Dr. Carson was about to respond, but we were summoned to dinner, and I gathered up the cards before making my way to the table. Sir Richard insisted I sit next to him. Dr. Carson was to be on my right, but he went to have a word with the captain, briefly leaving Lady Persephone next to me on the other side of his vacant chair. She leaned towards me.
“How is poor, dear Harriet? It’s such a shame that the ship’s motion is taking such a toll on her.”
I remembered my lines. “Yes, but she has been very brave and uncomplaining. She’s improving every day and will soon be able to join you and Sir Richard for dinner.”
“Wonderful.” She daintily spread a linen napkin over her lap. “And you, Charlotte?”
“Me?”
She raised an eyebrow suggestively. “You mustn’t worry excessively about making a good match in Victoria. One hears stories of colonists being a rather uncouth lot, but I’m confident I can help you find a civilized bachelor of superior breeding. In fact, I have someone in mind.”
I took a large sip of wine. “You are too kind.”
She was about to say something more, but thankfully, Dr. Carson took his seat and Captain Hellyer asked John to say grace.
Over the soup course, Sir Richard filled the others in on our earlier discussion of colonial politics and the need to keep the Americans at bay, then Reverend Burk spoke up.
“British rule backed up by the Church, that’s what the colonies need. How else can we keep the Natives in line?”
“It’s all well and good to encourage English settlers, but what opportunities are there once they arrive?” Dr. Carson asked. “If people uproot themselves and come all that way, they must find a better life. Those who stay won’t be the gold seekers.”
“That’s where the gift of land comes in,” Sir Richard said.
I looked up from my soup. “A land gift?”
Sir Richard turned to me. “Under the Proclamation of 1860, the colonial government, led by Governor Douglas, has promised one hundred and sixty acres of Crown land to qualified settlers. One need only promise to farm or ranch. It is excellent land, rich river delta and ideal grazing ranges. Some of the failed gold miners are taking advantage.”
As I returned to my soup, I wondered if Sarah, Florence, Emma, Alice, and the other emigrant brides knew about this opportunity. I would make certain that they did. Perhaps my future husband and I might even take advantage of this generous offer. The idea of a ranch of my own appealed to me very much. I imagined myself on a beautiful mare, perhaps a spotted Appaloosa, riding the range, checking on the new calves in spring. Maybe I could even convince Harriet to stay with me.
Reverend Crossman cleared his throat. “All this land, Sir Richard, who did the government buy it from?”
“Buy? Nobody bought it from anyone. It was empty land. No one lived on it, so the government simply laid claim to it.”
“But why would the Native peoples not work the land, if it’s as good as you say?”
What was Reverend Crossman trying to say? That the British government had simply helped themselves to the land they wanted? If that were true, my dream of a ranch seemed less enticing. I knew what it was like to lose my home, and I didn’t want to be a part of doing that to someone else.
Reverend Burk broke in. “I’m afraid not all peoples are as industrious as the English. We might well look askance at such indolence, but the Lord loves all his flock. That is why, in his great wisdom, he made some of us shepherds and the others sheep.”
John flushed and opened his mouth to respond, but Lady Persephone spoke first.
“Enough talk of politics; I do get weary of it, while I know my husband never does.” She scanned the table. “Tell us about yourself, Reverend Crossman, we know so little about you.”
“There’s not much to tell,” he said. “My father was an only son and inherited land and a manor house in Yorkshire from my grandfather. I had an ordinary but happy childhood there. I am the older of two boys. I’m afraid we drove our poor mother to distraction with all the mischief we got up to as lads. Seems there was no tree we wouldn’t climb or river we wouldn’t swim. We fished a lot and practised with our bows and arrows while trying not to shoot each other. More than once Mother declared us the devil’s spawn.”
A look of amusement crossed Captain’s Hellyer’s face, but Mrs. Burk pursed her lips. I, for one, couldn’t resist smiling at the reverend as he told us about his life. He had a habit of scrubbing his whiskers with his hands when he was thinking, and he laughed easily whenever something struck him as funny, which was often.
“You are the oldest son and your family’s estate will all go to you one day,” Sir Richard said. “Why not stay home and enjoy the easy life you were born into? Why be a minister?”
“I have little interest in my father’s way of life. He provided me with the finest of educations, including Eton and Cambridge. I was meant to use it to further the family’s business interests, but I resisted. In the end, my beleaguered father relented and gave me a choice of the clergy or teaching, though I had to agree to return home and manage the estate when it was time.”
How wonderful it would be to have had the opportunity to do as one wished before family obligation asserted itself, I thought. Our lives were so different and yet in some ways similar. Our fathers’ actions had set the course of our futures.
“Why did you choose the clergy?” I asked.
“It gave me a chance to see foreign lands, learn about other cultures, help some
