“And did they?” I asked.
“Some of them did.”
“Well, let’s hope Benedict is successful,” said Uncle Peter.
“Somehow I don’t think he will come home until he is. He’s got that bulldog tenacity. Once he gets hold of an idea he won’t let it go. He’ll succeed or stay out there for the rest of his life … trying to.”
“It is very interesting,” said Gervaise. “I can understand how people get caught up in it.”
“It’s a gamble,” said Uncle Peter. “So much would depend on luck. You would get some working day and night and finding nothing … and then someone comes along and in a week or so he’s stumbled on a fortune.”
Aunt Amaryllis shivered. “I should hate that,” she said.
Uncle Peter smiled at her tenderly.
“Don’t worry, my dear. I have no intention of throwing up everything to go to the goldfields of Australia.”
Everyone laughed and they began to talk of other things.
When we returned home Gervaise was thoughtful.
“Interesting about Benedict,” he said. “He was the one you told me of.”
I nodded.
“He seems rather a forceful character.”
“Oh yes. I am sure he will find his gold.”
“It seems to have taken him rather a long time.”
“Yes, but he is bound to win in the end.”
“And come back a millionaire.”
I was wondering if he ever thought of me and of that adventure which we had shared together. It was significant that I could think of it now without that little shiver of fear. Gervaise had done that for me.
I did not notice how thoughtful Gervaise had become.
It was some days later when he broke the news to me. When we had last been at the house in the square he had left me with Aunt Amaryllis and had disappeared with Uncle Peter. When they rejoined us, Gervaise looked a little flushed—excited, I thought. Uncle Peter was his usual calm self.
I fancied Gervaise was impatient to leave.
When we finally did he was rather silent on the way home and at last in our bedroom I asked him if anything was wrong.
“Wrong?” he said. “No. About to be right. How would you like to go to Australia?”
“What?” I cried.
“We’re going,” he told me. “That is if you like the idea … I shall have to go. I hope you will come too.”
“Gervaise, whatever are you talking about?”
“I suppose,” he said, “I had better begin at the beginning.”
“It is usually advisable to.”
“I’m in debt … up to my ears.”
Horror seized me. I felt limp with dismay and fear.
“But how? I’ve tried so hard …”
“I know you have. I’ve lost a lot to Justin. That’s not so important. It’s the clubs … I have to pay my debts. I’d never be received in any of them again if I didn’t.”
“Perhaps that would be just as well.”
“You don’t understand, Angelet. They are debts of honor. One can make one’s tailor wait … or the butcher, the baker and the candlestick-maker … but one must pay one’s gambling debts at the clubs.”
“How much?”
“Too much to tell you.”
“I had better know.”
“I’m not sure … except that it is too much for me to handle. That’s the bad news. Now here is the good. My debts are going to be settled. I have had a word with your Uncle Peter.”
“Why is he brought into this?”
“He does own several of the clubs where I play.”
“Oh, Gervaise, I thought you were getting better.”
“Sorry,” he said ruefully. “But listen. We’re going to Australia. We are going to find gold. We’re going to be millionaires. Then I shall shrug aside my debts because with a lordly gesture I shall pay on the nail.”
“Do be sensible, Gervaise. This is a serious matter.”
“Sorry again, darling. Of course it is a serious matter. But it is going to be exciting.”
“What has Uncle Peter said to you?”
“He will settle my debts and pay our passage out … with a little to spare for the time before we get started. He’s writing to Benedict asking if he will meet us and help us get started, to be our sponsor and guardian angel. And we shall be leaving shortly for our adventure overseas.”
“Why should Uncle Peter settle your debts?”
“It’s not quite so altruistic as you might be thinking. Your uncle is an astute business man. He wants what they call collateral for his money.”
“What do you mean?”
“Some sort of security which we are in a position to offer.”
“What?”
“This house, of course.”
“It was my parents’ wedding present!”
“That does not in any way detract from its value.”
“Gervaise, what have you done!”
“Nothing as yet. It’s all in the air. But it is a wonderful solution. In fact it is the only solution … or I fear that ’ere long I shall find myself languishing in prison for debt; and what chance has a poor debtor then of repaying what he owes?”
“Gervaise, you’re frightening me.”
“I’m frightening myself. I am seeing more and more that I have to find a way out of this trouble … and this is it. I have to do something, Angelet.”
“Some work, you mean. Yes, I have thought of that.”
“This will be admirable. It will suit my temperament. Every day will be a gamble. Just imagine it … the excitement of going into those goldfields … never knowing whether it is going to be The Day.”
“We know nothing about it. Where shall we live?”
“Oh, there are places. The experienced and knowledgeable Benedict will show us the way. From him we will learn all we need to know. You don’t seem enthusiastic, Angelet.”
“It’s hard to. I know nothing about it. It all seems a trifle mad to me. And you have given Uncle Peter this house in order to settle your debts. You can’t do that.”
“It’s only on paper … a safeguard … for him. When we come back with all this millions of pounds’ worth of nuggets … I think that’s what they call them … we shall hand him back what we owe him and we shall have our dear little house waiting for us. But Angelet Mandeville might wish for a grander place in which to live now that she is a golden millionaire. A country mansion and a town house. I wonder if there are any castles for sale?”
“Be practical, Gervaise.”
“I’ll try but I’m so excited about this project. I know in my bones that it is going to be right for us.”
We lay awake for a long time talking about Australia. It seemed to me a wild dream … something that Gervaise liked to contemplate and had no roots in reality. But I was perturbed about all the debts and that he could mortgage our house in order to settle them.
I thought it might be one of those dreams with which Gervaise liked to soothe himself and that he only half believed it. But this was not so. He really had spoken to Uncle Peter. Uncle Peter himself took me on one side and said: “I think it is not such a bad idea. Gervaise is one of those people who are always going to gamble. Nothing would cure him. I’ll take care of things here while you are away. If he could get himself a fortune I fancy he would not be so reckless. Young men with small incomes often try to augment them. It might be that if he were rich the urge might diminish a little.”
“Do you really think we should go to Australia?”