‘Bye, Mama. Bye, Papa.’
‘Goodbye, girls. Be good today.’ Edward kissed his daughters warmly on the cheek. He loved their breakfasts together; it was the only time of the day when he could pretend they were a happy family.
‘Bye, my darlings,’ said Belle. ‘Good luck on your spelling test, Clara.’
Edward went back to his newspaper. ‘Listen to this.’ He folded the pages in half to more easily read the article. ‘Millionaire mining magnate Colonel Lucas Buchanan has arrived in Hobart on private business. The Colonel is a Boer War hero, and famous for discovering the largest diamond in the world. Two gems, cut from that immense stone, grace the Crown Jewels on display at the Tower of London. He arrived without fanfare, and the length and purpose of his visit is unknown. Private business, eh. Wonder what that means?’
Belle nibbled at her toast. Hetty tried to serve her from the silver warmer of scrambled eggs and was waved away. Two months now since her parents were laid to rest, and she still had no appetite. It seemed disrespectful somehow to eat a hearty breakfast when they couldn’t.
‘I wager the Colonel’s looking for investment opportunities. He’s an important man. We should host a welcome gathering for him.’
‘Not here, Eddie. I’m in no mood for parties. Hold it at the club if you must.’
‘You’re not interested in meeting him? Some say the Colonel’s fortune rivals that of Cecil Rhodes himself.’
‘That’s hardly a glowing endorsement. Rhodes is, from all accounts, a greedy, ignorant man who treats the native Africans worse than animals. No doubt Buchanan is the same.’ Belle finished her cup of tea. ‘I must go, Eddie, or I’ll be late for work.’
Edward nodded and rolled a cigarette. He lit his smoke and watched Belle leave the room. Her trim figure needed no corset to cinch in the waist, even after three children. Disappointing that their family had never grown larger. Despite his great affection for Robbie, he would still love a son of his own blood, but Belle didn’t want more children. She’d made that plain enough.
He’d resented Belle’s teaching at first, but had come to be proud of her. She was a thoroughly modern woman – a respected educator and accomplished artist. Her impressionist landscapes and animal drawings were attracting attention from Hobart’s cultural crowd and she would soon hold her first exhibition.
Belle was also an understanding wife. She’d stuck with him through everything, even when she’d discovered his taste for laudanum. He’d promised to stop, but he was weak and unable to keep his word. He wasn’t the best husband. Sometimes her loyalty surprised him.
Edward took a drag on his cigarette. He was ashamed to know that loyalty was not his strong suit. His mind travelled back, for the millionth time, to the fateful night of his father’s death. When he’d paid a kitchen maid to betray the man who’d saved his life. The man Belle loved. His treachery still haunted him. He’d sacrificed his humanity to dispose of his rival, and for what? Belle’s heart had never truly belonged to him.
Hetty began clearing away the breakfast dishes. ‘Have you time for another coffee, sir?’
‘Why not?’ He wasn’t looking forward to his day in the office. A meeting with an accountant who would no doubt confirm what he already knew – the Hills End mine hadn’t turned a profit for months. He’d been hoping to avoid the expense of sinking more shafts. With wool and timber prices down, the last thing he needed was another major capital cost. Hills End Resources was still recovering from the collapse of the state’s main bank a decade earlier. Edward had been a director of the Bank of Van Diemen’s Land, having succeeded his father to the position.
For seventy years, the bank had enjoyed a reputation for probity and stability. Edward’s directorship coincided with a period of high-risk lending and business gambles. A Royal Commission concluded that one hundred thousand pounds of cash and bullion, listed as bank assets, had existed only in the fertile imaginations of the directors. Edward was lucky to have escaped charges.
The bank closure heralded a difficult decade, though he’d managed to shield Belle from his financial problems. Drought and depression slashed profits. Class conflict led to state-wide unrest, with the timber, pastoral and mining industries embroiled in bitter industrial action. Edward faced protracted strikes on all sides as his workers formed unions.
Of course it didn’t help that he’d also lost a fortune from gambling. It was his chief recreation, along with laudanum, drinking at the club and discreetly entertaining other women. He’d formed a special attachment to a ravishing young creature named Fanny Catchpole, and installed her in rooms not far from the club. Edward loved his wife, but he had needs, and Belle had banned him from her bed. Fanny was only eighteen, a dark-haired beauty who accepted him for who he was. She didn’t try to make him a better man.
Edward picked up the paper and re-read the article. To hell with the whining accountant and his gloomy forecasts. Edward would set up a meeting with this Colonel fellow instead. He might very well be the answer to his prayers.