The Pride of the Peacock (28 page)

She came forward and I held out my hand which she took.

“What will you think of me? I had no idea … We have all been so sad.

We have lost a good friend and master. “

“I share your sadness,” I told her.

“I felt he was my very good friend.”

“Mr. Croissant is with us, as you see.” said Joss.

“We picked him up on the journey from Sydney. Are Jimson and Ulias at home?”

They’re somewhere in the house. I’ve sent one of the servants to look for them. I am sure they will be here shortly. “

“Mrs. Laud will be able to tell you all you want to know about the house, Jessica,” said Joss.

“I shall be very interested to learn,” I answered.

Mrs. Laud smiled at me almost ingratiatingly. I remembered what Ben had told me about her and was expecting someone of a more dominating nature. She appeared gentle and her voice was soft and soothing.

“I think we’d better have some refreshment,” said Joss.

“What am I thinking of,” said Mrs. Laud, fluttering her hands helplessly.

“I’m so shaken … by all this. First Mr. Henniker’s death…”

“And then this marriage,” said Joss.

“I know. But you’ll get used to it. We’U all get used to it.”

“I’ll get them to make some tea,” said Mrs. Laud.

“Dinner will be served in an hour or so unless you would like me to put it forward.”

“We had chicken and Johnny cakes on the road,” said Joss, ‘so tea will do and then we’ll wait for dinner. “

Mrs. Laud opened a door and we were in a drawing-room. This had long windows which reached from floor to a ceiling, which was beautifully moulded; the room was lofty and the curtains were of the same tinge as a peacock’s feathers, but the daylight was shut out as the blinds were drawn. Mrs. Laud went to them at once and opened the slats so that the room was brighter.

My eyes immediately went to the picture of the peacock hanging on the wall. Joss’s did the same; our eyes met, and a tremendous wave of excitement passed between us. The Green Flash at Sunset was hidden in that picture and we were going to take the first opportunity of seeing it.

There was a cabinet in this room in which were black-velvet-covered shelves and on this were not polished stones but different types of rock with streaks of opal in them.

joss saw me loojamg at tnem and said: That was Ben’s idea. Everything in there meant something to him. They have all come from different mines which were important to him. Ah, here’s Jimson. “

jim son Laud was a man who I reckoned to be about Joss’s age; he had the same gentle manner as his mother.

“Jimson, this is my wife,” said Joss.

He was startled as well he might be, I thought. Joss grinned at me, obviously enjoying their surprise.

“We seem to have delivered a bombshell,” he said.

“Jessica and I were married before we left England.”

“Con … congratulations.”

“Thank you,” I said.

“I am so pleased to meet you,” he said, recovering a little from his surprise. He then said he had been deeply shocked by Ben’s death.

“We have all been shocked,” answered Joss.

“I’m afraid there was no hope of saving him. That was why he wanted me to go to England.”

“And there you met your bride,” said Mrs. Laud softly.

“Jimson works for the Company,” Joss explained to me.

“He and his sister Ulias live here in their mother’s apartments.”

“It’s a large house,” I commented.

“Mr. Henniker was always determined that there should be plenty of rooms for guests,” said Mrs. Laud.

“We often had a houseful. Well, here is my daughter, Ulias.”

How alike the family were! Lilias was a younger edition of her mother-meek, unassuming.

“Lilias, this is Mrs. Madden … our future mistress,” said Mis Laud.

lilias’s surprise was as evident as that of her mother and brother. I caught her expression as her eyes rested on Joss and I was not quite sure what it meant. She was certainly overwhelmed by the fact that we were married. The expression was fleeting; it had gone scarcely before it was there and she was the meek girl of a few moments before.

Tou’ll be staying for a while, Mr. Croissant, I dare say? ” said Mrs. Laud.

“For a couple of nights, I hope. Then I have to get on to Melbourne.”

“Has everything been going well while I’ve been away, Mrs. Laud?” asked Joss.

“Everything has been well in the house, Mr. Madden, which is an 1 can spceiis. lui.

joss was looking at Jimson Laud, who said: There have been one or two spots of trouble in the Company but nothing serious. I expect you will be down there tomorrow. “

“You can be sure of that,” replied Joss. Tomorrow you must show my wife the house, Mrs. Laud. “

Mrs. Laud bowed her head.

“I shall be most interested to see it,” I told her.

Then the tea arrived.

“Shall I pour?” asked Mrs. Laud.

“I believe my wife would like to do that,” said Joss, which was dismissing her, I realized.

“Lilias will see that they prepare the rooms,” said Mrs. Laud.

“I’ll talk with you later, Jimson,” said Joss, ‘and then you can give me an idea of what’s been happening. “

We were alone with David Croissant. I could feel that joss was a little impatient by the manner in which his eyes kept straying to that picture.

I felt as impatient as he was. yery soon I was going to see the wonderful Green Hash.

David Croissant talked about some of the stones he had brought with him, a few of which he had shown us in Cape Town. He was most eager, he said, to see what the Fancy had thrown up lately.

“Not more eager than I,” Joss reminded him.

In due course we had finished tea and Joss said he would take me up.

As we mounted the stairs he said: “I noticed how your eyes kept straying to the picture. Were you thinking what I was?”

“I expect so.”

“At the very first opportunity we’ll look. I shall lock the door because I don’t want us to be disturbed. I hardly like to do it while David Croissant’s in the house. He’s got a nose for opals. I felt he was going to sense it in that room. We’ll choose our moment. Well, what do you think of your home?”

“I have seen very little of it yet.”

“It can’t compare with that of your ancestors, of course, but it comes pretty near it. I believe Ben had Oakland in mind when he planned this. You’ll discover several similar features. Imitation is the greatest form of flattery, it’s said. Well, this place is a piece of flattery to Oakland Hall. So you should like it.”

“I like very much what I have seen.”

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inspection. By rights, you know, I should have carried you over the threshold. “

I ignored that.

“What do you think of the Lauds?” he asked.

“I thought that they were very unassuming … eager to please.”

They’re a sort of institution. Mrs. Laud came to work here . oh, it must have been quite twenty-seven years ago. She was a widow with two children. Her husband had come out after gold. He’d had some bad luck;

he died and left them penniless. Ben took them in. Lilias was only a year or so old then and Jimson was about five. She’s been more than a housekeeper. “

“I gathered that8 ” She and Ben were very friendly at one time. “

Tou mean. ? “

He looked at me maliciously.

“You wouldn’t understand,” he said.

“I think I understand … perfectly,” I contradicted.

“It gives them a certain standing in the household. Jimson was taken into the Company. He’s good at figures … quite a good worker but uninspired. ” And Ulias? “

“A pleasant girl… more talented than you’d think.”

“How do you know what I think?”

“My dear wife, I read you like a book. I saw your eyes on her contemplatively.”

“She seemed eager to please you. Is that why you consider her talented?”

“Of course. It shows her wisdom. Ah, they have prepared the bridal suite for us.”

He opened the door and, turning to me swiftly, swept me off my feet and carried me into the room. I did not protest because that was what I realized he was hoping I would do. I remained passive until he sat me down.

“Oh dear, oh dear,” he said, clucking his tongue. They’ve made the same mistake. ” He was regarding the big four-poster bed with feigned dismay. There is a dressing-room.” He slipped his arm through mine and took me to it.

“Designed for those occasions when all is not harmony between the married lovers. The bed looks uncomfortable. Moreover, its proximity would be distasteful to you.” He went to a bell-rope and pulled it.

been far off.

“Ulias,” said Joss, ‘will you have my old room made ready for me? I shall need it. “

She looked startled but I saw the speculative gleam in her eyes. I was again wondering what the relationship had been between her and Joss.

“I will see to it immediately,” she said. As she went out joss turned to me.

“You see what consternation you arouse in us all.”

I did not answer. My cheeks were burning.

A maid came in with hot water.

“I’ll leave you,” said Joss, ‘and I’ll come for you in just under an hour’s time for dinner. “

He went out and I looked round the room. The curtains were a light shade of yellow, the carpet a darker one; and there was a primrose-coloured counterpane on the bed and touches of varying shades of yellow, all blending beautifully with each other throughout the room.

It was indeed pleasant. I washed, changed into a green silk dress and wondered when the rest of my baggage would arrive.

Then I went to the window and pulled up the blind. The sun immediately blazed in. Looking out, I could just see beyond the grounds to the calico tents of Fancy Town. I imagined Ben in this house revelling-in the similarities to Oakland and looking out on the town which had begun with my father’s dream.

“Ben, are you satisfied now 7’ I whispered, and I thought of the sudden fear which had come to me in the burned-out inn. I knew those fears were still there in the back of my mind waiting to emerge.

I longed for Ben then. I wanted to explain to him that when he had arranged our lives he had. not been aware of what danger he was putting me in.

I seemed to hear his laughter.

“It was a free choice, wasn’t it? You didn’t have to, did’ you You wanted everything the marriage brought you … both of you. You took what you wanted, well, now you must pay for it’ Oh Ben, I thought, you were a ruthless man and your son is the same.

You lived hard; you brushed aside those who stood in your way. Did you ever think, Ben, that I might be in Joss’s way?

What was this idea which had been creeping into my mind since I had had my nightmare in the Bush? It was almost as though it had been a warning.

and waiting for him.

He said: The Lauds dine with us. They always have. You’ll have to get to like them. They’ll go out of their way to please you. Mrs. Laud is a wonderful manager. You can leave everything to her. We often have people in and out. for meals, I mean. She manages that sort of thing very well. “

The dining-room was panelled like the one at Oakland and had long windows reaching from floor to ceiling at which there were blue draperies bordered with silver. A candelabrum stood in the centre of the table and at either end was a decoration of variegated leaves which was very effective. Mrs. Laud had arranged everything very tastefully.

I saw her sharp eyes take in the details as though doubly to assure herself that they were as they should be. We were served with soup followed by roast chicken and these were excellently served.

I felt ill at ease because I was aware of a certain tension at the table. I had a feeling that there was a great deal I had to discover about my new home. I believed that beneath the surface was something which would change the entire atmosphere if it came to light. It was an odd feeling. When I looked in her direction I would find Lilias’s eyes on me; she smiled or looked hastily away and I asked myself whether I had been right in assuming she had some deep feeling for Joss and that our marriage was a great blow to her.

Mi’s Laud gave a kind of silent direction to the servants and I had the idea that she missed nothing.

I was mostly a listener at the dinner table that night, for the conversation was all about the Company and of this, of course, I had everything to learn.

Mrs. Laud said: Tom Paling was badly hurt when the wheel came off the buggy he was driving. He’d been up to the house to see Jimson and on the way back to the town the wheel came off and he was nearly killed.

”

“Paling!” cried Joss.

“Good God! He’s all right now, I hope.”

“He’ll never walk again. Jimson took over his work … and I believe the department is running better than it ever did before. But you tell Mr. Madden, Jimson.”

“Well, you see,” said Jimson, ‘this happened and we thought it was the end of poor Tom. He injured his back and he’s partly paralysed. I took over his work at once. “

Joss was clearly disturbed.

“Paling was one of our best men. What about his family,?8 They’ve been looKea aner, said jmisuu. morrow that nothing has suffered in the department.”

“Jimson was working day and night,” said Mrs. Laud, That’s a shock,” murmured Joss.

“What else happened?”

The Trants’ homestead was burned to the ground,” said Lilias.

“We know that,” replied David Croissant “We called there on the way here.”

“What happened to the Trants?” asked Joss. They escaped, I hope. “

“By great good fortune, yes. And they’ve set up a sort of cook-house in the town. It’s quite useful.”

“It must have been a terrible blow to them.8 ” It was. James was quite broken but Ethel rallied him and they got this idea and now they’re doing fairly well. It’s useful for those who are working in the offices. They can slip out and get a meal—and a lot of people buy cooked food to take away. “

“Some good has come out of it, then,” said Joss.

“I think you will find that some good has come out of Tom Paling’s accident,” said Mrs. Laud.