Ella’s romantic ideas of a long honeymoon cruising at sea were rudely dispelled by the time the ship left port. Their quarters, even though her father had generously paid for a cabin for them, were cramped and far from luxurious. She could not imagine how appalling it would have been if they had been forced to travel as so many emigrants did, the women in separate quarters to the men. Even so, she did wonder at times if it might be so much worse than being cooped up in such a small space with William who, truth to tell, by the time they had been at sea for a few weeks, she was finding almost as dull as the worthy Walter.
The trouble was that he took a great deal longer than she did to find his sea legs and, as ministering angel had never been her forte, she spent less and less time in the cabin, finding his moans and groans extremely tedious. Most of the other women had brought a lady’s maid along with them and on making inquiries, she discovered that if she approached the woman in charge of the female emigrants, she might be able to find a young girl to help her in this capacity. She was lucky; a fifteen-year-old was travelling on her own and Rosie Malone was more than willing to spend her days in Ella’s company and only have to return to the cramped women’s quarters at night.
‘Well, now that I am more accustomed to the motion of the ship and can keep you company, you can send that wench back,’ William told her some weeks into the voyage.
‘But William, I need her,’ Ella protested. ‘She is a such a help to me.’
‘Doing what?’
‘Well …’ Ella searched her mind to find words to convince him that Rosie was indispensable to her comfort. ‘She fetches me things, helps me keep my clothes in order….’ She had grown fond of the girl and would miss her company more than anything.
‘Hrrumph,’ William grunted; however, a glance at his pretty young wife who looked little older than her maid softened him. He reminded himself that it was thanks to her that he was on this ship at all with a new life ahead and his ever mounting debts behind him. Once he had recovered from the seasickness that had plagued him, and Ella from her hysterical reaction to his advances as a husband, they had settled down together well enough and he could, he knew, have done a great deal worse. If having a maid was what she wanted then have a maid she should. He smiled at Ella and patted her arm in a way that to her seemed more paternal than lover-like. ‘Very well, my dear, the arrangement can stand for the time being.’ It did, after all, give him more freedom to follow his own inclinations.
William had found a convivial group of young men around his own age who were heading for the diggings and it did not take them long to convince him that prospecting for gold was by far the surest and swiftest way to come by wealth in the land they were heading for.
‘But William,’ Ella protested, ‘the money Father settled on you was specifically to enable you to start up in business, not speculate.’
‘Exactly, my dear, that is just what I plan to do – in the gold-mining business.’
Ella was doubtful, but did not feel strong enough to argue. Curiously, now the voyage was nearly over, the tables seemed to have turned and William strode about the ship as if he had been at sea all his life while Ella was prostrate with nausea.
Curiosity prompted Ella to ask her young maid what was going to happen to her when the ship landed them at Melbourne.
‘Me dad’s meeting me. When my mam died, he sent the money for me to come, said he had been saving it to pay for her passage. Said now she was gone, I might as well come instead.’
It all sounded somewhat casual to Ella. ‘I see,’ she said thoughtfully, ‘so you will have somewhere to go then?’
‘Oh, yes. Dad will meet me off the ship, I’m sure.’ Rosie’s voice trailed away. Truthfully, she was not at all sure. From what she remembered of her father, he was more likely to break promises than keep them.
Ella considered her thoughtfully. ‘Well, if anything happens and he doesn’t turn up or you are left stranded … well, if anything like that happens, you had better come to me.’
‘Thank you, Ma’am, I will do so. Only thing is, how will I know how to find you?’
Ella found a scrap of paper in her reticule and quickly wrote out an address. ‘This is a connection of my father,’ she told the girl. ‘We have to go to his offices. He promised my father he would find temporary accommodation for us and help my husband to set up in business. He will know where we are.’ She gazed at the younger girl. ‘Do you know, Rosie, I have become quite attached to you on this journey. In fact, I don’t quite know how I shall manage without you. You couldn’t … you wouldn’t be able to…?’
Rosie shook her head. ‘I have to meet my dad. But don’t you worry. You’ll be all right, you’ve got a man to look after you.’ She spoke with determined cheerfulness, wishing she had more than the hazy memory of the man she had last seen nearly ten years ago.
‘All the same …’ Ella’s voice trailed away. What was she doing almost begging this young servant girl to stay with her? She tried to tell herself that it was concern for the girl’s welfare. Well, so it was – just a little – but in all truth, it was herself she was thinking of. As the voyage had progressed, it seemed she had seen less and less of her husband and come to rely more and more on Rosie for companionship. Now, as the ship finally docked after a long and tedious journey, it struck her that she was going to miss the girl’s company as well as her help. She looked at her now, slight to the point of being scrawny, dressed in one of Ella’s own gowns that she had decided was too warm for a hot climate; Rosie had spent painstaking hours with needle and thread making it fit. Ella, who had been brought up to take servants and what they did for her totally for granted, was surprised, almost dismayed, to find that she had come to rely on Rosie, even to be grateful to her. She had made the voyage bearable, if not exactly enjoyable.
As they said goodbye, Ella pressed five sovereigns into the girl’s hand. ‘Keep them safe until you really need them,’ she urged. ‘Remember, if your father – well, if anything goes wrong, go to the address I gave you and you will be able to find me.’
Ella turned away quickly to hide the sudden tears in her eyes, ashamed at this rush of emotion, and went in search of her husband, for in a very short time they would be disembarking. She wished she felt more enthusiasm, but all that filled her was a nameless terror of this new, strange land that already felt so different even before she descended the gangplank. Repressing such gloomy thoughts, she gathered up her hand luggage and followed William who was striding ahead of her with a confidence she could only envy.