most glorious beauties on Australian soil. Although these flowers are nothing compared to your individual loveliness, we hope they can brighten your day as you both have brightened our world. Sincerely and forever yours, Mr Hilton Warner and Captain James Pollings.” Meg looked up and sighed with dreamy rapture. “I know they did it together as a thank you and so it is all very proper, but the effort it must have taken them this morning… That alone deserves our devotion.”
“Devotion? A little too strong, don’t you think?” Nicola swallowed the emotional lump in her throat. No man had ever bought her such a display of flowers. In fact, the only time she’d received flowers was the sprig of Wattle blossom Nathaniel gave her at Fran’s birthday picnic. Her gaze swept the room again. All this was such a romantic gesture. She wasn’t used to men giving her attention. What was she to do now? How did other women cope? Was there a ritual she needed to learn? Why didn’t she know these things? No books had taught her about this. Panic gripped her.
Perhaps, instead of helping her father to teach boys, she should have been asking her mother for advice on matters of the heart, but at the time her frail mother had never seemed to be the one who would happily divulge private knowledge, and if Nicola was honest, the thought of courting and courtship itself had seldom presented itself in the forefront of her daily occupations.
She stared at Meg, who skipped around the room, bending to sniff each of the bouquets. “What do we do about all this?”
Meg laughed and clapped her hands. “Do? Why, we do nothing, except write a thank you note. Oh, and hope they have more surprises for us.”
Nicola stepped back towards the door. “No, I don’t want more surprises.”
“Why ever not? They are so handsome and-”
“We hardly know them, Meg.”
“This is how we get more acquainted, silly. Lord, Nicola, there is much you know about things that don’t matter so much, but there’s even more you don’t know about the important issues, such as love and romance.”
Nicola left the room with Meg’s words ringing in her ears. How true they were. She could teach a child to spell their name or find England on a map, but when it came to men, romance and matters of the heart, she knew very little. Still, it only confirmed her belief that she was meant to be a governess, to be a spinster, all her life.
She retreated into her study, where she could lose herself in accounts and household issues until Frances arrived, but as she sat at her desk, she felt such a heaviness in her chest, a weight pressing down making it hard to breathe.
A knock sounded at the door and she turned when it opened. Mr Belfroy stood there, wearing an apologetic smile. “Forgive my intrusion, Miss Douglas.”
Standing, the worry over men eased a little as she concentrated on the dear man who came forward and kissed her hand.
“I’m sorry to interrupt.”
“You can never interrupt me, Mr Belfroy, I am always at your service.”
“Indeed, you are good.” He leaned heavily on his cane, the other hand held his hat.
“Shall I take those for you?” Nicola gestured to his belongings, wondering why Hannah, the maid, hadn’t done her job properly when answering the door.
“No, thank you, I cannot stay. I have only called for a moment, to discuss with you an idea my nephew mentioned to me this morning.”
“Mr Warner?”
“Yes. He thinks we should hold a ball, a charity ball, in honour of this house and the fine women in it.”
“A ball?”
“To raise funds for you all and the upkeep of the house.”
“But I thought you had sufficient…Forgive me, I don’t want to appear to be rude-”
“Oh no, you must not worry yourself. Indeed I have the money, but it is the future Hilton is thinking of, a future when I will not be here, or you…”
She blinked, not comprehending. “I don’t understand, sir.”
Mr Belfroy perched his buttocks on a wooden chair by the unlit fire, his knees creaking as they bent. “Miss Douglas, for this house to continue long after I am dead, money needs to be raised. A charity must be created and maintained by a board of trustees. Hilton believes so and has convinced me of the same.”
“I see.”
“A ball will only be the beginning, but it will be a way to announce the efforts of this house, to make