There was a long silence. Nellie couldn’t trust herself to speak.
‘You can be as sorry as you like, Mary Connell,’ she said at last, ‘but I don’t think I can ever forgive you.’
She rose to her feet and walked blindly from the room, clutching Tom’s letter. She had to know what he’d written. She had to find Trotty.
‘What’s the matter, chick?’ Trotty was polishing the dining-room table, but she stopped at once when she saw Nellie’s tear-stained face.
‘Tom did write, but he wrote to Mary,’ Nellie told her. She held out the letter. ‘I found it under her bed. It hurts me so much that she kept it from me.’
Trotty took the letter from her and sat down to read it. ‘Lord above, it was posted before Christmas,’ she said. ‘Dear Mary,’ she began, running a finger beneath the words. ‘I am writing to you in hope that you can direct me to Nellie’s where – where – whereabouts.’
‘He didn’t forget me, so,’ said Nellie, in a small, choked voice. ‘He was after finding out where I was.’
‘Recently my father was hurt in an accident. He is now an invalid and he will be unable to work for some time. As a con – con-se – con-sequence we cannot stay here much longer at Paxton’s Square, which belongs to the mining company. We must find a new home.
‘I have not had word from Nellie, and do not know where she is living, so I should be obliged if you could give her a message. Please tell her that my mother asks if she would care to work for us again.’
Nellie gasped with shock – she couldn’t help it. Trotty glanced up at her, and then continued to read.
‘As Mother must now spend most of her time looking after my father, she is in great need of help, and Nellie was the best help she ever had.
‘Tell Nellie that she must write back to me as soon as possible – those words are underlined, chick – as we shall be moving from this address. Alternatively, if you can give me details of her situation, I shall write to her when we are settled at our new home.
‘I hope to have word from you soon. Yours faithfully, Tom Thompson.’
‘Oh, Trotty, why didn’t I write to him earlier?’ said Nellie, stricken. ‘They wanted me back! It was what I hoped for more than anything! And now they will have left Paxton’s Square, and Tom won’t have got my letter, and they could be anywhere at all. What’s worse, they’ll think I didn’t care. Tom will think I didn’t care.’ She wiped her nose on her pinny. ‘How could Mary do this to me?’
‘Don’t judge her too quickly, chick. She would never have meant to hurt you. How could she have known what the letter said?’
‘But she fibbed -’ Nellie began to say.
And then they both heard it at the same time: the awful, spine-chilling sound of Bessie Rudge screaming.
Nellie and Trotty raced out into the back garden. There was Bessie, her cap crooked, her hair tumbling from beneath it. She had collapsed onto a garden chair, and was clutching baby Henry to her bosom. Nellie was so surprised to see her with Henry that she simply stood and stared.
Then the back door opened again, and Mrs Lefroy rushed out, and she was taking Henry and holding him tightly, and Mr Birch was there too, grasping a rake like a weapon. Beside him stood Li, who looked as confused as Nellie felt, and the two little girls, open-mouthed, battledores in their hands.
‘He was stealing the baby,’ Bessie was saying. ‘That infidel was stealing the precious baby. Oh, thank the Lord I was out in the garden! To think that if I hadn’t gone out to pick some herbs, he’d have got away with his wicked plan!’
‘What wicked plan was that?’ Trotty asked, her eyes round with excitement.
‘He was stealing the baby,’ Bessie repeated, fanning her face with one hand. ‘The devil had snatched Master Henry up and he was heading for the back gate! If I hadn’t had eyes in my head … I can’t bear to think of it. You can’t trust a Chinaman, not a one of them. They kidnap little white children and they send them back to China to be sold as slaves!’
‘Mrs Rudge, indeed you are quite wrong!’ burst out Nellie, clasping her hands in distress. ‘How can you possibly say such a thing about Li? He’d never harm a fly! Henry was crying, and Li said he’d walk him in the garden. Of course he never meant to steal him. Why, that’s the daftest thing I ever heard!’
Bessie Rudge glared at her. ‘What would you know about it, girl?’ she said in a loud voice. ‘I know what I saw, and what I saw was that Oriental stepping very lively towards the back gate with Master Henry. You explain that!’
‘Perhaps Li himself should explain it,’ said Mrs Lefroy, clutching Henry.
Everyone turned to look at Li. Nellie could see that he was trembling with fear, and her heart ached for him.
Li bowed to Mrs Lefroy. ‘Please, I do nothing wrong, mistress,’ he said. ‘I only take the little master for a walk, stop him crying. He like being in garden.’
‘You were heading for the gate,’ said Bessie, jabbing an accusing finger at him. ‘You planned to kidnap him.’
‘No – not true,’ protested Li. His face was creased with worry. ‘No plan, only stop baby crying. I take him to gate to look at horses in stable.’
Nellie could bear it no longer. ‘Of course he wasn’t planning to take the baby!’ she cried. ‘He was trying to stop Henry crying on account of his teeth.’
‘How very interesting,’ said Mrs Lefroy. ‘And where, may I ask, is Henry’s nursemaid at this moment? And where was she when all this was happening?’
Nellie went cold. ‘She was in the ironing room, ma’am,’ she said. ‘She was ironing the christening gown, as you asked her to do.’
‘Indeed. So, to accomplish this, she gave my son to the Chinaman. There is something very wrong about this.’
‘So there is, madam,’ interrupted Bessie Rudge, looking angrily at Nellie. ‘And you can be sure this one is at the bottom of it all. In fact, I’d say her and her friend and the Chinaman have been plotting this together. You should be handing them all over to the police, quick smart.’
‘Oh, do be quiet, Cook,’ said Mrs Lefroy. She turned to Li. ‘I cannot say if you are innocent or guilty, but in light of all that has happened today, I am not prepared to risk the safety of my child. I must tell you that I no longer require your services.’
‘I understand, mistress,’ said Li quietly. ‘But need to say – I would never harm little master.’ He bowed with great dignity. As he turned to leave, he smiled at Nellie. ‘Goodbye, Nellie kitchen maid.’
‘Li, you can’t go! You mustn’t! It isn’t fair!’ Nellie turned to Mrs Lefroy. She was so angry that she hardly knew what she was saying. ‘If Li goes, I shall go too!’
‘Good riddance then, I say,’ said Bessie Rudge. ‘There’s plenty of others where you came from, and much better, I’ll be bound. Jumped-up Irish skivvies is two a penny in this country.’
‘You may leave, Ellie, by all means,’ said Mrs Lefroy. ‘And as for the nursemaid – well, she is clever enough with her needle, but in other matters she is lazy and incompetent. What is more, my daughters have told me she is unkind to them.’
Nellie shot a furious glance at Louisa and Charlotte. She opened her mouth to protest, but Mrs Lefroy raised a hand to silence her. ‘Putting little Henry in peril is the last straw,’ she went on. ‘I shall let you both go, and gladly. You may seek new employment together, and I think you’ll find that it’s not so easy to come by. You and that wretched Biddy must leave this house tomorrow.’
‘It’s a proper mess we’re in now, so,’ Nellie said. She and Mary were sitting at the kitchen table over the remains of supper. Bessie Rudge had gone to bed with a violent headache, and Trotty was in the front parlour, lighting the lamps.
‘It’s all my fault,’ said Mary. ‘I didn’t know what was happening, and I was too afraid to come down. Then I remembered I’d left Henry with Li. I’d actually forgotten all about him – Nell, how could I have done that? And then the mistress came up and told me I no longer had a job. She said I had
endangered the life of the baby!’ She stifled a sob. ‘As if I could ever do anything to hurt little Henry!’
‘Neither one of us has done anything wrong,’ said Nellie, getting up and starting to collect the dirty plates. ‘And I won’t be sorry to leave this place. I shall miss Trotty, and Li, and Mr Birch, but that’s all. I’ll be happy never to see Mrs Rudge again, the creature.’
‘I’ll miss dear little Henry, but as for the other two – well, they’ve given me enough pinches and scratches to last a lifetime.’ Mary shivered. ‘Oh, Nell, what will happen to us now? We have no references, and from tomorrow we shall be out on the street.’
‘Of course we shan’t be out on the street,’ Nellie said. ‘Don’t ever think it. We shall just go back to the Immigration Depot. I’m sure there’ll be jobs for us.’
‘I’ll pray to the blessed saints that it’s so.’
‘I think the blessed saints have turned their blessed backs on us lately,’ Nellie said. She sat down again, the plates stacked in front of her. ‘Mary, I must ask it. Why did you keep Tom’s letter a secret from me?’
Mary hung her head. ‘Sure, and I’m so ashamed now. I told myself I was doing the right thing. I thought it wasn’t proper, you having a friendship with a person like Tom.’
Nellie looked at her in astonishment. ‘Good heavens, why not?’
‘I was wrong, I know that now. But he’s a gentleman, isn’t he, with his education and all, and we are just servants. I was remembering what Father Donnelly used to say, that in God’s plan everybody has their proper place in the world. It’s what God has chosen for them. Sometimes, Nell, you forget you are a servant. I thought you might be hurt, if – if Tom remembered it.’
‘Tom wouldn’t ever hurt me. He never cared that I was a servant. He’s my friend. Friends don’t hurt each other.’
‘No. Or at least they shouldn’t. But I know I hurt you, Nell, and I’m sorry for it. I can’t tell you how sorry I am.’
‘I’m sorry too. But at least I know that Tom did write, and the Thompsons did want me back. You can’t imagine how much that means to me.’
‘Indeed, and that’s the other reason why I hid the letter.’ Mary took a deep, shuddering breath. ‘I was afraid that Tom might be writing to ask you to join his family at the Burra. I know you’ll think me a coward, Nell, but I couldn’t bear to risk losing you. Being without you would be like losing my family all over again. There now, that’s the whole truth. I beg you to forgive me.’
Nellie was in such a turmoil of emotion now that her head felt as if it might burst. Because of what Mary had done, she would never be a part of the Thompson family again, and Tom’s friendship was lost to her forever. Yet Mary had done what she did because of her love for Nellie, and because she was so afraid of being alone.
Of course she must forgive Mary. Didn’t Mary need her? And didn’t she care for Mary more than for any other person in the world?
She squeezed her friend’s hand. ‘Never fret, angel. Of course I forgive you. And I’d only have gone to the Burra if you came with me. You won’t ever lose me.’
Mary burst into tears. ‘Oh, thank you, Nell! I was so afraid you’d hate me forever for what I did. It was eating into my heart for weeks and weeks.’ She dabbed at her eyes with her apron. ‘And now we shall probably be parted anyway. There aren’t many jobs to be had.’
‘We mustn’t give up hope. There must be a kind, rich family somewhere who will take us both on. Imagine, Mary – there’ll be just one sweet little baby for you to look after and dress in frilly bonnets, and I shall be the cook in a great big kitchen where I can eat strawberry cream till I explode.’
Mary gave her friend a wobbly grin. ‘You always hope for the best, don’t you, Nell? It’s one of the things I love most about you.’
‘A long face only looks good on a horse – it’s what my dada used to say.’
‘He’s right, so. And Nellie?’
‘What, angel?’
‘I never thanked you for the beautiful clothes you stitched for my Vanessa.’
‘Sure, and it was my pleasure,’ Nellie said. ‘Do you like them?’
‘Indeed I do. It was a kind thing you did.’ Mary hesitated. ‘Nellie, there’s something I must ask of you.’
‘Whatever you want, angel.’
‘Promise you’ll stay with me. Promise you’ll stay here in Adelaide.’
‘And where else would I be going, you daft eejit?’
‘The saints be praised,’ Mary said with a sigh of relief. ‘Then everything will be fine.’
Nellie picked up the pile of dirty plates and smiled at her. ‘Of course it will,’ she said.
I am descended from Irish, Scottish and English immigrants who came to this country in the mid-nineteenth century. One of them, my great-great-grandmother, was a young farm girl from Somerset, England. She arrived in South Australia in 1856, and a year later, while still only a teenager, she married a Scotsman who owned a large sheep property. He was a widower with four children. She became a mother to these four and went on to have twelve more babies of her own. My Irish great-great-grandparents, who owned the property next door, had eleven children. Even allowing for a few infant deaths, these two families between them had so many sons and daughters that they hired a teacher and built their own school!
I grew up on a farm, too, and had the happiest of Australian girlhoods.
I was born and grew up in Italy, a beautiful country to visit, but also a difficult country to live in for new generations.
In 2006, I packed up my suitcase and I left Italy with the man I love. We bet on Australia. I didn’t know much about Australia before coming – I was just looking for new opportunities, I guess.
And I liked it right from the beginning! Australian people are resourceful, open-minded and always with a smile on their faces. I think all Australians keep in their blood a bit of the pioneer heritage, regardless of their own birthplace.
Here I began a new life and now I’m doing what I always dreamed of: I illustrate stories. Here is the place where I’d like to live and to grow up my children, in a country that doesn’t fear the future.
IN Nellie’s time, the sort of life you could expect to have depended on your social class. In England people were roughly divided into aristocracy, upper class, middle class, and lower or working class, and in the early days of settlement a similar system existed in Australia. If you were born into the working class (and about 80 per cent of people were), your lot in life was to be a servant, a tradesman or a labourer. If you were born into the wealthy upper class, you would have a life of great privilege and be served by those who were ‘beneath’ you. Only very determined or very lucky people were able to move up the social scale – usually by making a lot of money.
In past centuries many English people believed that the Irish belonged to an inferior class. They saw them either as lazy, ignorant peasants, or as political trouble-makers. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the British Crown seized a great deal of the best Irish land and gave it to settlers from England and Scotland. These British settlers were mainly wealthy and of the Protestant faith, and the native Irish were mainly poor and Catholic. The British despised the Irish, and the Irish in turn hated and resented the British.
This separation between Catholic Irish and Protestant English was for many years part of Australian society too, although it never resulted in the sort of hatred that brought violence and bloodshed to much of Ireland.
In Australia today strong social distinctions based on class, race or religion are mostly a thing of the past.
The English Spelling Book, compiled by William Mavor, was first published in 1801 and was used as a school reader for most of the nineteenth century. It started with the ABC, finished with ‘Prayers for the Use of Schools’, and included grammar, poetry, history and geography, ‘Advice to Young Persons’, and ‘A Brief Survey of the Universe’!
SOME FOODS THAT NELLIE MIGHT HAVE EATEN …
Mutton. Roas
t mutton, mutton stew, and mutton chops … for breakfast, dinner and supper.
Bread and dripping. Instead of butter, bread was often spread with cold fat from the roasting pan.
Irish stew. This was made from meat (mutton), potatoes, onions, pepper and salt, and water.
Jam. Plum, apricot and melon jam were all popular – home-made, of course.
Offal. In the nineteenth century, people loved eating animal brains, tripe, heart, tongue, liver and kidneys.
Parrot pie. Sadly, many native creatures ended up beneath a pie crust.
Suet pudding, roly-poly pudding, plum pudding, bread pudding, fig pudding, cabinet pudding, hasty pudding. Cookbooks from Nellie’s time have hundreds of recipes for boiled or baked puddings.
Nellie would have loved ice cream, but there wasn’t any, because there was no way to make ice!
Whenever she walked down Adelaide’s North Terrace, Nellie O’Neill liked to imagine that she was a fine lady in a silk dress. The street was so wide and clean – hardly a pinch of rubbish on it anywhere. Nellie loved looking at the grand new villas with their big gardens, and the promenade, and the newly planted street trees. Best of all was Government House. Almost like a palace, it was, with the Union Jack flying bravely from its flagpole.
Right now Nellie could picture herself, in her beautiful silk dress, knocking on the door of that big stone building. The Governor and his wife would be so pleased to see her. They’d invite her in for cake and hot cocoa, and how lovely that would be! She could almost feel the warmth of the cup in her hands, and taste the sweetness of the cocoa.
But as she made her way down her favourite street on this windy, rainy morning, even the thought of cake and hot cocoa couldn’t make Nellie happy. She was cold and wet. And she and her friend Mary Connell weren’t fine ladies at all. They were poor Irish servant girls with no home and no jobs.
Nellie and Secret the Letter Page 5