‘Are you ready? Come, let me take him,’ and he took the infant from his wife so that she could prepare herself. He took the baby upstairs and returned it to its nursery, laying it down in its cradle and tucking the blanket around it, and as the nurse was out of the room for the moment, it did not matter that there was a tear in his eye as he did so.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

AUTHOR’S NOTE

Whilst the pivotal characters in this novel are entirely fictional, a number of the lesser characters are real, as any student of Australian history will know. The Premier of New South Wales, the colourful and larger-than-life George Reid, and his opposite number, Edmund Barton—who did indeed go on to be Australia’s first prime minister—are two obvious examples. Others are: Mrs Reid and Mrs Barton (their wives); Miss Hickman and Miss Scott of the Women’s Suffrage League; William Lyne, the premier who succeeded George Reid; William Wentworth, the explorer and statesman; and John Blaxland, the landowner and merchant. Most—though not all—of what these people say in the novel is taken from speeches and addresses they gave at the time and were reported in the press of the day. Many—though again not all—of the Federation meetings and events and speeches in the novel are taken from real events of the day and were reported in the newspapers though, for plot purposes, I have taken occasional liberties with the dates and ordering of some events. There was no Secretary of Public Monies with offices in Richmond Terrace in Reid’s administration; it is an entirely fictitious ministry.