Then One-Eye and Cassidy came back to the township.
They rode in at midday; the men were all working on their patches; the women were in the shacks. There was a certain midday peace over the town.
And then they came. A shout went up. The men left their work; the women came out of the shacks. They crowded round to hear the news.
One-Eye and Cassidy were triumphant. They had found their gold. They had it with them. And they had found David Skelling, too. With him was his horse—a skeleton of a horse.
“He was lying out there where we found him,” said Cassidy. “Not more than fifty miles from here. His horse was still alive … wouldn’t leave him.”
One-Eye patted the animal. “We’ll feed him. We’ll put him to rights,” he said. “It was through him we found Skelling.”
Everyone was firing questions at them and they were only too ready to tell their story. But the horse had to be fed. One-Eye and Cassidy wanted him looked after before they would sit down. They owed their find to him and they were men who paid their debts. The horse was going to be given royal treatment. He was theirs from now on.
We crowded into the saloon. One-Eye and Cassidy sat down and ate meat pies and drank ale with relish.
And then they told their story.
They had gone off in search of Skelling. “Like looking for a needle in a haystack,” said Cassidy. “We was hopping mad, wasn’t we, One-Eye? There was one thing we had in mind … what we was going to do to that cheating little thief. There wasn’t nothing too bad for him. We was going to string him up. We was going to let him die by inches. All this time it took … and him not more than fifty miles away. He was always a fool, Skelling was. I don’t know where he was trying to make for … Walloo perhaps … and get on from there. He thought the first place we’d look was Melbourne. He was right there. We did. Made inquiries. No one had seen him. So we knew he hadn’t gone there to try to place the nuggets. So we came back. We’d almost given up hope, hadn’t we, One-Eye?”
One-Eye said they had.
“Then,” went on Cassidy, “when we was almost back and reckoned we’d have to start digging again, we saw the horse. There he was standing by the body of Skelling. Know what had happened? He was just starved to death. He’d tried eating grass. There was stains on his face. The buzzards would soon have made short work of him, I reckon … when they got wind of him. But there he was. Must have been dead a few days. So we didn’t get him alive.”
One-Eye nodded.
Arthur Bowles said: “And he’s still lying there?”
“Yes,” said One-Eye.
Cassidy added: “Seeing him like that … made us sort of glad that we wasn’t the ones to have to take revenge. We was glad it had been done for us. I don’t know … funny how you change. We found our gold on him … some on his belt … some in his pockets … We’ve found every single bit … haven’t we, One-Eye?”
“Yes,” affirmed One-Eye, “every single bit.”
“It makes you think,” went on Cassidy. “A man’s dead and gone for good, ain’t he? And once he’s gone you feel different about what you’re going to do. Me and One-Eye wants to get a coffin made for him and we’re going out to get him and bring him back. We’re going to give him a burial here … and then we’re going home. And we’re never going to let that gold leave our sight again, are we, One-Eye? Not till we get to Melbourne, get it weighed up and all that has to be done.”
There was little work done that day. Everyone was talking about the way they had found poor old Skelling who was now dead.
Poor old Skelling, they said. He had never had a chance. They sent him out for seven years when he was little more than a boy and he had lived hard ever since. He hadn’t even had that little bit of luck which had come to most people at some time. Poor old Skelling.
True to their word, One-Eye and Cassidy made their coffin. They took the buggy with them and went out and brought Skelling home.
The parson was summoned from Walloo and there was a burial service; and outside the town where a few graves already existed, old Skelling was laid to rest.
The entire incident made me feel more eager than ever to go home.
It was just after the funeral when Ben asked me to ride with him because he must talk to me.
We went out to that spot near the creek, and we tethered our horses and sat down.
He said: “How long are we going on like this?”
I replied: “I suppose something will happen. It usually does.”
“It won’t unless we make it. Listen to me, Angel. Are you going to spend your life in this place?”
“God forbid.”
“Do you think Gervaise is ever going to find gold? Enough to make him give up?”
“No … not really. I don’t think anyone will. I know somebody did and started all this. It was a pity. I wish the gold had stayed where it was and nobody knew about it.”
“You can’t go on living like this, Angel.”
“I have felt that.”
“Have you told Gervaise how you feel about it?”
I nodded.
“And he said, ‘We’ll strike gold soon and then we’ll go home,’ eh? Is that what he said?”
“Yes.”
“He won’t find it.”
“Why not? One-Eye and Cassidy did.”
“And suppose he did? What would he do? Go home? It would be gone in a few weeks. Then would you be persuaded to come out and start all over again?”
“Once I was home, I would never come back.”
“I’ll take you home. I’ll give you my word. Come with me … and we’ll go home. We could leave in a few weeks. Say yes, Angel. You don’t know how important it is for you to say yes … now.”
I closed my eyes. It was like having the kingdoms of the world spread before my eyes and being told: This will be yours. Ben … and Home. I would be freed from the perpetual worry of how many debts would be mounting. I should be home … I should see my family. Yet I must say: “Get thee behind me, Satan.”
“Angel …” His arms were about me.
“No, Ben, no. I can’t.”
“You want to.”
I did not answer.
He kissed me and said: “We can’t go on like this … either of us. I know your feelings. You know mine. Look, Angel, I came here to find gold. I vowed I wouldn’t go back until I did. I’d give that up for you. Doesn’t that tell you …?”
“Why did this have to happen now? Why did you come here in the first place? Why didn’t you come back to Cador?”
“It’s no use saying that. It’s too late. You know very well you can’t go back and change things.”
“Oh, Ben … if only I could.”
“We could start from now on. We can make our own way. All we need is the courage to leave this place … to go home and start afresh.”
“What of our families?”
“They would be shocked. We’d live that down. You are too important to your family for them to want to lose you. There would be a fuss at first. But people get used to these things. They always do.”
“I can’t do it, Ben.”
“You could.”
“I can’t. I’m going to have a child.”
“A child! Gervaise’s child!”
“Whose else? He is my husband. It makes a difference, doesn’t it?”
“It’s a complication certainly, but we’d get over that.”
“I couldn’t, Ben.”
“But for this child you would have said yes?”
“I don’t know. I couldn’t leave Gervaise.”
“Why not? He is perpetually in debt. He’s playing now … if not in the saloon in one of the shacks. Justin Cartwright is such another, but he seems to know what he is about. Gervaise is a loser. I happen to know he is in debt at the saloon.”
“Oh no!”
“Yes. It will go on like that all your life. Are you going to endure that? Come away with me. We’ll go home. There’ll be a scandal.
My grandfather won’t like it, but he has come through worse, I believe. One thing about him, he is no saint, but like most sinners he is not hard on his own kind. It would be all right in time. It would be as it was meant to be from the moment we met. Oh, Angel, don’t turn away from our second chance.”
“There is the child,” I said.
“We’ll look after the child together.”
“But Gervaise will be its father. How could I explain that?”
“You wouldn’t have to. There is no reason why it should know.”
“Secrets. Deception. Oh, I know it would be wrong. Ben, I couldn’t do it. Gervaise would be so hurt. He thinks everything is right between us.”
“He is happy as long as he has the cards in his hands. He’s a gambler, Angel.”
“If he could only find the gold … if we could go home … it would make a difference. I believe I could …”
“You can’t change people, Angel. I can’t change you and you can’t change me. This is important. This is important … today … now … Angel, I have to know. We belong together. I have to make plans. This is very serious. I must have your answer … now.”
“My answer can only be no.”
“Because you don’t love me? Because you haven’t faith enough in me?”
“You know it is not that. It is just that I cannot do this. I cannot leave Gervaise. Particularly now there is to be a baby.”
“You must go home for the child’s sake. Remember Morwenna.”
“It wouldn’t happen to me. I’m stronger than Morwenna.”
“I must have your answer, Angel. You understand why I must have it now.”
“Ben, I can’t. I can’t.”
He had turned away. He was staring at the creek.
“There is little time,” he said. “I must have your answer, Angel. I must, I must.”
“It has to be no. I have married Gervaise. I have made my vows. They are sacred to me. And there is the child. Don’t you see? I could never be happy … either way I cannot be happy. I’ll be frank. I do love you, Ben. It should have been us. But it didn’t work out that way. We were unlucky. Things … got in the way. And here we are. I suppose it has happened to many people before us.”
“We are not concerned with what happens to others. I am offering you happiness. For the last time, Angel … will you take it?”
“I must go home. There is a meal to cook. I have to think of things like that.”
“You should never have been brought to this.”
“I am here and things are as they are.”
“So you have decided.”
“I have to, Ben. I have to.”
His mouth set firmly. I thought he was angry; but he was very gentle as he helped me into the saddle.
I had the news from Mrs. Bowles.
I had gone into the shop to buy a few stores. She greeted me warmly.
“And how is that little darling?” she asked.
She was referring to Pedrek in whom she had established proprietorial rights.
I said he was well.
“Should be, living up there off the fat of the land. It will be nice for Mr. Lansdon to have a mistress in the house. It’s not good for men to live alone. Mind you, I’m saying nothing against that Meg and Minnie. He couldn’t have better to look after him than them. But a wife’s a wife and there’s no gainsaying that.”
“I think he is very well cared for,” I said.
“Meg will still be there with the others. She’ll want all their help in running the house, that’s for certain.”
“Meg?” I said. “Why …? What …?”
Mrs. Bowles burst out laughing. “I was thinking about that Miss Morley.”
“What about her?”
“It’s clear you haven’t heard about the engagement. They say the wedding will be in a few weeks. That’s how things go out here … and Mr. Morley being not in the best of health like … I reckon he’ll be glad to pass his daughter into good hands.”
“I’m afraid I’m rather mystified, Mrs. Bowles.”
“You’re not up to date with the news. You could have knocked me down with a feather. I’ve often said it was a pity he didn’t have a wife up there … but I wouldn’t have thought of Miss Lizzie.”
I began to feel a coldness take possession of me. I could not believe what I was beginning to realize. I must be mistaken.
I said slowly: “Do you mean that Mr. Lansdon is going to marry Miss Lizzie Morley?”
“That’s about it. Well, she’s a dear, sweet thing … no harm in her. It’s just that she’s a little simple. Something went wrong soon after her birth. It was before my day,” she added regretfully, as though if she had been there, Lizzie would have been as bright as the rest of us.
“Are you sure?” I heard myself stammering. “It’s rather … unexpected.”
“I’m sure enough. Congratulated him myself, I did. He smiled and thanked me.”
Everyone in the town was talking about the engagement.
Gervaise said: “It will please old Morley. He’s devoted to that girl; and it must have been a worry to him as to what would become of her when he was gone. It’s just that she’s hardly the sort for Ben. Attraction of opposites, I suppose.”
I could not face Ben. I avoided him as far as possible. Nor did he seek me out. But I had to go to Golden Hall to see Morwenna, for I could not abruptly stop doing that. Every time I went I was afraid I should see him. I had no idea what I should say to him.
I felt his avowal of love for me had been meaningless. I had been duped into thinking it was something else. What had been his motive? The quick seduction of another man’s wife?
I realized I had led a sheltered life. I did not understand people. I made quick judgments. I had with Gervaise and consequently I had suffered because of this.
Morwenna was eager to talk of the news.
She said: “I hope he will be happy. I think he will. Lizzie is such a dear girl. She is happy … blissfully. She always adored him. I think perhaps she is the right sort for him. He is a man who will want his own way and Lizzie would never dream of questioning anything he did. She truly loves him. I have rarely seen anyone so happy. And Mr. Morley, too, he is delighted. I think he has worried a lot about leaving her. I happen to know that he is not in the best of health. He had a slight stroke some little time ago and just before we arrived, Dr. Field told him he would have to go very carefully. He came here, you know, with Lizzie and we had a long discussion. It may be that he was so overjoyed by the engagement that he was off his guard. He said, ‘I’m so glad to see my Liz settled. Ben will know how to look after her. It’s a great relief because, you know, I could pop off at any minute.’ So you see.”
“Yes, I see.”
“The wedding is going to be very soon. There is no point in waiting.”
“No point at all.”
“I expect Mr. Morley will see to that. You can understand a man in his state of health and caring as he does for his daughter … he wants to make sure everything is all right for her before he goes.”
“Yes,” I said. “He is a very good father.”
“When you are a parent you understand these things,” said Morwenna with a certain pride.
All I could think of was: How could he? He must have been contemplating this when he was attempting to become my lover.
I would never trust anyone again.
I don’t know how I lived through the next few weeks. Everything seemed unreal. Each day I awoke in the dreary little shack, Gervaise beside me. He never lost his cheerfulness. I suppose the gambler is a natural optimist and it is an indication of his nature that he can go on saying: “Perhaps this will be the day. Perhaps tonight I shall be a rich man.” And perhaps I should have applauded it. Instead it made me impatient.
On rare occasions he won at cards. Then he would say his luck had turned and it was the beginning of change. He was going to be lucky at the mine as well as at the card table.
I kn
ew that Justin was gambling with him and I wanted to talk of this to Morwenna, but I could never bring myself to do so. In my heart I believed that Justin was every bit the gambler that Gervaise was; but it seemed to affect him differently. He never seemed to be in those financial difficulties which were always hanging over Gervaise.
No one would have suspected this. It was only those to whom Gervaise owed money who were aware of it. He treated all with that nonchalance which I had once called charm.
Perhaps I was finding fault with Gervaise because I was in love with Ben and I was telling myself that all men were deceivers. I had been deceived by Gervaise and, being the fool I was, I had allowed myself to be deceived by Ben.
Now that I had lost him, I realized how much he had meant to me … how I had somehow managed to keep my spirits up by looking to Ben as a means of escape … escape to happiness. Had he really meant he would give all this up if I would go back to England with him? How could he? When he immediately turned to someone else?
But Lizzie Morley! Oh, she was pretty enough … but how could a lively-minded man like Ben marry a girl like Lizzie?
I was in due course to learn the reason.
In the meantime there were those terrible weeks to live through, while the inhabitants of the township talked of little else but the coming wedding.
It was to be held at the Morley house and everyone was invited.
The parson from Walloo would come and perform the official ceremony. It was to take place in the garden before the house. They said that Mr. Morley had sent to Melbourne for the finest caterers and arrangers of weddings to see to everything.
There had never been such an occasion in the memory of the township.
Mrs. Bowles had her comment: “A funeral and then a wedding. I don’t know. That seems a bit funny to me. One coming so close on the heels of another. I wonder what’ll be next. Funeral most like. Can’t expect another wedding, can we? Whose would that be? Well, you never know. I mean to say, who would have thought of this?”
“Ben’s property will be joined up with Morley’s now,” said Gervaise. “Well, they are adjoining.”
Justin’s remark was: “Ben will be pleased to get a stake in Morley’s land at last. He’s been trying to buy it for some time.”
Pool of St. Branok Page 30
