“Yes. As soon as this has settled down. Don’t forget, Christmas is coming. You must not disappoint Elsie. She has set her heart on this party she’s giving for Gertie and me.”
And so we parted.
Elsie wanted to hear all the details about the tragedy at the Formans’.
“James was right,” she said.
“Certainly they should not let that man into the place. What a terrible thing to happen! I hope that fellow gets what’s coming to him. He certainly deserves something pretty bad.”
“Mr. Forman was very worried, because he knows the unwritten law about sun downers Gertie thought it might be unlucky to turn one away, however wicked they are.”
Elsie laughed derisively.
“That’s a lot of nonsense. Unwritten laws here don’t apply to scoundrels, I can tell you. Why, people here would be ready to lynch that man for what he did. There’s certainly no need for the Formans to worry about turning him off the property. It’s what he did to them that would be the trouble. I am sorry for the Formans.
To have worked so hard and then to have that done to them overnight!
We’ll have to see if there’s anything we can do. We’ll ask Gertie over, if they can spare her. She’s not going to be much use putting up new buildings and suchlike. She might be glad to come here for a while. “
Elsie could see how shocked I had been, and she felt I needed something to stop me from brooding too much on that terrible night. No doubt she thought the best thing was to concentrate on the party. Everyone was going to be cheered up with that. It was going to be such a party as they had never seen in these parts before.
There was a great deal to do, she said. She wanted to have everything just right. The food . the dance floor . all the young people she could muster.
And Toby would be home. The party would not be until then.
“We’ll cheer them up a bit. Poor James. I’m sorry for him.” I had told her about his plans to mine for opals.
“He’s a good lad,” she continued.
“I like James.”
“He has such a conscience,” I said.
“You know, he still thinks about Suez. Now he is going to worry about this. He says it would have been better if that man had stayed, even if he had robbed them, rather than do all this damage.”
Elsie snorted.
“He did the right thing in turning him away.”
“But because of it he can’t go to Lightning Ridge and make his fortune.”
“The chances are that there will be no fortune. For every one who comes out of those places with one, there’s a thousand who are disappointed. So perhaps it’s all to the good in the long run. Life has a way of laughing at people, and bad can often turn out to be good and be what they call a blessing in disguise, and good luck can be disaster.”
“You couldn’t very well expect the Formans to believe that now.”
“No, I don’t. The realization of that sort of thing always comes later. If there’s anything we can do to help them, we must do it.
Nothing must stand in the way of that. Let’s think of the good things.
This party is going to take a lot of planning, with Toby descending on us at the same time. I thought we’d have it the day after Boxing Day.
I’d have said before Christmas, but we’re going to wait for To be. How does that strike you? “
I was not thinking so much of the party as the fact that Toby would be with us. Whatever happened, I could not be unhappy when I considered that.
The Treacherous Sea
Elsie and I saw the ship come in, and I thought nothing would ever fill me with such joy. He was home.
We went down to the quay. We always had to wait a while before we could see Toby because, on the ship’s arrival, he was very busy with all the formalities connected with it: but as soon as possible he would be with us.
At last, the moment came and there he was, looking just as he always had, his eyes searching for me, as mine were for him.
Then there was the clinging embrace the assurance that each knew the other was there; then the laughter and the suppressed emotion which was too precious to be shown.
Arm in arm, we would walk off the ship. Elsie always watched us with an amused glint in her eyes, waiting patiently for her share of his attention. She never showed the slightest resentment in taking second place.
I believed she loved him very much in a certain way. Their relationship had always been something of a mystery to me -bantering, but there was no doubt of the affection between them.
We went back to the house where, according to Elsie, the fatted calf had already been killed and Mabe would be hopping mad if everyone was not in the right place to do justice to it.
It was a wonderful Christmas because Toby was there.
I never ceased to marvel at those Australian Christmases-so different from the ones in the past at Commonwood House. The heat here could be excessive at this time of the year, yet, in spite of that, hot roast goose was served with Christmas pudding alight with brandy flames all eaten in brilliant sunshine.
Toby said to Elsie: “You still do it as they do at home … even though you have never been there.”
“Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without all the trappings,” she admitted.
Christmas and Boxing Day were quiet in comparison with the great occasion fixed for the following day.
I enjoyed it thoroughly. The only guests were Joe Lester and his nephew, William; and for me they were like members of the family. Toby entertained us with tales of life at sea; he seemed to have a great number of such stories and when he told them in his inimitable way, he was very entertaining.
He had told us that his stay would be brief. On New Year’s Day he would be taking a load of copra from one island to another and that would occupy him for a month. Then he would be back to Sydney for a day or so before going off on a cruise to some of the islands.
He smiled at me and said: “Now that you are a young lady of leisure, it did occur to me that you might deign to accompany me on this particular cruise.”
I stared at him for a moment. I was so excited, I leaped to my feet.
He did the same, and we hugged each other.
“I thought you might be pleased, and I intended to announce it over the Christmas pudding, but I couldn’t wait.”
“How could you be so cruel as to withhold it so long?”
“He can be a sadistic wretch on occasions!” said Elsie.
“Come, Joe.
Fill up the glasses. We are going to drink to this cruise to the islands. “
That was a wonderful Christmas Day the best I had ever known and that was because Toby was there and soon I should be sailing on the high seas with him.
house was in turmoil the next day. The morning was given over to preparations. The drawing-room, denuded of much of its furniture, would give us the space we needed for the guests to dance. Elsie was very proud of what she called her ‘orchestra’, which consisted of a piano and two violins set up between the potted plants at one end of the room. The glass doors opened on to the lawn where, I imagined, because of the warmth, most guests would be dancing. The party was certain to be a success, for everyone was determined to enjoy it.
As I had predicted, though we began by dancing in the sitting-room, we were soon out on the lawn.
I had a long talk with James that evening. I was very sorry for him.
He had worked very hard on the family property, and I knew how bitterly disappointed he was that his venture on the opal fields had had to be postponed. My own happiness made me feel particularly sorry for him.
I broached the subject, for I knew it filled his mind, and he wanted to talk about it.