Tinsley Chalmers waved to her children from the balcony as they headed down Warung Street, towards the ferry that would take them across the harbour to school. Her husband, Dash, leaned on the railing, sipping his coffee beside her. He was dressed for work in navy trousers and a crisp white shirt with silver cufflinks, but was missing his customary jacket and tie. Dash Chalmers was a man who lived up to his name – both handsome and charming, he was much loved in social circles and generally considered the life of the party. In business, he was lauded as a generous boss who had maintained the integrity of his parents’ company and continued their extraordinary work. Unlike his parents, though, Dash wasn’t a pharmacist. From a young age, he’d been more interested in the business side of The Chalmers Corporation and had topped his class at Harvard Business School.

‘Bye!’ Ellery shouted, spinning in a circle so her dress fanned outwards.

‘Hey Van, I’m looking forward to seeing that captain’s badge on your blazer tonight,’ Dash called.

Donovan groaned. ‘Great, Dad. You’ve just jinxed me,’ he yelled.

The boy had had his hopes pinned on the position ever since he’d started at Wentworth Grammar at the age of eight. A total cricket tragic, he could endlessly spruik statistics for various players and matches. Being captain of the first eleven was a huge honour and he knew that it would make his father incredibly proud to see his name etched onto the mahogany board in Darcy House alongside all the students who had gone before him – a couple of whom had played cricket for Australia. He sometimes wondered if his father wanted it even more than he did.

‘Good luck, sweetheart,’ Tinsley trilled, waving. She turned and looked at her husband. ‘Hadn’t you better get a move on too?’

Dash chuckled. ‘Anyone would think you didn’t want me around, darling.’

Tinsley smiled tightly. She poured herself a second cup of tea from the china pot and tried to ignore the sick feeling in her stomach.

‘Lucy said my first meeting’s been postponed, so I thought I’d have a coffee with my beautiful wife rather than sit in traffic,’ Dash said, gazing at Tinsley intently.

The moment was interrupted by Rosa, their housekeeper, asking if she could get anything else for them.

Tinsley shook her head. ‘No, thank you, and don’t worry about clearing this. I’ll do it. I know you wanted to make a start on the washing.’

‘But that’s Rosa’s job, Tins,’ Dash scolded. He winked at their housekeeper. ‘She’s got everything under control. Haven’t you, Rosa?’

The housekeeper nodded eagerly. ‘Of course, Mr Chalmers, sir.’

‘Why don’t you head into the city and get yourself something lovely to wear for the ball on Friday night?’ Dash said. ‘Oh, and Lucy will watch the kids.’

Tinsley sighed inwardly. ‘Dash, that’s really not fair,’ she said. ‘The poor woman will have already done a full day’s work and it surely falls outside her job description.’

It wasn’t that Tinsley didn’t like Lucy – she was great with Van and Ellery and it must have been a challenge and some working for Dash. She knew he demanded a lot from his staff, and the fact that Lucy had stuck by him for ten years was something of a miracle. It’s just that Tinsley sometimes resented how the woman was always about. And Lucy seemed to know more about her husband than she did.

‘No arguments, darling,’ Dash said, giving her wrist a squeeze. ‘Lucy is happy to do it; you know how much she loves the kids and they adore her.’ He pulled out his wallet and peeled off an embarrassing number of hundred-dollar notes, which he threw onto the table.

Tinsley swallowed her discomfort and swept up the cash, slipping it into her pocket. She smiled at Rosa, who began to clear the children’s dirty breakfast dishes. ‘Thank you,’ she said, feeling the heat rising to her cheeks.

‘Well, I’m off. I’m sorry, darling, but I’ll be late tonight,’ Dash said. ‘We’re on the brink of a major breakthrough with the Influenza X vaccine and I need to speak to the press in the US. We can’t delay the release any longer – the death toll in Asia has been horrendous.’

‘Mr Chalmers, you are a saint,’ Rosa gushed. ‘The world is so much safer because of you.’

Dash grinned and ran a hand through his dark hair. ‘Not me, Rosa. It’s the clever scientists who do all the real work. I just make things happen,’ he replied, then kissed his wife on the forehead and walked inside.

Tinsley brushed away the tears that had welled in the corners of her eyes and smoothed the imaginary creases from her pale pink trousers.

‘Mrs Chalmers, you are the luckiest woman in the world to be married to such a good man who loves you so much,’ Rosa said. She shook her head, marvelling at her own good fortune to be working for such an important family.

‘Yes, the luckiest woman in the world,’ Tinsley repeated, glancing at the tiny camera above the door.