Her uncle might have had another view but what he didn’t know couldn’t hurt him and the money might well come in handy one day, containing the promise of a freedom that otherwise would remain forever beyond her reach.

  Arthur Naismith had neither the agility nor physique to be a dancer but when he came home from Raedwald Hall he was closer to dancing than Emma had ever seen him.

  Emma eyed him suspiciously. ‘You look as though you’ve had good news, Cousin. Has the bishop decided to make you archdeacon after all?’

  That was cruel because a week before Arthur had heard that the position he had craved so long had been awarded to a rival. Ever since he’d been in a foul mood, lashing both Maudie and her with a spiteful tongue until the moment he’d been summoned to Lady Raedwald’s presence. The change in him now was extraordinary. Had his rival been struck by lightning? It seemed unlikely, yet there had to be a reason and Emma could not imagine what else it might be.

  ‘Good news for me, yes, I think so,’ he said. ‘But even more so for you.’

  The way Arthur spoke he obviously expected her to join him in his joy. Instead she continued to eye him with a caution that was beginning to edge into uneasiness.

  Arthur said: ‘I can say with confidence that you will find it hard to credit your good fortune when you hear my news. Pray sit down, Cousin.’

  Emma wasn’t sure she wanted to sit down but could think of no polite way to say so. She sat.

  ‘This morning, as you are aware, I had the honour of attending the Dowager Countess.’

  His expression invited her to share his delight at Lady Raedwald’s magnanimity. Emma thought her ladyship’s summons had been yet more evidence of her domineering nature but knew Arthur would not welcome such an opinion so gave a noncommittal smile and said nothing.

  ‘Lady Raedwald explained that the reason Rupert Arkbit, that fraud, was preferred for the post of archdeacon was not in any way a reflection on my skills or character, for which her ladyship expressed her highest regard. No, indeed! It was a lack, to which – as she most justly pointed out – she had alluded before. It is something very simple and I flatter myself quickly remedied. She believes that a clergyman, especially one whose especial abilities qualify him for preferment, should be a married man.’ Arthur gave her his most complacent smile. ‘Lady Raedwald has assured me I am such a man and therefore – to put it plainly – am in need of a wife to provide the amiability and support that a man, seeking advancement in his chosen career, has the right to expect.’

  Emma felt increasing alarm at the trend of Arthur’s thoughts. She tried to speak but he raised an imperious hand and continued in the same self-congratulatory tone as before.

  ‘I took the first opportunity to assure her ladyship that I would follow her advice. In fact, dear Cousin, I went further and confessed that in my mind and heart – my heart, dear Emma! – I had already settled on making you my wife. I shall not conceal from you that her ladyship’s initial response was less than enthusiastic.

  ‘“A clergyman cannot afford a wife who is too outspoken,” she said, and I agreed. However, I am happy to tell you I persuaded Lady Raedwald that you had seen the error of your ways and would make an ideal helpmate for a man of the cloth. I informed her ladyship that your lack of funds could only assist you in coming to accept and indeed welcome your place in society.’

  Emma did not know how she was supposed to respond to this. Never in a million years would she have chosen to marry Arthur Naismith, even before meeting Captain Dark. Mouse-like subservience to a creature like this? It was unthinkable! Nevertheless she saw it would be foolish to tell him so before giving herself the chance to consider what her alternatives might be.

  Her situation was not good. She was seventeen years old and in terms of her father’s will legally under Arthur’s control. She was not quite as destitute as he imagined but the money would be nowhere near enough to provide her with a long-term future. Her education, to put it simply, had not been of the best; her experience outside the shuttered world of the military was nil. She was unqualified for any respectable position a lady of her years might consider. She didn’t have one friend to whom she might turn for help.

  On the face of it her case was hopeless. Yet one good thing had come from having such a reckless father: she had grown up more self-reliant than any other woman she had met. She would do everything possible to avoid giving in to Arthur and the abominable Lady Raedwald. She wanted more than anything to take life by the throat, although how that might be possible she had no idea. The first step was to buy time while she planned her next move. For a moment she was at a loss; then an idea came to her.

  She rounded her eyes as she looked at him. ‘Mr Naismith –’

  ‘Do not distress yourself,’ he said kindly. ‘I understand how overwhelmed you must be to contemplate a future so far above anything you might have dreamt possible…’

  Emma sighed. ‘Indeed it would be very different from anything I might have dared to contemplate.’ She flew him the coyest of smiles. ‘But Cousin, you have not as y
et asked me.’

  Arthur’s expression changed.

  ‘I hope I have not offended you,’ Emma said in a little voice.

  ‘As to that,’ the vicar said, ‘I had assumed that since her ladyship had given the matter her blessing a formal declaration would hardly be necessary. But I had forgotten what store ladies set by such ceremonies. Therefore –’

  Hurriedly Emma cut him off. ‘Wait, Cousin, wait…’

  How offended he was now! ‘Wait?’

  ‘Indeed, Cousin, I am overwhelmed by the unexpected honour you do me. I am deeply moved. But pray consider, sir, I am still in mourning for my late father. I cannot possibly contemplate taking such a step until that period has expired.’

  ‘Oh.’ Arthur looked displeased but had the sense to see he could not easily override her wishes. ‘I am prepared – reluctantly, my dear Emma! – to make allowances, but her ladyship will no doubt wish to know how long you intend to keep me waiting.’

  ‘The shortest possible time, I assure you, Cousin. Shall we say… three months?’

  Arthur was horrified. ‘Her ladyship will not countenance so long a delay.’

  ‘Our domestic arrangements are none of her business. Whether we wish to get married or not is our own affair. Either way it has nothing to do with her.’

  Arthur’s face darkened in what in a less flabby man would have been outrage. ‘You will not speak of her ladyship in such a manner.’

  Emma had heard more than enough. ‘Tell her to keep her nose out of our affairs and I won’t. Or would you sooner I spoke to her?’

  Now Arthur’s fury was overwhelmed by horror. ‘I forbid it. As your fiancé I must insist –’

  ‘You are not my fiancé,’ Emma said. ‘You have not asked me to marry you nor have I consented. Ask me in three months, if you wish, and I shall give you my answer. In the meantime you will recall her ladyship has decreed that in the interests of propriety I shall move to Raedwald Hall tomorrow. For once we agree: I had better get my things together.’

  Arthur was easily tamed. ‘You will take care how you speak to her?’