Then, as if to show that despite this gentle sarcasm towards the cold-hearted daughter who had never forgiven him for his second marriage, and had so long alienated herself from her stepbrother and sister, he still bore her a parental affection, he added another clause (also with an unintended sting in it) to the effect that if Mrs Westonley should have issue, male or female, five thousand pounds was to be invested for her first child, to be paid upon coming of age, also the like sum for the first child of my beloved and affectionate daughter, Mary Rayner.
Poor Lizzie! said Tom Gerrard to his brother-in-law, Westonley, after the contents of the will were made known, she wont be pleased at this, I fear, Ted.
She wont, Tom, replied Westonley frankly, as he placed his hand on Gerrards shoulder with a kindly gesture, but, between you and I, she has nothing to be angered at. I am pretty well in, and if I died to-morrow, she would be well provided for. And I dont thinkIm not disloyal to my wifeI dont think that she was quite as kind as she might have been to your mother and to you, and to poor Mary.
Of course the death of Mrs Gerrard simultaneously with that of her husband, somewhat complicated matters, for she had made no will, and was evidently not aware of the nature of that made by Captain Gerrard; for she was of too gentle and kindly a nature to have permitted him to have written anything that could have aroused a feeling of resentment in the mind of his first-born child, although that child, from the day she returned from England had treated her with unconcealed hauteur and coldness.
At last, however, matters were finally settled, and Mrs Westonley, although she did resent most bitterly what she called her fathers wicked will, consented, at her husbands earnest request, to take charge of and educate Mary Rayners orphan child.
It will be a disgrace to us, Elizabeth, if we send the poor child to strangers, Westonley had said to her, almost sternly. Tom, although he is a bachelor, would be overjoyed if we let her go to him.
He is most unfitted to have the care of a child, said Mrs Westonley, icily; from his conversation I should imagine he would be a most decidedly improper person.
But he means well, you know; but, like your poor father, hes a bit too outspoken and rough. And and Elizabeth, we have no children of our own, and you will get to love the poor little one.
I will make no guarantee as to conferring my affections upon a child whose disposition may prove to be utterly unworthy of the tuition and Christian training I have undertaken to give herat your request, was the acidulous reply.
Westonley groaned inwardly, but made no answer.
A few months after this conversation, Tom Gerrard made a short visit to Marumbah Downs to see Westonley and his dead sisters child. He had just returned from the little bay near Cape Howe, where the Cassowary had been castaway, and where his father, mother, and Dr Rayner had been buried, together with all the other passengers and members of the crew whose bodies had been washed ashore. After dinner, he, Westonley, and his step-sister, were discussing Captain Gerrards will, when just then there came in a neighbour of Westonleysa squatter named Brookewho was one of the executors. Mrs Westonley received him rather coldly, and when Tom Gerrard began describing to him the situation of the place where his father and mother were interred, she listened with an ill-concealed impatience.
Well! Mrs Westonley, said Brooke, stretching out his spurred and booted feet, your father and mother died togetheras they lived, hand in hand, and heart to heart.
The late Mrs Gerrard was not my mother.
There was a dead silence, and then Tom Gerrard rose, and looked his step-sister in the face with undisguised and bitter contempt.
No, thank God! she was not, but she was mine, I am proud to say.
Then he held out his hand to Westonley, Good-bye, Ted, Im leaving.
For heavens sake, Tom! Elizabeth, you forget yourself! Oh, I say, Brooke, dont let him go.
But Tom Gerrard, his heart aflame with anger, pushed Brooke and his brother-in-law aside, went to the stables, saddled his horse, and rode off to the Marumbah township, fifteen miles away, and next morning Westonley received a note.
Dear old Ted,You and I will always be the same old pals. I know you will be kind to Marys little one, and will write to me from time to time, as I shall to you. But I cant forgive Lizzie. You will say I write in anger. I do. And yet I am a man quick to forgive an ordinary affront, even from a woman. You understand, old boy. TOM.
And so for many years, Tom Gerrard kept away from Marumbah, till his step-sister and Westonley wrote, and urged him to visit them.
CHAPTER III
Breakfast was served punctually at eight oclock, and Tom Gerrard, whose equanimity was now quite restored, took his seat opposite his sister with a smiling face, and in a few minutes, under the sunshine of his genial manner, Mrs Westonley, much against her own inclination, began to thaw, and presently found herself chatting quite pleasantly with him.
Ive sprung myself on you two or three days before you expected me, Lizzie, but Im sure you dont mind.
Indeed no, Thomas. I am very glad I wish Edward was here, but the mailman may bring me a letter from him this morning. He said in his last letter he would be sure to return home by Saturday, and to-day is Thursday. But what brought you here so quickly, Thomas?
Well, I was very lucky in getting a passage in one of the new Dutch mail steamers, instead of having to wait for the slow old Eagle so I reached Melbourne a week earlier than I expected. Then at Melbourne I caught the steamer for Port Albert, just as she was leaving. At Port Albert, instead of waiting two days for the coach for Marumbah, I bought a couple of horses, a gun, and some other gear, and came the ninety odd miles comfortably, instead of being shaken to pieces in one of Cobbs awful coaches.
But what an unnecessary expense, Thomas. The two horses
Oh! the whole thing, gun and all included, didnt run into fifty pounds.
Fifty pounds! Oh, Thomas! And your coach fare would have been but three pounds! You really are dreadfully extravagant.
Not at all, Lizzie. I shall not lose much in the end. Ted will buy the horses, and all the gear from me. I think I can jew him into giving me something for them, even if it is only thirty quid.
Thirty what?
Thirty quidthirty pounds. Now my dear old Lizzie, dont pretend to be shocked at the word quid. You know youve heard all the colonial expressionsand poor dad used them pretty frequently.
Indeed he did, Thomastoo frequently, Im afraid.
Ah, well, Lizzie my dear, it doesnt matter now. By-the-way, doesnt little Mary breakfast with you?
Oh yes, usually; but this morning I told Janet to give her her breakfast in her bedroom, then after she has made herself presentable she can join us. Im sure she and that dreadful boy Jim will get you to inspect their cubby house down on the river bank in the course of the day. Sometimes Edward makes me quite cross by the way he yields to their stupid whims. He actually spent a whole day in helping them build their precious cubby house.
Gerrard laughed: Good old Tedjust as much of a boy as he was twenty years ago! But who is this youngster Jim?