The Landowner's Secret Page 23
At the gate John lifted a hand to Robert in farewell and then guided their newly arrived German guests off in the other direction, lost in animated conversation. Tom Wright had honoured his deal, and there was every reason to believe this newly arrived man, this riesling expert from the Rhineland, was everything he’d claimed to be.
‘I saw it.’ Robert offered his arm, which his wife took with glove-splitting, bone-crushing enthusiasm.
‘I made it so they spoke to me like an equal, an’ I reckon they couldn’t’ve liked it much.’
‘What makes you think that?’
She didn’t bother honouring the question with an answer, but a glance down at her face, lips pursed against a smile, and he knew she was harder to offend than a little snobbery in town.
‘I think you’re growing on them, Alice. Give them a while to come down off their high horses and you’ll see.’
‘If you say so, Robert,’ she responded with the long-suffering tone of a wife of several decades, not several months.
He had seen. He’d seen his wife conduct a conversation with some of the worst sticklers for propriety—all on her own, as he’d been caught in a conversation with the magistrate at the time—and had seen her come out of the discussion triumphant.
‘Robert?’ Alice’s tone had changed.
‘Yes?’
‘Do you know where Ian went? Where he really went, I mean, not a pretty story to make me happy.’
They’d not heard from—or of—the brother for long enough that it could only be a good thing.
‘I have my ideas,’ he began, ‘but nothing certain. North, I suppose. He might not have too much sense in him, but I think he knows to stay away now.’
He watched her closely as she thought about that, subconsciously matching her steps to his, moving them along as one. They’d reached the riverbank, at the place where the Murrumbidgee curved, creating a grassy space favoured for picnics and impromptu cricket matches. More than one ball had been lost to the water over the years.
A couple of swans glided by silently, the water glistening on their jet-coloured feathers. Alice watched them until they were out of sight, and then smiled unexpectedly, disarming him completely as she seemed to as her regular custom.
‘He’d better stay away. We’ve too much to do to worry about him at the moment.’
And they did. At home and elsewhere, with the Intercolonial Trades Union Congress coming up in October. Alice would get her first experience of the world beyond the tablelands.
‘Is he really from Germany? Your new man?’ she asked as she glanced back towards where they’d left the town’s newest resident and his wife. It was too early to be certain, but Robert was of the impression the man would be a godsend for the lot of them.
‘Johann …’ Alice tried out the name under her breath, her footsteps crunching on the gravel path alongside his own. ‘I didn’t know what a German man would be like—don’t think I’ve ever met one before.’
They reached a break in the trees and she tilted her face up to the sunlight. ‘He’s all right, even if I don’t know what he says half the time.’
‘He spoke German to you?’
‘No, I mean all those things he says about makin’ wine.’
‘I’ve no doubt you’ll learn the terms as we go along. I promise it will be much less painful than learning Latin.’
‘It’d better be,’ she said darkly.
Smiling, Robert tucked her hand a little more tightly through his arm as they continued on their way. The winter chill had long ago given way to lovely spring days, a respite before the smothering heat of summer made walks outside difficult to bear.
‘’Course I can’t say for certain, but Robert, I really think he knows what he’s doin’.’
Which was deeply reassuring, as Robert happened to agree. He watched as his wife paused to bend and pick a couple of bluebells.
‘I’m glad you think so. As long as he is as competent when it comes to all things viticulture, he could be from Siberia and at this moment I’d struggle to take issue with it. In fact, he could be some sort of charlatan—an actor, perhaps—and I wouldn’t mind much as long as he helps us succeed in the next couple of years.’
‘I think you’d mind in that case,’ she pointed out, and they both paused to watch a carriage pass on the river road.
‘If he was an actor,’ Robert said thoughtfully, ‘he might know the words to your Pirates of Penzance.’
He saw the memory of a past conversation come over her face.
‘It’s not “my” Pirates of Penzance, Robert. I’ve never seen it.’
Which was going to change in the near future, but that was a surprise for her birthday a few weeks away. Despite all the work that lay ahead for Endmoor, Robert was still absolutely determined to have a honeymoon of some description, late though it may be. And he’d be taking her to the Theatre Royal whilst in Sydney for the congress.
There was a lot to look forward to.
Once the vehicle was past, Robert bent to kiss her cheek. She put up only the smallest of protests when he moved his attention, briefly, to her lips.
‘You’ll be ruinin’ me newfound respectability,’ she told him in a grave voice when he pulled away.
Naturally, his response to that was to heft her higher and kiss her better. Alice allowed it—momentarily, and then pulled back, hands on his shoulders.
‘Stop it, you oaf. What happened to all your fancy manners?’
He released her, letting her feet touch the ground again.
‘Someone must be having a bad influence on me.’ He knew he sounded wholly unrepentant.
Alice lifted her chin.
‘I’ve no clue who that someone might be,’ she said, and he grinned.
‘I’ll behave until we’re home. Do you want to take the carriage, or leave it for Elizabeth, and walk?’
‘Walk,’ she said decisively. ‘There’s no danger now.’
‘No, there isn’t.’
‘And it’s a beautiful day.’
‘It is. Shall we? Come on, then.’
And he turned her away from the water and towards the bush.
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ISBN: 9781489290472
Title: The Landowner’s Secret
Copyright © 2019 by SONYA HEANEY
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