The Three Miss Allens, page 28
‘You can forfeit if you like,’ James said, smiling. ‘Which would mean Sunnybrae would keep the Cup.’
‘There’s no honour in winning like that now, is there?’ Ruby replied.
James raised an eyebrow. ‘There’s only winning, Ruby.’
They all turned at the sound of Mrs Nightingale’s voice.
‘I have some more lemonade for you all.’ She was carrying a wooden tray in her hands with a tall glass jug and four glasses and caught herself once, stopping to right her load.
‘Watch out, aunt.’ The young woman walking just behind Mrs Nightingale skipped to her side to steady the glasses.
‘Thank you, Edith. Such a good girl. This is my niece on my brother’s side. Edith Robinson.’
Polite hellos were exchanged and Edith smiled politely before lowering her gaze.
Mrs Nightingale’s cheeks were flushed and sweat beaded on her brow and upper lip. Poor Mrs Nightingale, Ruby thought. For the first time in all the years they had been coming to Remarkable Bay, Ruby saw how hard she toiled so her guests could have a relaxing holiday. She was up and about from first light, and she switched off the lights and locked the front door at night. She checked every pot of tea was just the right temperature and Ruby guessed she pulled the trays of scones out of the oven herself. All day, seven days a week during the holiday season, she managed the activities of Bayview, its guests and its kitchen and laundry, with attention to detail and great pride.
And now Mrs Nightingale was out in the heat bringing refreshments to her guests so they didn’t faint. She really was a kind woman and Ruby realised, to her shame, that she’d never appreciated it before today. She was beginning to become aware of many things she’d never paid attention to before, as if she’d finally opened her eyes into the bright light and seen the world for what it truly was.
‘Oh, you poor things,’ the older woman clucked. ‘Here. Have a glass of lemonade. I don’t want you all to succumb before you’ve returned the Croquet Cup to Bayview. It’s been a long time since we surrendered it and it’s high time we brought it back to the mantel, don’t you think?’
Ruby went to the woman and took the tray from her. ‘Why, thank you so much, Mrs Nightingale. This is very considerate of you.’
‘What are you doing?’ she asked, flabbergasted.
‘We’re all braving the heat for the good of Bayview, aren’t we? So we’re all suffering equally. Why don’t I hold the tray while you pour?’
‘Why, that’s very kind of you, Ruby.’ Mrs Nightingale lifted the jug and filled each of the four glasses. Ruby thought how thirst-quenching they looked, with slices of lemon and mint swirling in each glass. She was already thirsty, the wind having dried her mouth in the five minutes she’d been outside. They each took a glass and sipped it thankfully while they waited for the two extra players. Bayview’s team comprised a reluctant Ruby, a very reluctant Adeline and Edith, who was a strapping young woman with a wide smile. Ruby had seen her once or twice, when she’d looked into the kitchen at Bayview. Edith had been rolling dough on the big wooden table in the centre of the kitchen, her sleeves pushed up her arms, and singing quietly to herself, something that sounded like a lullaby. They made three players and they were still waiting for the sunburnt Jack Dougall’s replacement.
‘Oh, here he is!’ Mrs Nightingale looked past Adeline and Ruby and squealed in girlish delight. ‘I have a very good feeling about this match, ladies. A very good feeling indeed.’
Ruby lifted a hand to hold her recalcitrant hat on her head and turned to look.
Something in Ruby sparked and tensed. Cain was striding towards them, wearing white trousers and a white shirt, its sleeves turned up neatly to his elbows. Ruby would know his long-legged lope anywhere.
‘Hello, Cain,’ Mrs Nightingale called out.
Although Ruby had imagined his face a thousand times, she hadn’t seen Cain since the evening at the Harbour Master’s Walk when he’d dropped to one knee and proposed to her. It had been two weeks since the night she’d hurt him so terribly and herself, too. She knew she would regret her decision until she took her last breath. She had believed she would never see him again and yet there he was. This would be her last chance to savour every word, every look, every smile. They would have to last a lifetime.
Cain doffed his hat. ‘Hello, Mrs Nightingale.’ His voice was quiet and serious.
The older woman fluttered to him with a glass of lemonade. ‘Thank you so very much for coming to rescue us today, Cain. We would have had to forfeit the game—and the Cup—if you hadn’t been such a gentlemen.’ She turned to Ruby and winked. ‘He’s a lovely young man, is our Cain Stapleton. Didn’t hesitate when I told him yesterday that we needed a fourth team member.’
‘You’ve been very good to my family over the years. It’s the least I could do. Even if I don’t know the rules.’
‘It’s easy,’ Edith said. ‘We’re playing two games, with two teams of two. The object is to hit our balls through the six hoops in order and then finish by slamming the ball into the centre peg.’
‘I can do that,’ he said. ‘Is that for me?’ Cain asked, nodding to the glass of lemonade Mrs Nightingale had forgotten to give him.
‘Of course. Here you are.’
Cain took the glass from her hand and lifted it to his lips, drinking slowly, his head back, exposing the tanned strength of his neck to the sun, until the glass was empty.
Ruby tried not to look, tried not to feel the quiver inside at the sight of him, but couldn’t draw her eyes away. He didn’t give the glass back to Mrs Nightingale, but walked to Ruby and placed it on the tray. She held her breath as he approached.
There was the quickest of glances but his lovely aqua eyes were cold, his mouth unsmiling. ‘Hello, Miss Allen,’ he said, almost under his breath. Despite what he’d said to Mrs Nightingale, he didn’t appear to be happy about being called in to save the day for Bayview.
‘Hello, Mr Stapleton,’ she replied, her voice as breathy as she felt.
And then Mrs Nightingale was beside her. ‘Do you two lovely young people know each other? My heavens. How did I not know that? Isn’t it wonderful of Cain to step in when we need him so desperately?’
Ruby looked at her feet. ‘Yes. It’s very kind.’ I would expect nothing less from a man like Cain, she wanted to say. For so many reasons, she held her tongue.
‘Well, well, well. Who’s this ring-in?’ James approached and turned his attention to Cain. He stood to the side, holding his croquet mallet like a cane in one hand, with Adeline glued to his other side.
‘This is Cain Stapleton,’ Ruby said, before Mrs Nightingale could make another fuss.
Ruby watched the way James eyed Cain up and down, studying his height and the strength in his shoulders, before extending a hand and shaking Cain’s in a reluctant greeting. James was clearly judging his competition and believed his team might come up wanting. ‘I’ve seen your face before. Have we met?’
Cain looked at James directly. ‘Yes, I think we have. I deliver milk to Sunnybrae.’
‘Right. Yes, that must be it,’ he replied, his tone suddenly cold. ‘Listen, old chap. I do believe you’re wearing cricket whites. Not sure they’re suited to the croquet courts of Remarkable Bay or to our friendly competition. I’d hate for you to be disqualified on a technicality.’
Cain looked over the lawn to the bay, glistening blue, the horizon hazy in the distance and the heat. ‘Whites are whites, I would have thought.’
Adeline nudged James. ‘Oh, James, don’t be such a fuddy-duddy. I’m sure you’re going to win, so what does it matter? Can’t we just start so we can get this game over with?’
Ruby noted Mrs Nightingale’s crestfallen expression and interrupted before Adeline could be any ruder.
‘It’s because of the heat, Mrs Nightingale. That’s what my sister means. She feels it much more than we do, what with her pale complexion.’
Cain gave Ruby a quick, knowing glance before holding out his hand to Adeline. ‘Miss Allen, I’m Cain Stapleton. Pleased to meet you.’
Adeline looked at him distractedly, her hand extended. ‘And you.’ They shook politely and then Cain’s hand dropped to his side, forming a fist.
Ruby watched the awareness flare in his eyes, and it was only the slightest glance her way that revealed he understood her connection. This was her sister, Adeline, who was about to marry James Stuart. Edwin’s brother. She wanted to cry for him and for herself, too. The ties that bound her to her world were real to him now, on stark display on the croquet lawn of Remarkable Bay, and that hurt her more than words could ever explain. He had come face-to-face with her future, and the people who would populate it, and Cain, dearest Cain, had kept his chin held high and his pride intact. She found herself loving him even more.
‘Let’s begin this game then, shall we, before we all fry?’ James rearranged his panama hat and his team mates materialised around him like a Roman phalanx. ‘A coin toss all right with you, Stapleton?’
Cain reviewed his team. Ruby, Adeline and Edith.
‘We’re ready,’ Ruby said.
Cain called, ‘Heads,’ as James threw a sixpence in the air. They watched it spin and flip and then land on the yellowing lawn. It landed tails.
‘Tails it is,’ James announced.
Adeline cheered as if they just won a Test against England with one ball to spare. Ruby thought it particularly disloyal.
‘I believe we’ll start,’ James announced, ‘Harry, you and I will be the first team and we’ll take the blue and the black.’
‘I’ll go in the first team,’ Edith said. Adeline was quickly by her side. ‘And so will I. The sooner I can sit down the better.’
Ruby and Cain held back while the first game got underway. James played the first ball and it sailed through the hoop and down the court. The players walked off after it which left Cain and Ruby alone at the starting stake.
‘How are you, Cain?’ Ruby finally asked.
‘I’m very well, thank you, Miss Allen.’ He was following the play. Edith had just struck the ball and it had careened out of bounds.
‘Are you familiar with the game?’
‘Not one bit. Only the toffs play croquet.’ Ruby heard what he meant. ‘I like to swing a cricket bat, myself.’
‘I’m only doing this for Mrs Nightingale. She’s been so good to us over the years and this Cup seems to be very important to her.’
Ruby avoided Cain’s eyes by studying Adeline’s attempt at a roquet. She missed the ball and seemed to have hit her foot instead, although not with much force judging by her giggles. James had dropped to one knee to inspect the damage more closely.
‘It is important,’ Cain said quietly. ‘Her husband set up the competition as a novelty for guests before he went off to the war. He died in 1917, at Pozieres, and since then, Mrs Nightingale has run this place on her own. Even when times were very tough, she always took our milk. She almost single-handedly keeps the butcher going, not to mention the grocer.’
People were indeed more than they appeared. Ruby was learning that now. She’d never thought enough of Mrs Nightingale to find out anything about her. Ruby turned to Cain. ‘So that’s why you agreed to play with our team today.’
He looked at her a long time before answering. ‘Yes. For Mrs Nightingale.’
She had no right to hope he was playing to see her. It wasn’t fair to think it. It wasn’t right to wish for that to be the case. Her heart wept at the realisation of all that she’d lost.
Adeline seemed to have recovered and was limping after her ball. ‘Where’s your other sister?’ Cain asked.
Ruby swallowed the lump in her throat. ‘She’s had to leave us, I’m afraid. She took up an excellent opportunity to study in Melbourne. Ornithology.’
‘Congratulations to her. But I thought your father didn’t approve of study for girls?’
Ruby obfuscated. ‘When it comes to the youngest daughters, I do believe they can get away with anything.’
James was in play now and he seemed to be taking the whole game rather seriously, judging by his slow deliberation of the trajectory of his ball. He leaned down, eyed the court, and then stood, front on, holding the mallet like a pendulum between his legs, swinging it back and forth in practice before he lowered it and whacked the ball hard and fast. It rocketed along the grass and slipped through a hoop without touching the sides. Traitorously, Adeline applauded.
‘So it’s his brother you are to marry.’
Ruby took a deep breath, hoping it would help the word slip out without it scratching her throat. ‘Yes.’
‘Is he—your fiancé— anything like his brother?’
Ruby shook her head. Edwin was nothing like James, in looks or in temperament, in achievement or ambition. ‘No.’
‘I’m glad to hear it.’ Ruby was confused at the disdain in his tone.
‘For whatever faults you may see, James does love my sister.’
‘I would concede that.’
Ruby’s curiosity was piqued. ‘Why have you taken this set against James? You don’t know him at all.’
Cain looked at her. ‘Edwin isn’t here for me to hate, so I’ll hate his brother instead.’
Ruby let his words sink in. ‘I can’t believe you could ever hate anybody. It’s not in your nature, Cain. I know that about you already.’
Cain leaned close so he could be sure no one else would hear. ‘I do hate him and his brother and I always will. Because he will have you, Ruby. The life you will create with him will be the life we should have had. Can’t you understand that? If I can’t love you, I will forever hate the man who does.’
Ruby held on to her mallet, pressed it into the ground for some purchase to stop herself from toppling over. He’d had two weeks to think of what to say, about how to react, to find the words to hurt her. He’d been very successful. She felt his anger and his hurt.
‘You can’t mean that, Cain. All this talk of hate.’ She couldn’t name her greatest fear, that it wasn’t Edwin he really hated but her. For what she’d done to him. For loving him when she wasn’t free to. How could she live with herself?
‘This is the world you’ve chosen over me, is it? The croquet and tea parties and someone else’s freshly squeezed lemonade delivered to you on platters, and families like them.’
Ruby felt the tears stinging her eyes, rising up once again at the knowledge that there was so much she couldn’t say. She would have to let Cain believe the worst of her if that was what it took to protect Clara and to protect her family.
‘Is this why you agreed to play on Bayview’s team, Cain? So you could turn up and tell me all the things you really feel? About how much you hate me and my family?’
Cain’s fingers clenched tight around his mallet, his knuckles whitening. ‘You know that’s not true, Ruby. I could never hate you. I’ve told you the truth once about how I feel and I can’t say it again, for my own sake.’
There was a loud crack in front of them. A blue ball had hit the closest stake and landed with a thud near Ruby’s foot.
‘One home, one to go,’ James announced with a smirk as he positioned himself next to Ruby. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Cain take a deep breath in, and straighten his spine.
‘Well done, Stuart.’
‘Why, thank you. How do you think you’ll fare with him as your partner, Ruby?’ James nodded to Cain.
She pressed her lips together for a moment so she could get her scrambled thoughts in order. ‘I think we’ll make a perfect team, James.’
And she walked up the court to cheer Adeline home.
CHAPTER
27
The trunks and suitcases belonging to the Allen family had been packed for hours and had been waiting out by the front fence in neat rows in the blazing January sun.
As the two Miss Allens and their sombre parents waited on Ocean Street for their taxi driver to pull over and load everything, Ruby was determined that no one would see her tears.
Five Allens had arrived and only four were returning early to their outwardly comfortable Adelaide life. Where was Clara? Ruby had thought about her sister with an ever-increasing sense of dread. She must have reached Sydney by now, of course she must have. It had been two weeks since Ruby had escorted her youngest sister to Victor Harbor to take the train back to Adelaide. It had only been two weeks but it felt like an eternity. She’d had to bear the entire secret burden of what her parents had done to her younger sister, smuggling Clara away as if she were a criminal. Every day since she’d left, Ruby had waited for a letter, a note, something to indicate Clara had arrived in Sydney and was safely with Aunt Jane. Every day, she was disappointed by Mrs Nightingale’s news that nothing had come down in the post on the Adelaide train.
If Ruby was racked, Adeline was clueless; believing without question the lie that Clara had taken up an opportunity in Melbourne to study. She had been too completely lovesick about James anyway to pay Clara any more attention in her absence than she’d done in her presence. She’d spent little time at Bayview in their final two weeks in Remarkable Bay. Adeline was preparing for her life as Mrs James Stuart, and had spent more time with her future in-laws than her own family. Ruby had been relieved at her absence. It meant she had their bedroom to herself during the day, and didn’t have to hide her tears over Clara or Cain. She hadn’t had the energy to do much of anything other than to go over and over everything that had happened during that final holiday.
Ruby had gone downstairs for meals and tried not to cry when she saw the creamy butter set out in white bowls on the tables. She couldn’t eat it any more and, in fact, didn’t have much of an appetite for anything. Two days after Cain’s proposal, she’d written to Edwin, telling him the news: that she had decided to say yes. He’d written back immediately—that same day judging by the date on the letter—setting out in sensible terms how happy he was to hear it. She had explained that she thought they should be married as soon as possible. She couldn’t tell Edwin the reason why: that it was unthinkable for her to stay in her family’s home after what her parents had decided for Clara. Her rage hadn’t subsided since she’d waved Clara off on the train. It had merely calcified, stuck in her throat like a fish bone. She knew she could bring no more shame to her family, but she could no longer look her parents in the eye and see a real family. Their actions had struck at the very heart of love, of compassion, of any sense of security Ruby had ever had. The only way out, the only way to escape them, was to become someone’s wife. With the heaviest of hearts and a dulled sense of her own future, she had agreed to go forward into a future she knew would be empty and loveless.
