“I believed I would wipe away the difficulties.”

“But death and time defeated you, as you say. So what now?”

“I have sworn that Whiteladies shall be mine.”

“And you are going to England to take it.”

He smiled at me.

“You think I can’t do it.”

“I can’t see how you can if the owners won’t let it go.”

“You will, Nora.”

“You are wrong. I know you are wrong. I know that revenge brings no happiness to anyone. You have your home here. You have people who admire you and care for you. Why can’t you be content?”

His burning gaze was fixed on me.

“Does that include you, Nora?”

I answered him at once.

“You know it does.”

He leaned forward.

“Why, Nora, I could almost settle for that.”

“If you are wise, you will,” I said.

“You will drop this stupid notion of revenge. It was all very well when it was useful to get you through that unhappy period. Now it is of no use whatsoever and it is folly to continue with it.”

“You dare to scold me, Nora.”

Yes, I do. “

“No one else does.”

“Then you should be thankful that there is at least one person in your life who is not afraid of you.”

“I am thankful for that.”

“Then why do you-not rest here in your contentment?”

“Nora, all these years I have waited. I made a place for myself in this country. I was secure; I had my son; we worked together. I was a man of substance but I had made this solemn vow to myself. If you think I would give up the theme of my life you do not know me.”

“I know you well and I think that you are wrong. We grow up; we change. Because when we are young we set up goals, that does not mean we must continue to follow them when we have learned more wisdom.”

“But Whiteladies is a beautiful house, Nora. Wouldn’t you like to live in such a house?”

I hesitated.

“I like this house.”

“You know this is an imitation a poor copy. Come, admit it.”

“I do admit that the original Whiteladies is a fine old house.”

“And you would enjoy calling such a place your home?”

“Yes, if it were mine by right.”

“And wouldn’t it be, if you had bought and paid for it?”

“I suppose so. But the family who had lived in it for generations would never sell it.”

“They might be forced to. We are only just beginning, Nora. My plans are in their infancy. They could not begin until I had made a vast fortune. Now, thanks to you, that is exactly what I have done. Did I tell you the whole story, Nora? Arabella married the man her father chose for her— a weakling, he was. His name was Hilary Cardew—Sir Hilary Cardew he would be when his father died. He could trace his family back to the Conqueror—even farther than the Dorians. He had a certain amount of money. The Cardews’ place was some ten miles from Whiteladies. The families had always been friends and young Hilary was meant for Arabella right from the start.”

“And when you went away she married him.”

“I didn’t hear of this until years later, not until I was able to send someone over to find out.”

“Why didn’t you go yourself?”

“I had vowed to myself that I would not set foot in England until I did so as a millionaire. Besides, I had married Maybella. I had a son and daughter of my own.”

“You might have been satisfied with that.”

“I am a man who always demands the ultimate satisfaction. “

“But doesn’t one always have to compromise in life?”

“I don’t.”

“But that is exactly what you have had to do.”

“Only with the idea of waiting for complete satisfaction. I always believed that if I had the money I needed I should get what I wanted. I wanted Whiteladies … and Arabella at that time.”

“But she had a husband and you had a wife.”

“My wife died with Stirling’s birth. I thought I would go back and find Arabella unable to maintain the estate. In fact, had I had the money, that was something I might have arranged. Did I tell you that Sir Henry was a man who did not believe in other people’s wasting their time? I gave Arabella a drawing lesson each day, but it was only a matter of two hours at the most. A resident drawing-master was an expense; therefore I acted also as Sir Henry’s secretary. I had a flair for business and was soon managing his investments. So I knew exactly how he was placed. He had extravagant tastes; he was. a connoisseur of wines; he drank rather to excess; he gambled. His financial status had become a little shaky even while I was there. That was why he wanted the Cardew marriage—to bolster up the family fortunes. But Sir James Cardew was another such as himself. I used to hear them discussing their business affairs. I wrote letters from my employer to Sir James and to his London brokers.

I knew a good deal about the financial affairs of both families. “

“And you have found this of use.”

“Recently, yes.”

Recently? “

“My man in London has been working for me. I have invested a great deal of money in London. I have become richer through this … and certain people have become poorer’.

I caught my breath.

“You mean that you have deliberately arranged this?”

He spread his hands.

“Let us say that it has happened. It may be that in order to maintain a certain standard of living it will be necessary for certain people to sell their property.”

“Lynx!” I cried, and indeed he looked like that creature now, the hatred glinting in his eyes, revealing the memory of the humiliation of years.

“You have deliberately impoverished these people?”

“You don’t understand these matters, Nora. Never mind.”

“I believe that whatever you do they will never sell the house.”

“If they can’t afford to keep it up they will be forced to.”

“I wouldn’t,” I declared, ‘if I were in their place. I’d think of something to keep it. I’d take paying guests; I’d work myself—particularly if I knew that someone was deliberately trying to take it from me. “

“You would, Nora. But other people are not you. You’ll see.”

“They’ll never sell. I just know it. I’ve been there. I’ve seen that girl.”

“There are more ways of selling than by making a cash bargain and handing over the property.”

“What ways?”

“You will see. One thing I know, Nora. I am going to see my son master of Whiteladies. My grandchildren are going to play on those lawns.

They are going to be brought up in gracious surroundings. That is my plan and I am going to see that in this I am not disappointed. “

“And Stirling … he wants this?”

“My son knows what’s in my mind. It has always been so. He more than anyone knows what I have suffered. I have seen him weep with anger when he looked at the scars on my wrists. I have seen him clench his fists and vow that the score must be settled. And when Whiteladies is mine, I shall be content. I shall be able to tell myself that everything that led to this was worth while.”

I was silent for a moment and he said my name softly. I looked up into his face and his gaze grew gentle.

“I want you to understand this,” he said.

“You belong to us now. We will strengthen that bond. You will grow even closer as the years pass. I had never thought that I could take anyone to my heart as I have taken you.”

“I know,” I told him.

“But I know too that you are wrong. This is revenge. You want to hurt people because long ago you were hurt. There is no happiness in revenge. I am certain your attitude is wrong. It can only bring unhappiness.”

“Wait until you see those gardens—those lawns with the grass like green velvet, well tended for hundreds of years. The fountains play over the statue of Hermes and water-lilies float on the water. The walled pond garden is a replica of the one at Hampton Court. On the sunny days in that garden there is perfect peace. The peacocks strut over the lawns. I never saw such beauty, Nora.”

“But you will have to take this away from the people to whom it rightly belongs.”

“The people who took from me my freedom! The people who reduced me to animal status, who all but killed me with their brutality.”

“But you escaped. You married Maybella and escaped.”

“Maybella was a fool.”

“So you used her to escape ” It was necessary. “

“You have not been a happy man,” I said.

“You have used people to get what you want. You have spent your life in search of revenge. It should have been spent in search of happiness.”

“You preach, Nora.”

“I say what I feel.”

He laughed suddenly, his eyebrow rising with that odd little quirk.

Oh, Nora, what should I do without you? “

“I don’t know and I suggest you don’t put it to the test. Give up your plans. Stay here. Forget about your golden fortune, your cruel plans.

Forget revenge and enjoy happiness. “

“I shall be happy. Never fear. And I shall get what I want. I want to talk to you, Nora … about the future.”

“Then promise me that future will be here.”

He shook his head.

“Whiteladies,” he said.

“It’s wrong. I know it’s wrong.”

“I shall have to convince you that it is absolutely right.”

“You wanted to talk to me about the future.”

“You are in too analytical a mood tonight. Tomorrow perhaps.”

We left it at that, but I was uneasy. I kept thinking of the lawn at Whiteladies and the girl and the older woman named Lucie. So the mother in the chair had been Lynx’s Arabella and she was now dead. I wondered what had happened to the man she had married and if he were still alive. Then I thought of that awful moment in Kerry’s Creek when Lynx’s voice had thundered behind me.

“Stand up, Jagger I’ And Jagger stood up to be shot dead.

Lynx never hesitated and death meant little to him. He could kill a man and not be haunted by what he had done. I thought of his marrying the poor ineffectual Maybella and insisting on her giving him a son.

Was I beginning to understand Lynx? He gave his love to few but for those to whom he gave it he would kill. To be hated by Lynx would be terrifying; and to be loved by him could perhaps be too.

He loved Stirling. He loved me. He was going to have his way and we were all going to bow to his wishes. Every one of us . myself, Stirling and the people at Whiteladies. No, not all of us.

won’t be dominated, I told myself, even by Lynx.p>

The next day there was consternation throughout the district. The bush fires which were burning some thirty miles away were coming in our direction. When I awoke the acrid smell was everywhere and there was no escaping from it. From my window I could see the glow in the sky.

Adelaide was worried.

“It will be on our land,” she said.

“I do nope we're not going to lose anyone. Some of the shepherds’ huts are out that way.”

“They’ll manage to get away surely. They must be aware of its coming nearer to them.”

“You have no idea what a forest fire can be like, Nora. The trees explode because of the oil in them, and fresh fires break out all round.”

“Aren’t precautions taken?”

She smiled again ruefully.

“All I can say is that you have no idea what it’s like. I hope you never do.”

The atmosphere of the house had changed. Everywhere was solemn; the servants went about their work not speaking, and when they did it was to talk of the fires.

“They can be seen from Melbourne,” one of them said.

“They say this is one of the worst outbreaks for years.”

“Can’t wonder at it—the weather we’ve been having. Did you hear the thunder last night? The lightning must have struck a grove of gums.

That could’ve started it. “

The wind was fierce—high and hot coming from the north. Rumbles of angry thunder rolled across the sky. I went out into the garden. I couldn’t bear the atmosphere indoors; yet outside it seemed worse. The glare of the sky had grown more angry and the hot wind carried on it that unmistakable smell.

The place seemed deserted. I wondered where everyone was. Lynx, I supposed, was at the mine. I doubted whether he would have any fears about that. I presumed the fire could pass over it without disturbing the lodes below although it would ruin the machinery and everything at ground level.