“Forgive me, Papa. But you need to see reason. At least the estate will stay in the family if I marry Ernest. That surely accounts for something.”
Gertrude snuggled back in the wing-backed chair and pretended to read her book. Too intimidated by Papa to have her say on the idea of Ernest marrying her sister, she sat and listened, knowing Wilz would no doubt win the old argument yet again if she stuck to her guns.
“I don’t believe so. We all know how much money that family goes through. Besides, Ernest is afraid of hard work. Everyone can see that in the way he’s either hanging around here or clubbing it in Sydney. Hardly done a decent day’s work in his life.”
“You know he’s trained as an architect, Papa and that takes more brain power than physical work does. How convenient of you to forget all of these little things and only concentrate on what annoys you.” Wilz stood up, glared at him with her haughty stare. “I doubt you would approve of any man I chose to marry.” She stalked out of the library, leaving her father growling and muttering at her impudence.
By evening, he had all but forgotten the earlier argument and Gertrude breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that if he had still been simmering over it she never would stand a chance of getting away from the estate and his repressive nature.
Gertrude couldn’t believe Papa had given her permission to go to Sydney with Wilhelmina. Beyond excited as she prepared for bed that night, she knew it would be hard to settle down to sleep. Father had retired to the library to drink whisky with Ernest and read the latest news about the war. No doubt they would argue and more than likely end up listening to the radio. Wilhelmina had retired early so she’d be up bright and early for the morning train. Gertrude had already packed her suitcase, unpacked it and packed it again, so caught up in the excitement of it all.
She was prepared to beg or grovel if she had to, to get into the Red Cross. Surely if Wilz backed her, she stood a better chance. There may come a time when Papa had no choice but to let her go and she wanted to be ready to fly the coop at the first instance. Heaven forbid Hitler should invade England, but if he did and the rumours were rife at the moment, she wanted to be on the ground helping their troops, not floating around this great old house playing at ladies when nobody cared about such things anymore. It was a tiresome existence with no real prospect of achieving anything remotely worthwhile.
The next morning, Gertrude woke up before Primrose came in with her early-morning tea. She dressed and hurried down the hallway to her sister’s room.
“Come in.” Wilz lay on her bed, hands above her head, her dark hair lay spread out on the white lace pillowcase.
“You’re up and ready to go. Talk about keen, darling.” She blinked her eyes and smiled.
“I have to write a note to Janice Ferris. We were supposed to be taking tea together today and in my haste I forgot. I’ll catch up with her when I get home. You never know, I might have good news to share with her.”
“No doubt. But all that aside, Gertie, we have to make sure we win Papa over sooner rather than later. I hate to see you stuck down here when you dislike it so much.” A tap at the door and Primrose bustled in with a tray. “Seriously, where do you go apart from Janice’s house once in a while? It’s not as though you have many friends here. I fail to see why you shouldn’t leave and do what you want with your life.”
Primrose moved over to Wilz’s bed and Gertie moved out of the way, taking a seat by the window. She pushed aside the curtain and gazed out over the estate.
“Would you care for your cup of tea in here, Miss Gertrude?” The maid put the tray on the bed over Wilhelmina’s legs, smoothing down the quilt.
“Yes, thank you.” Hard as it was to remain calm in the face of such an eventful day, Gertrude tried her best to take a leisurely cup of tea with her sister before leaving her to dress for the train. Her own case sat inside her bedroom door ready to be taken downstairs to the car straight after breakfast.
“What else do you have planned, Wilz? Any shopping this trip?”
“I might have a look in at the milliners for a new hat. Frivolous, I know in these times, but I have a luncheon shortly that I must dress up for. Far be it from me to turn up looking anything less than glamorous or I’ll never hear the end of it. You know what those Sydney matrons are like when they find something or someone to pick on. Terribly frightful, I really can’t stand it.” She put down her cup and moved to lift her tray, but Gertrude jumped up, hurried across the room and beat her to it, lifting it and placing it on the floor.
“Thank you, darling. Head on downstairs to breakfast, there’s a love. I shan’t be long and then we can catch the early train.” She threw back the eiderdown and slid her feet to the floor.
“See you soon, then.” Gertrude hurried from the room and skipped down the stairs, her heart pattering faster than normal at the sheer prospect of the trip. Imagine, a whole week away from home. Oh, what a joy that would be. No more Papa watching over her, no more boring household duties for the remainder of the week.
Two hours after leaving
