"I know your age," he said, "but I also know that Nossiter has asked me to be present. Foolish to take two cars when one is sufficient. Shall I call for you ?"
"I suppose so."
"Then Wednesday." He turned away, drew Madeleine's attention to some young tree he was planting and did not address Selina anymore.
It was all very irritating, but as Roger said when Selina told him later, it had to be.
"I was wondering," Roger added, "when the law would make a move."
He himself moved constantly around Tall Tops, pointing out to Selina things that should be done. He was right, of course, Uncle had not believed in change, but, as Roger said, you simply had to progress with the times.
To Selina's surprise, Madeleine did not express any wish to drive down to Tallow Wood with them. Tallow Wood was no hub of activity, but at least it did have a small string of shops, and Selina had expected that Madeleine would have been anxious to see them. On her arrival she had only seen the Tallow Wood strip, which was some miles from the town.
But Madeleine was not at all interested. "Corny stuff," she demeaned. "In the end I would only be
sitting waiting in your solicitor's office, waiting for you, and solicitors usually have such dreary magazines. No, I'll lie back here and relax while you collect your shekels."
"Oh, Maddie, not shekels !"
"Well, valleys of shekel-producing timber, then. If you see something exciting you can buy it for me as a consolation prize."
"Oh, I will, Madeleine, but Maddie, I don't want you to think—"
"That I'm deprived? Darling, I was joking. I've had my share. Anyway, we don't know yet, do we, what Uncle had to leave. Maybe the place was mortgaged or something, maybe you're only getting a leaf or two to press and keep in your Bible."
"So long as it's a leaf from The Big Feller." "What do you mean ?"
"The grey gum," Selina explained.
"The one Roger says will come out ?"
"Roger," said Selina, annoyed, "changed his mind about that." But she was mostly annoyed at the fact that Roger had been discussing the tree with Madeleine.
Madeleine said quickly "Come to think of it, it was I who said it. A twig fell on me. It could have been a branch."
"With a koala clinging to it."
"Stop joking, it might have been serious."
"But it's not being removed . . . well, not according to the big boss of Redgum Ridge." Selina was remembering that incident with Iron Grant.
"And where does Joel come in ?"
"Probably he's a tree trustee or something."
"As well as your trustee. Darling, don't explode. You look as though you will at any moment. Also, don't worry about me on Wednesday. I'll find things to do."
But the thing that did worry Selina on Wednesday was the sight of Madeleine waving to her and Iron from Roger's verandah.
She soon forgot it. No one, and Selina had learned it years ago, could descend to Tallow Wood and remember anything but beauty.
Trees followed them almost into the town, nature's, not man's, trees, mostly eucalypt, their grey-green leaves because of the oil in them now released by the wind and the sun giving out a soft blue look. But there were palms and limes and the silver surge of many streams racing down gorges as well, deep valleys full of lacy shadows, mountains with necklets of trees on their soft breasts. There were, as they came nearer to Tallow Wood, grassy carpets of foothills, then the smooth flats that comprised the small but important timber centre.
Neil Nossiter greeted them : "Hi, Selina, howdy, Joel," but once inside his office he was very correct. He read aloud in a dry legal voice, pausing every now and then to make sure that Selina was following.
It was easy enough to follow. She was the sole legatee. All that Uncle Claud had possessed was left to her.
"Trees," she smiled.
"Well—" Had Selina been sharper she would have seen an exchange of looks between the two men.
But—"Trees are all I would want," Selina prattled on. "I was always aware that the mountain was
Crown-owned."
"No," Neil Nossiter came in at once. "That law was relaxed some years ago, and Claud Whittier immediately applied for ownership and was accepted at an agreed sum."
"You mean—"
"I mean it became entirely his, not leasehold any more. He paid an estimated figure for it, estimated by the Government, but what it was worth privately later was a very different amount." He looked guiltily at Selina to see if she had caught that 'was' instead of `is', that 'privately' and that 'later'. When he saw she hadn't, that she was still abstracted, he said : "Miss Lockwood, Tall Tops today is worth over one hundred thousand dollars."
"One hundred—" But Selina found she could not get beyond that.
"Riches, isn't it ?" Neil permitted himself to smile. "Especially since that sum represents the selling price after all the usual legal costs have been taken out."
Selina's confused : "I beg your pardon," and Iron Grant's quiet : "Later, Neil," came exactly at the same time.
Neil only responded to Iron's injunction. He agreed : "Yes, perhaps you're right." He waited for a few moments. "But immediately," he went on presently, "before you start doing any handsprings—I really mean before you start making any plans, there's a provision."
"A provision ?" asked Selina.
Neil Nossiter looked down to his desk, cleared his throat, then read the rest.
". . . to Selina Lockwood, I give, devise and be-
queath the whole of my estate both real and personal" ... Neil glanced up again ... "upon her attaining the age of twenty-five years—"
"Twenty-five ?"
"Yes, Selina."
"But—"
Neil held up his hand, then before she could speak again he finished : ". . upon her attaining the age of twenty-five years before she marries."
"Before I marry ! But—"
"In simpler terms," said Neil, "you must remain a spinster for" . . . he looked inquiringly at Selina... "how many years ?"
"Three."
"Three. Now that's a mere bagatelle."
"But I'm engaged to be married, Neil."
"Of course. No objection to engagements. But marriage only in three years' time, otherwise . .
Selina corrected bleakly : "Three weeks, not three years. No—three days!"
"Well, not now, Selina, because if that happens the money goes automatically to a specified cause. I have it here." Neil Nossiter looked it up and announced : "Tree husbandry."
The solicitor's substitution of 'money' for 'estate' or 'property' or even 'Tall Tops' passed Selina by as had the other things he had said. Selina had other matters on her mind.
Three of them. Years. Three years before she and Roger could marry, unless—
Unless she forfeited.
CHAPTER SIX
"WE shall still be married," Selina said stubbornly on the way back to the mountain.
"Such a proclamation is certainly your privilege," acknowledged Iron Grant, "yours—and his. I take it you do mean Peters?"
"Of course. Roger."
"Then your privilege—and Roger's."
She caught the quiet implication in his voice and turned angrily on him. "You think Roger won't want to marry me now, don't you ?"
"Yes," he said baldly.
"He loves me."
"If you say so."
"I do !"
"Then he loves you." A shrug. "But he's still a very practical young man, and a hundred thousand dollars can buy a lot of desirable things."
"The only thing we both desire, as well as each other, is the timberland, and the only reason we would delay anything ... though we won't . . . would be Tall Tops. Tall Tops alone might make us think twice."
"Then I suppose I'd better clear up something there," said Joel Grant, and he ran the tip of his tongue round his lips in a preparatory manner.
But he never said what he had to say. The occupants of a car on the side of the mountain track
attracted their attention, and the next hour was spent trying to coax a sulky engine to spark again. When finally it did, and they resumed their own way, they were both absorbed in their own thoughts and spoke only sparsely.
When they got to Tree Tops Roger was away directing the laying of the little set of lines to join up with the Redgum Ridge lines, so Selina had to wait to tell him. She could scarcely go down to the clearing and blurt it out, even though she was tempted to. She longed to say what Neil Nossiter had told her, then feel Roger's quick arms around her as he assured her : "We won't wait that long, darling. We can't. Damn the inheritance !"
What would they do instead ? Well, smiled Selina confidently, that was easy. A graduate like Roger could get an overseer's position anywhere, and though it might have to be away from here, it would not be away from her beloved trees, for trees, thank heaven, were Roger's livelihood.
Then even if fate cruelly decided that Roger should fill a city job instead such as a lecturer, or somebody on the executive staff, then, though it would be a wrench, she loved him enough for city life as well.
The tension of waiting for Roger to come up from the line laying proved too much for Selina. She found herself babbling it all to Madeleine.
"A hundred thou!" Madeleine gave a long unladylike whistle.
"But only if I wait until I'm tweny-five to be married."
"That's nothing," Madeleine dismissed with the experience of three marriages behind her.
"It is when you love someone. You must have felt like that once yourself."
"I doubt if I could have held out against a hundred thou, unless it had been for—" Madeleine gave Selina a quick look, then shrugged.
"Don't be a fool," she resumed presently. "The time will fly."
"I don't want my life to fly, I want it to come slow and rounded and perfect and—"
"Sellie, shut up and listen to the voice of wisdom. It's just not worth the sacrifice. I'm sure Roger won't want marriage, anyway, but still don't tempt him."
"You're speaking just like Iron Grant did. Why wouldn't Roger be agreeable ?"
"Because he wants to be successful. I mean" ... hastily ... "successful for you as well as for himself, and Tall Tops isn't exactly something that falls into your lap every—it was three years you said, didn't you ?"
"Yes. Three years. When I'm twenty-five and still unmarried. But you're so wrong, Maddie. Roger will be disappointed, terribly disappointed, he loves this place like I do, he's already worked very hard on it, but he doesn't love it that much."
"We'll see," Madeleine said. After a while she asked : "What did the Iron Man have to say ?"
It was only then that Selina recalled that Joel Grant had begun a : "Then I suppose I'd better clear up something there," then been diverted by the car. It had come after her declaration that only the ownership of Tall Tops might change the minds of two lovers. What had Iron Grant been about to announce? she wondered.
It seemed hours before Roger returned to his overseer's villa, and yet it was only the usual time. Selina did not wait for him to shower, dress in the attractive casual clothes he always did, she went across at once.
"Roger ! Roger !"
"Darling !" in protest. "I'm all sweaty. Give me ten minutes at least."
"No, Roger, we must talk now."
"Really, Selina, is it that serious ?"
"Yes . . . yes, it is," she insisted.
Roger looked grave now, and he crossed at once to Selina's side.
"The will was not what you expected ?"
"I hadn't expected anything, you know that." "Of course I do, dear, but you understand what I mean."
"Yes, I understand, and no, Roger, it was not what I expected."
"He—Mr. Whittier never left his estate to you after all ? Or did he share it with Madeleine as well ?" An odd little note in Roger's voice, had Selina only heard it.
"Oh, no, I was . . . am . . . the sole legatee. But—" "But ?"
"But," she blurted, "I have to wait, Roger." "Wait ?" he queried.
"Wait till I'm twenty-five."
"Three years, Selina ? Oh, well, I guess we can do that."
"I haven't told you everything. I should have said I have to wait until I'm twenty-five to marry, otherwise—"
"I see," said Roger. He then said : "Yes, of course."
"Of course ?"
"That was your uncle's way of compelling you to ink twice about me, make sure."
"Oh, darling, as though I would need any time ! though I'm not sure. I love you as you love me,
without any side offer of a hundred thousand dollars." "What?" he exclaimed.
"That's the amount Neil Nossiter mentioned." "They must have had the property valued," frowned Roger.
"Yes," said Selina vaguely. "Oh, Roger dear, it is a disappointment, isn't it, but we'll find something. I thought today as we drove down to Tallow Wood that though we think we have the best spot here, that
tough we feel there is nothing else quite like it, there still is, and there must be. There must be somewhere as good. There are lots of corners, Roger, and if we're together the corner we finally got would come to mean much more to us than this place. Because it has our love. Because it's us."
She became aware that Roger was not listening to her. He was running his fingers through his thick fair hair that he always kept very neat and controlled.
"Roger !"
"Sorry, Selina, I was miles away."
"In our little timber valley of our own ?" "Well—no."
"Then overseer to some other big timber holding ?" "No."
"Then" . . . a little disappointed but brave ... "a city executive job ?"
"No. No, little Sellie, I was just thinking of us waiting patiently, which is what, of course, we will do."
"Roger—" she began.
"Oh, I love you, Selina, you know that, but good heavens, girl, I couldn't pass up.. . I mean you couldn't pass up . . . one hundred thousand dollars."
"I could. I am."
"No, Selina, you are not. Selina, look at me, my sweet. I have brains, I have ability, but what else have I to offer you ?"
"You yourself, Roger."
"Always an employee, never an employer ?" "Then love, Roger, you have love to offer." "But it has to be more than that, Selina."
"It's enough for most people," she argued.
"But most people aren't heiresses. Selina, I have talent, but I'm still, in these days of automation, potentially redundant. Where would you be if all at once we were married and I was out of a job ?"
"I could work."
"You could be out of a job as well."
"Then we would still exist, Roger, exist together. Roger, I can't understand you, it's been you all along wanting to hurry things up, and now . . . and now . ." Selina's voice broke and she began, very softly, very heartbrokenly, to cry.
Roger knelt down beside her. "Little Sellie, don't take it like that."
"What other way is there to take it? Money, money, money, it's not important."
Roger looked at her shrewdly, only through her tears Selina could not see the cool estimation.
"No, money isn't . . . but Tall Tops is. Selina, I—I love this place. I—I—" He turned away, and by the defeated hunch of his shoulders, Selina could see he
was deeply distressed.
"Oh, Roger," she forgave him at once, "it was not what I thought, it was—it's---"
"Yes, darling. It's the mountain where I first met ..you. But as you said just now all places can be precious, so why be stubborn about this one ?"
"Yet we still know in our secret hearts that it is different, don't we ?" Selina said quietly. "We know our mountain is the only mountain. You're right, Roger, it will be dreary to wait, but it will be worth waiting for. Oh, darling, forgive me."
"Forgive you ? How can you ask that of a man covered with mill dust and ashes ?" He laughed and kissed her. "Give me those ten minutes, sweet, and we'll go up to the house." He paused. "Our house ?"
<
br /> "In three years' time, Roger. Will I be old and grey by then ?"
"Not if you take after your sister Madeleine."
It was a slightly discordant note, but Selina decided not to hear it.
"Ten minutes from now, then," she stipulated. "If you're not ready then I'll come and drag you out of the bath."
"A promise, not a threat," he agreed, and the next minute the shower was running. He emerged immaculate and co-ordinated as ever, olive-green scheme today, slacks, shirt, cravat.
From the verandah of Tall Tops, Madeleine . . . and Joel Grant who had come down from Redgum .. . watched them approach.
"Going by their wise and calculating looks tree husbandry will not be receiving a large bequest," Joel said laconically.
"No," agreed Madeleine, and no one could have said whether she was pleased or not.
The four of them had drinks on the verandah and talked about everything. Everything, that is, except an inheritance a girl had received today. Three of them drank a little too much and became a little reckless in their speech. Madeleine made atrocious jokes. Roger said some extravagant things. Selina babbled. But Iron Grant remained very cool, very restrained.
Finally it was Roger who mentioned legatees.
"Will our little millionairess . . . no, it's only a hundred thousand, isn't it ? . . . then will our little hundred thousandess still supervise school ?" he laughed.
"Why not ?" Selina laughed too gaily.
It was then that Joel Grant came in.
"It depends on where you are, doesn't it ?" he said. They all looked at him, even though he had addressed himself only to Selina.
"I'm not sure if all lumber camps run to a super, visor," he went on, "or whether Tall Tops is unique in that respect. However, if you thought of remaining in the district, perhaps renting one of the huts, even taking a room at the overseer's villa, if he's still there, you could still carry on, Miss Lockwood. Personally I quite like the idea of a lesson supervisor, I'm all for education, having had little myself, and not being an Academy man." He kept on talking in that strain, knowing they were not listening, knowing they had absorbed only that one sentence :
Deep in the Forest Page 6