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
Fortune has smiled on us. I have settled our father’s debts with my uncle and left his employ to strike out on my own as manager and shareholder of a mine outside Maiden’s Creek. The Shenandoah is already showing great prospects and I am confident in suggesting that you join me in this brave new country. We can make a good life for ourselves here. When you have made your plans, you can write to me care of the General Store at Pretty Sally. Come as soon as you are able.
Yr. Loving bro
W J Penrose (Will)
Her uncle read the letter and shook his head. ‘He was a fine young man and a brilliant engineer. He had such a promising future.’ He sighed as he returned the letter to her. ‘Sadly, we were not on the best of terms in recent months. We argued about him throwing away his prospects at Maiden’s Creek for such a risky venture as the Shenandoah Mine and once he had removed himself to Pretty Sally, we met only on very few occasions. At no time did he mention the prospect of you joining him.’ He ran a hand over his eyes. ‘I regret my angry words, but it is too late now to tell him how proud I was of him and of the remarkable work he had done with the Maiden’s Creek Mine and the Shenandoah.’
Eliza hardly heard him. She focussed on her hands, twisting them in her lap, fighting the resolve not to howl her grief to the wind. In the last few months, she had lost her mother and now her brother. With the exception of this man and her aunt in Bath, she was entirely alone in the world. Disbelief, anger and despair caught in a knot in her throat.
Cowper coughed. ‘The fact we did not know of your coming does not make you any less welcome, Eliza. I have a spare room and I’m sure Mrs Harris is already heating water for a bath.’ He reached over and patted her hand. ‘You must be exhausted, my dear. Even in good weather the journey over the mountains is difficult.’
She nodded and stared into the fire for a long time before finding the courage to impart the sad news she in her turn brought with her.
‘I would have come sooner but Mama’s health was failing. At my aunt’s request, I gave up my position at the school to go to Bath to be with her.’ She raised her brimming eyes. ‘She died in late January. I would have written but we agreed it would be better to bring the news to you and Will in person.’
Charles Cowper nodded, his mouth a hard, thin line. ‘So, it seems we are both bearers of bad news. Did my sister suffer?’