At Adelaide’s cry, he was on his feet. Down by the creek, Danny turned, dropping the pan in the water with a splash.

She balanced on the steep slope, a rock in her hand.

‘Are you all right?’ he asked.

‘I’m fine.’ She slithered down the slope towards him and held out the rock. ‘I haven’t lived in Maiden’s Creek all these years without knowing gold when I see it,’ she said. ‘Tell me, am I right?’

He took the chunk of quartz and turned it over. His breath caught. A line of yellow ran through the middle of the rock, twinkling beguilingly as it caught the sun.

He looked up at the slope, hardly daring to ask, ‘Where did this come from?’

‘I kicked it with my boot,’ she said. ‘Follow me.’

They clambered up the hill and Adelaide fell to her knees, scrabbling in the dirt with her hands to reveal the parent rock. A bright scar in the dirt, it shone and shimmered, and after a quick fossick with his pocket knife, Caleb revealed that the quartz seam widened, running down the hill away from the fledgling adit.

‘Well, I’ll be damned,’ Caleb said, pushing his hat to the back of his head. ‘Penrose was right. It’s the bloody reef but Hannigan and his boys were off by yards.’

He scuffed dirt back over the seam and slipped the rock into his pocket. ‘I’ve got to show Penrose,’ he said, adding, ‘and this has to be our secret.’

‘Of course,’ Adelaide said, her tone huffy. ‘I was not contemplating running down the main street of Maiden’s Creek yelling, “Eureka!”.’

He took her hand and helped her down the slope. Back on flat ground, he did not relinquish his hold, instead his hand slid around her waist, drawing her into him. They both glanced towards the creek where Danny had returned to his gold panning, his back to them, shoulders hunched in concentration.

‘Adelaide.’ Her name came out as a low growl.

‘Caleb?’ she said with a rising inflection, but made no attempt to extricate herself from his embrace. He drew her in closer and lowered his mouth to hers. She sighed softly and her arms circled his neck.

He had kissed women before, but this was different. Adelaide seemed to melt into him. In the loose men’s clothing, freed of corsets and petticoats, her body moulded to his and he responded to her passion, his hand brushing the unrestrained curve of her breast. If it had not been for her boy down by the creek, he would have guided her to the blanket and after that …

She pushed away, struggling to catch her breath. She had tears in her eyes. He had gone too far.

‘Adelaide? I apologise … I should never—’