Aunt Caroline had survived a restless night, but she’d stabilised, the nurse said. Everything was being done to keep her comfortable, she assured them.
‘I don’t like the sound of that,’ Maxine muttered as they followed the nurse down the gleaming corridor.
The old woman was as white as her pillow, her face chiselled, her hair flattened like seaweed. Her eyes blazed with unworldly intensity over the oxygen tubes in her nostrils. She smiled at the paper sheath of flowers Lisa was holding, but when she saw what they were, her mouth settled in a line.
‘I’m sorry,’ Lisa said. ‘I know you hate carnations, but it’s all they’ve got in the hospital shop. They smell nice.’
‘How are you?’ Maxine asked.
‘Terrible,’ the old woman rasped. ‘Some Greek woman across the hall was shouting all night.’
Maxine took the flowers away to find a vase.
‘So you’ve come to badger me,’ Aunt Caroline sighed.
‘Of course not.’
‘I suppose you were bound to find out sooner or later. This town’s full of snoops like that celebrant woman, Dorothy Whatchamacallit.’
Lisa took the old woman’s hand. It was waxy and cool. Aunt Caroline drifted off. Her lungs laboured to empty and fill themselves.
When Maxine returned with the vase of flowers, Aunt Caroline jolted awake. ‘Where was I? That’s right.’ She breathed in, focusing on a spot on the ceiling. ‘Your grandfather Alexander was a dashing young man. All the ladies loved him. Except his tastes were . . . how do you say . . . exotic . . .’
Aunt Caroline was drifting off again. Lisa raised a paper cup of water to her aunt’s cracked lips. The old woman gulped like someone who’d found an oasis in a desert.
When she’d finished drinking, she raised her hand, her nails glistening scarlet. ‘He became involved with a servant girl at the manor. Maggie, she was called. The silly fool went and got herself pregnant. Alexander wanted to marry her, but it simply wasn’t done.’ Aunt Caroline drew a ragged breath.
Lisa plumped her pillows to make her breathing more comfortable. ‘Look, you don’t have to tell us this,’ she said gently. ‘Just concentrate on getting better.’
The old woman snorted. ‘I’m ready to go over the border.’
Maxine and Lisa exchanged glances. ‘Shall I call the doctor?’ Maxine asked.
‘Keep that idiot away from me. He can go back to Pakistan.’ Lisa threw Maxine a look of horror.
‘Tell us what to do, Aunt Caroline,’ Maxine said in a soothing voice.
‘Shut up and listen,’ Aunt Caroline snapped. ‘The Trumperton family threw her out, of course. There was nothing else for it. I mean, it’s not as if those people had any understanding . . .’
Lisa cringed.
Aunt Caroline turned to gaze out the window. Boys were kicking a football around on a stretch of grass. Assuming the scandalous story was over, Lisa smoothed the hospital sheets.
But the old woman grabbed her hand and rallied. ‘The Trumpertons threw a society ball to take Alexander’s mind off things,’ she croaked. ‘They wanted to marry him off to a judge’s daughter. It was the biggest ball of the season. You can imagine what it was like. Horses and carriages trotting down that driveway. The ballroom full of beautiful gowns . . .’ The old woman’s lips settled in a faint smile. ‘The Trumpertons always thought themselves a cut above the rest,’ she continued. ‘Turned out the servant girl came from an important family, too. She was the daughter of some chief.’
‘You mean Elder?’ Maxine said.
‘That’s it. Anyway, when he found out what’d happened to his daughter he decided to visit the Trumpertons.’
Aunt Caroline’s legs thrashed under the sheet. Lisa stroked her forehead, trying to soothe her, but the old woman pushed her hand aside.
‘On the night of the ball, the Elder and his people assembled in the garden in front of the house. Maggie stood with them holding her baby. Old man Trumperton was highly embarrassed, of course. He shouted at them to go away.’
‘What did they do?’ Lisa asked.
‘They sang.’
‘Sang?’
‘It drove Alexander’s father mad. He set the dogs on them, but they didn’t run, so the dogs weren’t interested. All Castlemaine society was watching and laughing at him. The way he saw it he had no option but to . . .’ Aunt Caroline’s voice faded. Her eyes drooped.
Across the corridor, horses were galloping to the finish line on a television screen.
‘Do you think we should let her rest?’ Lisa asked Maxine.
The old woman’s eyes snapped open. ‘I’ll have time for that soon enough . . . Where was I? That’s right. Alexander’s father took his shotgun from the library. He marched Maggie’s father into the stables.’
‘My God!’ Maxine gasped.
‘A single shot, it was, through the temples.’
‘Our great grandfather was a murderer?’
‘They didn’t call it that in those days,’ Aunt Caroline said with a wave of her hand. ‘Not when those people were involved.’
Lisa and Maxine exchanged looks.
‘Surely there was retribution of some kind?’ Lisa asked.
‘The servants’ quarters went up in flames next day. Nobody was hurt.’
‘Was our great-grandfather arrested?’
‘He was never charged, but the scandal affected their business. They lost their money and left for New Zealand. That’s where Alexander met my mother, your grandmother Geraldine.’ Aunt Caroline slumped back against the pillows. The old woman’s eyes rolled back under half-closed lids.
‘So what happened to the baby?’ Lisa asked.
The ancient face turned to her. ‘Try asking those people in the house across the road from you,’ she whispered.
‘You mean Mrs Wright?’
Aunt Caroline nodded. ‘Shameful business. I tried to keep you away.’
‘You mean Mrs Wright was Maggie’s baby?’
‘No, not her,’ Aunt Caroline gasped. ‘There was a boy. A Trumperton from the wrong side of the doona.’
The old woman began to shudder violently. A jumble of sounds gurgled from the back of her throat.
‘She’s trying to say something,’ said Maxine.
‘What is it?’ Lisa asked, bending close to the withered lips.
‘Next time, bring champagne. Make sure it’s French.’
Aunt Caroline’s chest rattled. Life drained from her eyes.