So now here I was, jolting along in the coach with Mr. Granville and his new bride and six other passengers, for the coach carried nine. Our driver was a cheery little man.
We had left the city and the magnificent harbour behind and were now in the open country. The roads were rough and I was struck by the tall eucalyptus trees with which I was now becoming familiar, and I wondered how long they had stood there. Perhaps even before the coming of Captain Cook. The coach rocked dangerously, but the other passengers, with the exception of Felicity, seemed to take that for granted.
Felicity wore an expression of resignation, as though she could no longer be surprised by anything. I pondered what that meant. I rather wished she would talk to me as she had before her marriage because that would be good for her.
The Granville property was a day's coach ride from Sydney and
it was still light when we arrived at Lalong Creek. They called it a township. It was a road with an earth pavement, an inn, a few shops and a scattering of houses. The coach pulled up at the inn where the horses were to be changed—and here was our journey's end.
My heart sank. This was our nearest town, and I could not imagine that we should want to come here frequently.
As the coach approached the inn, a man in a straw hat and corduroy trousers and a brown shirt rose lazily from the bench outside the inn and spat out a quid of tobacco.
I glanced at Felicity. She looked impassive with that air of resignation which implied that she must accept everything, however unpalatable.
"Oh, there is Slim," said William Granville. "Got the buggy there, Slim?"
"Yes, Master. Been waiting here the last hour."
"Good. We'll get away at once."
We dismounted, rather stiff from our long ride.
Slim had left us and when he came back he was driving one of those conveyances they called buggies—a light, four-wheeled vehicle, drawn by a grey horse.
"We shall not be long now," said William Granville. "We have about five miles to go."
He helped us into the buggy and stowed in the hand luggage we had brought with us. He seated himself on one side of the buggy, beside Felicity. I sat opposite. I found it embarrassing because every time I looked up his eyes were on me. I noticed a certain sardonic expression in them. I expected I had conveyed my disapproval of him.
Then we left the township for the drive to the Granville property.
The country seemed stark and so alien from home. In comparison our trees and meadows looked as though they had been tended by gardeners; this was wild country. Some of the tall trees had grey barks which gave them a ghostly look.
"They look like ghosts," I said, feeling some comment was needed.
"We call them ghost gums," William Granville told me. "The abos won't go past them after dark. They think they are the ghosts of men who have died violently and can't rest. You're thinking how different it is from home, eh?" He put his arm round Felicity and pressed her to him. I was not sure whether she winced or not.
"You girls are good horsewomen, I hope," he said.
"I enjoy riding," I said. "I believe Felicity does too."
Felicity nodded.
"You'll find horses to ride in the stables. You'll have to take care not to get lost. You get out there and you can go round and round in circles. One of the easiest things you can do here is get lost."
He subsided into silence. I looked at the scenery, at the clumps of bushes; here and there feathery wattle bloomed; I could smell its fragrance. We called it mimosa at home and ever after when I smelt that unusual haunting perfume I was reminded of that drive.
"Better speed up a bit, Slim," said William Granville. "Want to get there before nightfall."
"Yes, Master," replied Slim, and put the horse into a gallop.
I was thrown forward and William Granville put out his arms to catch me. For a few seconds he held me so that my face was close to his. I could smell the whisky and found the contact most repulsive.
I hastily disengaged myself.
"It's a rough ride," he said. "Better slow down a bit, Slim. You're making the ladies uncomfortable."
He grinned at me. I was silent.
The horse went splashing through a creek. Some of the dirty water was on my coat. I brushed it off with a handkerchief.
"Steady, Slim. You're splashing the lady, now."
I felt he was laughing at me, that he disliked me in a special sort of way and enjoyed humiliating me; and I thought, As soon as I can leave here, I will.
It would soon be dark. The sun was low on the horizon and I understood that in this part of the world there would not be our long twilight. Darkness came swift and sudden.
There was a grandeur about the landscape which I should have enjoyed in different circumstances, but the farther I went from Sydney, the more uneasy I became.
He said: "We're on my land now. All this is mine. And there are acres and acres of it. One thing that is cheap here is land ... well land and labour. People came out to make their fortunes. There was the gold rush. There is wool ... all this grazing land. They come out here and they don't always make it. Then they've got to do something. That's where we get our cheap labour."
We jogged on. It was almost dark now and we were there.
"Here it is. Your new home, my bride. What do you think of it? Not like your old homestead, is it? No fancy mansion which has stood for hundreds of years. No mullioned windows, Palladian columns and the like. Here they build houses to live in for a while... not to last five hundred years. You'll get used to it."
We had drawn up before the house. He helped us alight and we stood there looking at Felicity's new home.
It had two storeys with several outhouses attached and the wood was a dirty grey colour. The paint was peeling off the door and there were dark patches on the wood. Above the porch there was a balcony, and I noticed at once that some of the staves were broken away. There were glass doors leading onto this balcony.
The door opened and a woman stood there. I imagined she was in her early thirties. She had very thick dark hair which she wore piled up high on her head in a rather elaborate knot; her eyes were long, narrow and slanting, which gave her an almost oriental look. She was tall with large hips and bust and a small waist. She was very striking but in some way I felt repelled. Her eyes were on me and with a flash of intuition I realized that she thought I was the new Mrs. Granville, and there was a certain malevolence in her gaze.
I felt an urgent need to correct her.
"Here we are at last, Mrs. Maken," said William Granville. "This is Mrs. Granville and her friend, Miss Mallory. Mrs. Maken helps to keep things in order here, don't you Millie? She sees to all my comforts."
I felt the phrase was significant and because of what I was rapidly discovering about Felicity's husband, something in their manner towards each other suggested to me that he was on very intimate terms with his housekeeper.
"Well, come on in," he said.
Mrs. Maken said: "Welcome to Granville's."
"Thank you," I replied. Felicity nodded; she seemed unable to speak. It was now Felicity who had Mrs. Maken's attention, so I was sure my instincts were founded on fact, We went into a small hall. A door was open. I could see a large kitchen where a big fire was blazing in spite of the heat.
"Food is the first necessity," said William Granville. "We're starving. We've been in that coach all day. It gave us a shaking. The ladies are not used to roughing it, Millie. Straight from the Old Country, they are."
I said: "We had something of a buffeting on the ship coming out."
"Preparation for what was to come," said Mr. Granville. "Well, what about that food, Millie?"
"It's all ready."
"Perhaps we could wash first," I suggested.
"There we are, Millie. The ladies want to wash."