Placing her hands flat on the table, she leaned towards the horrid man. “You, sir, are no gentleman.” She squashed the intense desire to scratch his eyes out. Her ferocious look must have jerked some sense into Meg, as the younger woman hurriedly got to her feet, her laughter dying. Nicola pulled her away from the table and out of the room. Not once did she look back.
Out on the street they drew whistles from drunk sailors loitering under a lamppost. Nicola jerked Meg closer to her side. “I should never have come to this damnable uncouth country! What does it have to offer me!”
Chapter Four
Sullen, Meg slouched on the sofa, picking at the cushions. Nicola ignored her and read the newspaper. Rain lashed the windows and the fire did little to warm the main sitting room. The door opened and the draught made smoke billow out from the fireplace.
Mrs Eldersley bustled in, giving Nicola the thought that the woman never did anything slow, and frowned at the wispy cloud. “I’ll need the chimney sweep brought in shortly.” She paused to look at Meg. “What’s up with you, Miss Robinson, have you not heard from your last advertisement?”
“No, I haven’t.” Meg tidied her skirts and glanced at Nicola. “Although, I am certain Miss Douglas thinks I have advertised for the wrong position.”
“Oh?” Mrs Eldersley smiled at Nicola. “Whatever does she mean, Miss Douglas?”
“I have no idea, Mrs Eldersley.” She folded the newspaper and raised her eyebrow at Meg. Since their unfortunate outing the previous week, they had quarrelled incessantly about the foolishness of Meg accepting the gentleman’s offer.
Donald Eldersley, a quiet man who hardly spoke, entered, carrying a crate of chopped firewood. He nodded to them as he crossed the room and set the crate down. His barking cough made him the centre of attention as his wife hurried to attend him.
“Nay, husband, tell me you haven’t been out in the rain?” Mrs Eldersley threw her hands up in despair. “I told you we have enough wood down in the cellar to last the day, without you needing to venture out in this weather.”
He wiped his mouth with his handkerchief and then slowly smiled. “Don’t fuss, woman.” He coughed again and, hunched over, stumbled out of the room.
“What am I to do with him?” Mrs Eldersley cried before running after him.
Meg rose and sidled over to Nicola. “Promise me you won’t stay mad forever.” She ran her fingers over the sofa’s material, drawing an invisible pattern. “It’s no fun only talking to Miss Downing for she is always crying and Miss Burstall is a hard faced-”
Nicola held up her hand, stopping her. “I promise not to stay mad forever, if you promise not to behave in such a way again.”
Meg flounced away to the hearth. “Oh, all right, I promise, but really, it was all harmless.”
“To start with, perhaps, but I am certain Mr Lombard thought of you as some sort of sport.”
“He was fun though.” Meg shrugged. “And far more entertaining than his sour friend who did nothing but glare the entire time.”
A tingle ran down Nicola’s back as she thought of those violet-blue eyes assessing her. Nathaniel West’s arrogant image had stayed with her and at odd times she found her thoughts straying to ponder him.
“I was stuck out in the bush for a whole year with no one to associate with.” Meg sighed. “You have no idea what it is like out there. The family stayed aloof from me and in my free time I had only the workmen to talk to.”
“Perhaps your behaviour with the workmen caused the family to remain aloof from you? Is that why you were sent back to Sydney, because of your association with labourers?”
Meg grinned. “At least they were fun.”
“Perhaps the wrong sort of fun though, hmm?” Nicola shook her head. She was only five years older than Meg, but, at times, it felt thirty years instead.
Strolling over to the window, Meg fiddled with the curtain as the rain splattered against the glass. “What made you come out here, Nicola? Can you tell me, or must you have your secrets?”
“I have no secrets. My parents died two years ago, within six months of each other. The schoolhouse was needed for the new teacher, who replaced my father. I had nowhere to go. For a while I lodged with some neighbours before I found a position as a governess of sorts with a family, but they weren’t nice people. Their boys were