Ghost Gum Valley (6 page)

Today he felt a sense of grim satisfaction. Against all odds his father had failed to break him. Today the tables would be turned. He promised himself that no matter how much his father raged, he would control his temper and refuse to be sidetracked.

At first glance Garnet appeared to be undiminished by time. The aura of power and his sheer vitality were written in every line of his face and body. The arched bridge of his eyebrows was still black in contrast to the premature white of his hair.

Marmaduke was reminded that although they were violently opposed in temperament, they were separated by only twenty years.

The old bastard's forty-five but he's aged visibly since we last crossed swords.

Garnet's voice had lost none of its vitriol. ‘Damned well took your
time in coming. No doubt Edwin Bentleigh informed you that you remain my sole heir?'

Marmaduke toyed with his Indian ruby ring, a ploy to mask his odd sense of relief.

So the mistress has not succeeded in breeding. Garnet's not fool enough to wed her until she's great with child.

‘Marry again by all means, Garnet, breed a parcel of sons. I have no desire to inherit a penny from
your
estate. I've only returned to claim what belongs to me. Edwin tells me the Will is legally invalid but I promised Mother on her deathbed I'd never sell Mingaletta or let the banks claim it. Perhaps you don't remember, being in your cups at the time.'

‘Drunk? I was half mad with grief!' The bait taken, Garnet hurtled out of his chair and paced the room. ‘My hair turned white overnight!'

Marmaduke was on guard, holding the whip hand against an old but still dangerous lion. ‘You wanted to see me – here I am. Now it's time to produce the deeds. We'll sign them before a witness and the past will be dead and buried.'

‘It isn't about the past, damn you. It's the future. Why do you think I sacrificed twenty-five years of my life to build an empire? Clawed my way up tooth and nail to become the Colony's most successful entrepreneur, second to none but Sam Terry.'

Marmaduke had heard this litany for years. ‘Yeah, yeah, Garnet. Pipped at the post by your fellow Emancipist for the title of wealthiest man in the Colony.'

‘Old Macarthur and Wentworth may own more land and Sam Terry holds more mortgages than the Bank of New South Wales. But me, I hold more power in this colony than all your high and mighty Macarthurs and their ilk. Do you think I achieved all that just to take my fortune to the grave? No! To prove to your mother that, although she'd married beneath her, I was the man who succeeded in giving her beloved son
everything.
A fine education, a life of luxury and your rightful place in society as an English gentleman.'

Marmaduke made a self-deprecating gesture. ‘Instead all you got was
me.'

Garnet's glance took in everything from Marmaduke's long,
tangled hair to his mud-splattered riding boots then lingered on the flamboyant ruby ring set in Florentine gold. His summary was surprisingly calm. ‘Is it too much to ask you to conduct yourself as befits an English gentleman?'

Marmaduke gave a mock show of surprise. ‘Why should you be disappointed, Garnet? I've done my best to live up to your expectations of how the sons of the Quality live. I've done the Grand Tour of Europe, been a house guest at hunting parties at some of England's great rural estates, explored India by elephant and bagged the odd tiger or two, lost and won a fortune over the gaming tables and I've drunk the Seine dry. In short, I have become the very portrait of an idle wastrel.'

‘Do you think I didn't know every move you made? You were hell bent on proving the first generation creates the fortune for the second generation to squander.'

Marmaduke flipped open his snuffbox but returned it to his pocket, determined to remain cool in the face of his father's contempt.

‘Your wish, not mine. The very day I completed my studies I asked your permission to be trained in the management of one of your estates. Or learn the ropes in some aspect of your business affairs. I had no wish to sponge off your fortune. I always wanted to be financially independent. You know I did!'

Garnet, on the defensive, shouted back. ‘You were a naïve boy, planning to marry a silly girl who was far beneath you. I saved you from a life of certain disaster!'

Marmaduke refused to take the bait. ‘You held Mingaletta over my head. Wanted me to abstain from work on the grounds that being labelled with the stigma of “trade” would close society's doors to me.'

Garnet thumped the desk. ‘I don't make the rules. I just
bend
them!'

‘Indeed, you're past master of that game, Garnet. But I'm one of the new breed of Currency Lads. Born free but forced to carry the taint of being a convict's son—'

‘I am an
Emancipist
, damn you! Everyone in the Colony knows Governor Macquarie granted me that pardon,' he said, waving angrily at the framed document.

‘Only a
conditional
pardon,' Marmaduke corrected. ‘Forbidden to return to England. Banished for life. No amount of power, fortune, your status as a Mason or public generosity to charities, nothing can ever buy you – or me – acceptance by the Quality.'

‘Money can buy anything in this colony.'

Marmaduke was determined he would steer the conversation back to Mingaletta. ‘Don't you remember what happened when I was sixteen and you tried to launch me into Society? You sent me to a dancing class for children of the Quality. Georgina, the daughter of one of the Top Thirteen families, invited me to be her partner at her mother's fancy dress ball. We planned to wear Indian costumes, Georgina as an Indian dancer, me as a Maharajah. Queenie supervised my costume. I arrived splendidly dressed in brocade with a jewelled turban, invitation in hand. To be met by my hostess, Georgina's mother. She told me I didn't
know my place
. No Emancipist's son would be invited as a guest. But my costume was useful. She put me behind the bar to serve her guests.'

Garnet's face was taut, a noticeable pulse on his temple. ‘I had not forgotten.'

‘Nothing's changed. No Emancipist's son is allowed to marry into their hallowed ranks! I defy you, Garnet.
Name just one.'

Garnet banged his fist for emphasis, sending a whisky glass flying. ‘You will be the first – or one of us will die in the attempt!'

Marmaduke responded calmly. ‘When are you going to accept the truth, Garnet? I don't give a damn what your precious Quality thinks of me. But they've got
you
by the balls because you're the one who
cares
!'

Garnet's response was to ring the servant's bell. The two men glowered at each other in silence until Black Mary, a timid little Aboriginal girl, scampered across the Persian carpet and removed the shards of broken glass.

‘Let's get back to the question of Mingaletta, Garnet.'

The glint in his father's pale blue eyes showed him that Garnet was not to be deterred.

‘I have it on authority you've shown no inclination to court respectable young ladies.'

Marmaduke shrugged. ‘Unlike you, I conduct my liaisons with discretion.'

‘It seems you are more attracted to unsavoury company. Prize-fighters, actors, jockeys and drinking companions who've never married and are devoted to their mothers. Like that radical firebrand who's always in court involved in one libel suit after another.'

Marmaduke forced himself to keep his tone light. ‘Rupert Grantham? Clever fellow. A most entertaining host. It takes all kinds to make the world go around, Garnet.'

‘So it's true?' Garnet asked sharply. ‘You intend to be a
perennial bachelor
like our lawyer Edwin Bentleigh?' The innuendo was obvious.

‘Leave Edwin out of this! He's a true friend and the most ethical lawyer in Sydney. He's devoted to his invalid mother. And so involved in trying to save his impoverished clients from the gallows he hasn't got time to court any girl!'

Garnet shrugged. ‘If I doubted his quality as a lawyer I'd have fired him years back.'

Marmaduke needed to even the score. ‘You pay your informants. But you forget that Sydney Town is a rumour mill. Most are patently false. Remember? Rumour even had it that Mother married you for
love
.'

The barb thrust as deep as he intended. Garnet jumped to his feet bellowing.

‘I forbid you to take your mother's name in vain! We shared a depth of love and loyalty totally beyond your comprehension. You're incapable of love!'

Marmaduke almost smiled. For the moment he knew he had gained the upper hand.

‘We agree on that one point, Garnet. I shall
never marry.
Now hand over the deeds to Mingaletta and let's end this farce once and for all.'

Garnet's anger evaporated like smoke. ‘I fully intended to do so when you proved yourself mature, a gentleman of substance. But I can't wait any longer for that miracle. I have decided it is time to marry.'

Marmaduke was thrown off kilter. ‘So, you intend to marry Elise and instal her here officially as my stepmother?'

Garnet made him wait for his answer. ‘I'm not such an old fool I'd confer respectability on a mistress whose favours are so easily bought.'

Marmaduke's curiosity forced his question. ‘Then who's the lucky bride?'

‘A young woman of impeccable virtue and bloodline, the daughter of an aristocratic family.' He removed a miniature portrait from a desk drawer and offered it with a flourish.

‘It's taken two years of protracted legal negotiations with this young lady's guardian. I took the precaution of having this commissioned. I'm assured it is a true likeness. This girl is the key to our total acceptance in the Colony. A de Rolland will be welcome to dine at His Excellency Governor Sir Richard Bourke's table.'

Marmaduke pretended to study her image with mild interest. It was painted in chocolate box mode with bland, insipid features. But he was well aware that his father's second marriage to a
young
woman was likely to provide another heir. Would this marriage wreck his chances of claiming Mingaletta?

Garnet was eyeing him keenly. ‘What do you think of her?'

‘Hard to tell. She looks like a mere child. The face is bovine. The flesh suggests she's on the bony side. A flat bosom. Consumptive perhaps? I take it she comes from good breeding stock? Unlikely to die on the voyage out before you get your money's worth?'

‘My London lawyers have investigated every detail. The girl is young, healthy, above average in education. Her virtue is beyond question. Kept under lock and key since puberty.'

‘Then she must be weak in the head. Why else would this noble family send their paragon of virtue thirteen thousand miles to wed a
nouveau riche
colonial?

‘Her guardian was on the brink of debtor's prison. My offer was the family's salvation. The girl's in no position to be anything but tractable. She'll give us no trouble.'

‘Give
us
no trouble? Why should I worry? She'll play no part in
my
life once you marry her. Just sign over the deeds to Mingaletta and you'll be quit of me. I'm happy to sign anything as proof I'll make no claim on your estate against any of my future half siblings.'

Garnet's smile was so confident that Marmaduke felt distinctly uneasy.

‘On the contrary, Marmaduke. I have not negotiated for this noble young lady to be my bride – she is
yours
!'

‘You jest, sir!' Marmaduke leapt to his feet and thrust the portrait across the desk.

‘Dead serious. Follow my plan to the letter. Marry the bride I've chosen. Then you take full possession of Mingaletta. It's a fair trade. Your de Rolland bride will bring you stability. Blot out your tarnished status in the eyes of Colonial Society. The killing of a man in a duel does not endear men to Governor Bourke – he's frightfully moral.'

Marmaduke now knew the truth. He had kept his temper but lost Mingaletta.

‘I'll be damned if I'll be a pawn in your game. I'm going straight to Edwin. We'll take immediate steps to break off this absurd liaison before the poor benighted girl sets sail.'

Garnet looked confident. ‘Too late. The contracts are all signed, the money's transferred. In a couple of months her ship will arrive in Port Jackson. You will be there to welcome her. Unless you wish to dishonour the deathbed promise you made to your mother?'

Marmaduke was so appalled he almost laughed. ‘My God. This is infamous even for you. It's like a deal between Faust and the Devil.

‘Use your head, boy. This way we both get what we want. I have reserved a suite of rooms for her at my new hotel, the Princess Alexandrina.'

Marmaduke was jolted. ‘So that's
yours
? I should have guessed, it's so ostentatious.'

Garnet ignored the insult. ‘No doubt the bride will arrive with a mountain of trunks. In addition to the contract, I sent a handsome gift of money for a lady's maid to accompany her and to order her a Paris trousseau that will bedazzle every lady of Quality in the Colony.'

Marmaduke saw that Garnet was unstoppable, his eyes unnaturally bright as he rattled off the details of the wedding to be performed at St James's Church, the new organ he would donate, the guest list drawn from the cream of colonial society.

Garnet delivered the final
coup de grâce.
‘The deeds to Mingaletta are here in my safe. They await my signature after you consummate the marriage.'

Inwardly seething with rage but outwardly calm, Marmaduke rose to take his leave.

‘You seem to have everything signed, sealed and delivered, Garnet. Except for one small point. You don't have
my
consent.'