Chapters (53)
- Cover
- About Alison Stuart
- Also by Alison Stuart
- Title Page
- Dedication
- Prologue
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Author’s Note
- Acknowledgements
- Preview of The Goldminer's Sister
Penrose turned the paper towards him. The advertisement offered the sale of a cattle property of one thousand acres with grazing rights on Mt Buller and a modest home.
‘A modest home?’ Penrose said. ‘From what you told me, you can afford a damn sight more than a modest home.’
Caleb shrugged. ‘Adelaide and I don’t want a grand mansion with servants and carriages,’ he said. ‘We sail before the end of the month and I don’t expect we’ll be back until the new year but we will be back.’
‘And what about the Shenandoah?’ Penrose asked.
Caleb leaned forward. ‘Adelaide and I, we have a proposition for you.’ He pocketed the advertisement for the cattle station and produced a brown envelope. ‘This here’s the registration for the Shenandoah Mine Limited Liability Company.’
Penrose pulled the sheath of papers from the envelope. He scanned them and looked up. ‘But—’
Caleb scanned his friend’s face. ‘It’s not acceptable?’
‘It’s more than acceptable!’ Penrose sputtered.
‘We’ve got the capital to get the mine going proper but it’s your mine, Penrose. You have to make it work. You will have the total management.’
‘I don’t know what to say.’ Penrose’s hand shook as he folded the paper that gave him independence from the hold of his uncle and, if he was right about the mine’s prospects, a good future.
‘I know one thing you can say. Go right on over to that girl and ask her to marry you.’
Penrose glanced at Sissy again. This time she caught him looking at her and smiled.
‘I will, but maybe not right now,’ Penrose said. ‘A few things to sort out first.’
In his heart, Caleb wondered if Penrose would ever make good on his promise to marry Sissy. Could a respectable middle-class man, such as his friend, in all honesty hope that the taint of his wife’s unsavoury past could ever be overcome? Probably not.
‘What I will do is write to my sister, Eliza, and tell her to come and join me.’ Penrose smiled. ‘I think she could make a good life for herself here and Adelaide will be a wonderful friend for her.’
‘We’ll look forward to meeting her.’
Caleb fished in the other pocket of his waistcoat and pulled out a gold ring. He laid it on the table between them. ‘While I was in Melbourne, I had this made from that nugget you gave me.’
Penrose picked the bright object up and looked at it with awe in his eyes. ‘Our gold, Hunt.’
‘I’ve a favour to ask of you,’ Caleb said. ‘Will you stand beside me at my wedding?’
Penrose grinned as he handed the ring back. ‘My pleasure.’
Caleb lifted his glass. ‘To friendship and new lives, Penrose.’
Penrose echoed the toast and they drained their glasses.
Forty-Four
Forty-Four
2 March 1872