The True Story of Maddie Bright

by Mary-Rose MacColl

  Dickie laughed. ‘I am always to blame, David. Always.’

  ‘Your Royal Highness,’ I heard my mother say in a shaky voice. Even the boys were standing up straight, staring. The twins were smaller than him, but Bert was taller and John was the same height as him. They were all in awe now, seeing Mummy begin to curtsy.

  He shook his head. ‘Please don’t,’ he said. Mummy obeyed him and stood back up awkwardly.

  He looked around the platform and pushed his hat down over his eyes, pulled up his coat collar. ‘Just a boy.’ He grinned, then looked at Mummy more intently. ‘But I know you, don’t I?’ he said.

  ‘Yes, sir,’ she said. ‘You came to Fox Hall with Bertie. Prince Albert, I mean. I can’t believe you remember.’

  ‘Of course I do. You had the mean horse.’

  ‘Yes,’ she said. It was extraordinary to see the transformation. She was a lady again, on her father’s estate. I felt pride and a stab of deep sadness. I saw something of the girl she’d been before she came to Australia, something of what she’d lost.

  ‘Spirited was how I thought of him,’ she said. ‘Bertie fell but you told me not to worry at all because, even though he was a small boy, he was made entirely of rubber.’ She smiled and it was as if she were a different person.

  ‘I remember,’ he said, holding out a hand to take hers. ‘Emily is your name.’ He watched her as he kissed her hand. ‘Bertie and I both had a little crush on you. Now, tell me what on earth you are doing here.’

  ‘Maddie here, my daughter, has been in service on your train,’ she said with considerable pride.

  ‘The writer?’ he said, looking at me and back at Mummy. I was chuffed he’d remembered but Mummy just looked bewildered.

  ‘Of course she is,’ he said. ‘I knew her face, Emily. I did. When I first met her, I said to Rupert, I know that face. Your Maddie, according to my man, has singlehandedly transformed our life these last two days.’ My mother looked even more confused, clearly wondering how a serving girl might transform anything. ‘So you are here in Australia, Emily.’

  ‘Yes, sir,’ she said. ‘We came here before our own Edward was born.’

  ‘And your husband is the poet?’

  ‘Yes,’ she said.

  ‘And all these lads?’

  She nodded. ‘Yes.’ She looked more ashamed than proud, smoothed her skirt with her hands, as if she might hide one or two of them under there given a chance.

  ‘And which one is named for me?’ he said cheerily.

  ‘He’s gone, sir,’ she said. ‘Missing, presumed dead since 1918.’

  ‘Oh,’ the prince said. ‘How thoughtless of me. I knew that. Of course I did.’ He looked pained. ‘Emily, I am so sorry. On behalf of my father, I am sorry, and I am personally sorry.’ He looked suddenly as if he might cry.

  ‘Thank you, sir,’ Mummy said, and I saw there were tears in her eyes too. She always said ‘missing, presumed dead’ when she mentioned Edward, and I wondered now if she still held out some hope, which could only be a vain hope by 1920, but who would blame her?

  The prince looked away then along the platform, where people were starting to notice the group of us. ‘Well, I must away to Government House,’ he said, ‘or you’ll soon be in much worse shape, Emily. They will mob us. They always do. It is delightful to see you again, Mrs …’

  ‘I’m still Emily, sir.’

  He nodded. ‘Then I’m surely still David.’ He took her hand and kissed it again lightly. ‘Emily. Helen, make sure Emily and Mr … Emily … are on the list for the dancing tonight.’

  ‘I think, sir, the plan is there won’t be dancing after tonight’s dinner,’ Helen said.

  He smiled. ‘Of course there will.’ He leaned in further, bringing both my mother and Helen into a huddle with him. They stood cheek to cheek. ‘Dickie, here, is a magician. He has managed to convince the admiral to allow the ship’s band to come to shore again, so it’s going to be quite the party.’ His eyes were bright. Dickie was behind him, terribly proud to have made his cousin so happy. ‘Rupert couldn’t manage it, too afraid of Grigg and the Bolshie unions, but the admiral said, “Why not!”

  ‘Maddie must come too, Dickie, don’t you think?’ He grinned, his eyes on his young cousin. ‘Make sure you do,’ he said, smiling at me.

  I think I blushed.

  ‘Emily,’ he said. ‘So lovely to see you again after all these years.’ He pointed to his chest and gave her a final look of sadness.

  ‘Sir.’ She started to curtsy.

  He shook his head and put up a hand. ‘I’m just that scallywag boy with the terrified brother.’ He took her hand again, shook it this time, and gave her one more long look before he went off with his cousin.

  ‘Well, I never expected this,’ Mummy said when he was gone, wiping her eyes now.

  Nor did I, I wanted to say. But I was worried about Daddy now. Mr Waters had gone off with him and I hoped he was all right.

  I found them in the private lounge which was set up for the prince’s visit. They were drinking from crystal glasses we had on the train that Ruby told me had come with the prince all the way from England.

  Some of the colour had returned to Daddy’s face. ‘Ah, Maddie,’ Mr Waters said. ‘We’ve had a good chat.’

  ‘About the war?’ I knew Daddy didn’t like to talk about anything to do with his time in France.

  ‘Goodness, no,’ Mr Waters said. ‘About you, as a matter of fact. I’ve promised your father we’ll look after you.’

  ‘You have already, Mr Waters, and it’s been a grand—’

  ‘It really has,’ Mr Waters said, cutting me off.

  Daddy hadn’t spoken. He was looking at Mr Waters almost pleadingly.

  ‘Tom,’ Mr Waters said as he stood and put down his glass, his drink unfinished. ‘I will say again, it has been a great honour to meet you. Our Helen says your poetry is remarkable, and I know from experience your daughter has been a great help to us. And now I know you myself.’ He smiled and picked up his hat and coat from the chair. ‘It gets easier with time, man,’ he said softly.

  They shook hands, Daddy nodding acknowledgement.

  After Mr Waters left I asked Daddy, ‘Are you all right?’

  ‘I think so,’ he said. ‘The whisky came in handy. He’s a decent fellow.’

  ‘Yes, he is,’ I said. ‘He loves semicolons.’

  ‘Ha! If only I’d known that. There’s always something wrong with the King’s men. I hear you’re writing for them now though.’ He smiled weakly. ‘Imagine your mother!’

  ‘Yes,’ I said. ‘She saw the actual prince outside and nearly fainted.’

  ‘Did she now?’ he said. ‘That will have made her happy.’ He looked awfully sad then.

  ‘It did.’ I nearly mentioned my brother Edward but held my tongue. ‘Writing for the prince was enormously fun, Daddy. I did everything you taught me.’

  ‘I didn’t have to teach you anything, Maddie.’ He was so proud of me. ‘It was all already there.’

  Mummy and the boys soon came to join us, and Helen asked if I could come back to Government House for the afternoon to make sure all the instructions we’d given in relation to correspondence would be carried out by the governor’s men.

  I told her I didn’t feel I had the authority to instruct the governor’s staff. She said anyone who could pour tea with the accuracy I did ought to be able to instruct anybody to do anything.

  ‘Just come and see me if you have a problem,’ she said. ‘But I’m fairly confident they’ll be fawning all over you.’

  I told Mummy I’d meet them back at Bea’s and explain all. I noticed Daddy had already withdrawn again, his poor frightened eyes staring into the middle distance.

  SIXTEEN

  I WALKED UP THE HILL FROM THE STATION TO GOVERNMENT House. I saw Mrs Danby at the kitchen window, scrubbing something in the sink with vigour. I waved and smiled but a response was beyond her.

  I went in through the same door I’d come through
for my interview just a few days before. I stopped a moment now. Who would think that I, Maddie Bright, would find myself writing letters for a prince? I would have been amazed to serve in the dining room as planned, let alone act as his written voice. And my letters were now on their way to the prince’s men in Australia to be acted on—actions I, for the most part, had suggested.

  The footman who’d shown me where to go for the interview was in the hall. ‘Mr Waters is looking for you, miss,’ he said. ‘I’ll take you.’

  He led me to the door of the room where I’d been interviewed. It had been set up as the staff office for the duration of the prince’s Australian visit.

  I thought of the interview, Mrs Danby and her stony face, Mr Waters and his stifled laughter. Wasn’t I lucky it had been him? Someone else might not have taken the chance.

  ‘Come,’ I heard Mr Waters call from within when the footman knocked. He opened the door for me.

  I went in and there was the prince sitting back in a chair with his feet on a desk, his boots over the papers. Mr Waters was standing at the French windows with his hands in his trouser pockets. He looked handsome in the winter light through the window.

  The prince’s private secretary, Sir Godfrey Thomas, was sitting on the other side of the desk. Helen had pointed him out to me at the national capital site. He turned to look at me but didn’t stand up.

  ‘I’m sorry, sir,’ I said to the prince. ‘I didn’t realise you were here.’

  ‘No, no, come in, Maddie,’ Mr Waters said, gesturing with his hand. ‘We need to …’ He looked at the prince and then out the window.

  On the desk was the day’s mail, another thick wad of letters. They were still coming from Victoria, and now the letters from New South Wales had joined them. Poor Mr Waters, I thought.

  ‘We want you to stay,’ the prince said. ‘And your mummy is my old friend! I can’t tell you how pleased I am, Maddie. You are the image of her as a girl. I was just a little boy, and she was so very beautiful. I thought she would be the best big sister for a little prince.’

  ‘Stay, sir?’ I was still on his first sentence.

  ‘Rupert here needs you but he doesn’t quite know how to tell you. He thinks you might have other plans and he’s not sure your old dad will want to spare you. But I think your mother will be pleased. She was very kind to me.

  ‘So I’m telling you. I’m your prince. You must listen to me. The empire needs you, Maddie Bright! Doesn’t it, Godfrey? Ned agrees with me, by the way.’

  ‘Well, yes, sir, he does,’ Sir Godfrey said. ‘But Ned agrees with anything that might advantage his cause, and I think Rupert and I could hazard a guess as to why he agrees on this particular matter.’ He had a slight smile as he said it. It might have been mean.

  ‘Why?’ Mr Waters asked. He had turned to look at Sir Godfrey.

  ‘I think the colonel wants Helen to himself, doesn’t he? He doesn’t want her working with us, Rupert.’ He smiled again and there was no meanness in it.

  ‘Doesn’t he?’ Mr Waters said.

  Sir Godfrey just looked at him and shrugged. ‘I notice things. I’m sure you do too.’

  ‘Really?’ the prince said. ‘Ned? Well, I never. Isn’t he a bit—’ He didn’t finish the question.

  Sir Godfrey looked across at me. ‘Actually, Maddie, we were just discussing the idea of you continuing with us, and it certainly has merit.’ He glanced over at Prince Edward. ‘Do come in. Sit down.’ Sir Godfrey stood and indicated for me to sit in the chair he’d vacated. I remained standing.

  I had not officially met Sir Godfrey, just seen him in the distance. Up close, his face was sweeter, I thought, with big dark eyes and an aquiline nose balanced by a generous mouth. He was the same age as Mr Waters or a few years older, I decided. We hadn’t been introduced and now I imagined we were to assume we knew one another.

  ‘For God’s sake, Godfrey,’ the prince said. ‘Rupert’s say-so is my say-so.’

  Sir Godfrey was Mr Waters’s boss, so I didn’t really understand what the prince might mean, and Mr Waters hadn’t said anything since Helen was mentioned. He was looking back out to the garden.

  ‘Maddie.’ Sir Godfrey smiled. ‘I understand you have been a great help to Rupert here, and to H.R.H.’

  ‘A great help,’ the prince echoed.

  Mr Waters remained silent.

  ‘And we value your help,’ Sir Godfrey said. ‘But I also know you came to us in odd circumstances.’

  ‘Sir?’ I said.

  ‘You were let go from your last position.’

  ‘Yes, sir, I was.’

  ‘There was tea.’

  ‘Yes, sir.’

  ‘On a customer.’

  ‘Yes, sir.’ I looked at him. ‘But it wasn’t hot, sir.’

  The prince burst out laughing then. ‘Hear that, Godfrey? It wasn’t hot. Enough said.’

  ‘If you don’t mind, sir, I would just like to clarify what happened,’ Sir Godfrey said. ‘Do you understand, Maddie?’

  ‘After all,’ the prince added, before I could respond, ‘we can’t have the heir to the throne at risk of being tea-ed.’ He got up suddenly and went over to stand with Mr Waters. ‘Oh, look,’ he said, ‘there’s Helen. That’s what you’ve been doing, Waters, ogling the staff. You can’t have her. She’s Ned’s, apparently. Come on. You’ll get Maddie. We just have to convince Godfrey.’

  I had not replied to Sir Godfrey. I had stood there, mute, while he watched me. Only Mr Waters seemed uninterested in my response. He continued to look out towards the garden.

  It was the prince who spoke, finally. He was still standing next to Mr Waters by the window. The light was on both their faces. ‘Forget it, Godfrey. We don’t need to hear the story. Maddie, the empire is calling. What do you say?’

  I was confused. ‘I still don’t understand,’ I said. ‘Why does the empire need me?’

  ‘I’m joking, Maddie,’ he said. ‘The empire doesn’t need you. Rupert does. I’m sorry. My joke appears to have fallen flat twice, Rupert.’

  The prince looked at me again. ‘Rupert is going batty with all this mail. So we’d like you to stay on for the rest of the tour. We’ve had a marvellous few days, largely because Rupert has been able to focus on his job instead of these jolly letters. He’s kept the admiral happy. Godfrey here is my friend again. Even Grigg is leaving me be, and we look like being able to run our own affairs.’

  He stood and smiled. ‘That’s good then.’ He turned to Mr Waters. ‘See? It wasn’t that difficult.’

  ‘Very well,’ Sir Godfrey said. ‘There is one more thing, sir, while we have Rupert with us …’

  The prince was walking towards the door. He looked back, inquisitive.

  ‘We … Rupert and I … I’m just having trouble remembering the name, Rupert.’

  ‘You mean Ruby?’ Mr Waters said.

  ‘Yes, just so. Sir, Ruby has had to leave us here in Sydney. She won’t be serving in the dining suite for the remainder of our visit. We’ll be getting someone else from Admiralty House, I believe.’

  ‘Ruby Rex?’ the prince said. ‘Oh, she was good fun. She could dance, Godfrey. Rupert, do you agree with this?’

  ‘Godfrey said she resigned,’ Mr Waters said. ‘I thought she was happy, David, but apparently not.’

  ‘I did have a word with her, as a matter of fact,’ Sir Godfrey said. ‘Mrs Danby has promised we’ll have someone who’s more suitable for the role.’

  ‘Ruby left me without saying goodbye?’ the prince said. ‘Hmph.’

  The prince walked past me towards the door. He smelled fresh and new, like summer-cut grass. ‘Although I am the Prince of Wales, Maddie, at times my aides think I am not competent to make decisions. But you are one decision I feel entirely certain about. And Rupert is with me.’

  He and Sir Godfrey left then, and Mr Waters and I were alone. He sighed, then walked over to his desk and sat down. He gestured for me to take the chair on the other side, which I did.

  ‘
We leave at the end of this week for the west of Australia, and I want you to come with us and take over as H.R.H.’s official correspondence secretary. Your recompense will befit the position; it’s a senior role. Which reminds me, I must go to the clerk before you leave and see you’re paid for the days you’ve already worked.’

  I was shocked and thrilled at once. I had been happy to help out Mr Waters and Helen as well as those who wrote to the prince. And the pay would be such a help to Mummy.

  ‘Do you not want to?’ he said.

  ‘Of course I want to!’ I almost shouted. ‘It’s just a surprise,’ I added more softly.

  He was smiling at me now. ‘I didn’t want to say anything until we were back here,’ he said. ‘I took the opportunity to speak with your father. You’re so young, Maddie, and I knew he’d want to be sure that we’d look after you. I assured him we would, of course. I know your father has already made many sacrifices, and I didn’t want to add to his burden.’

  ‘Mr Waters, my father’s not himself at the moment.’

  ‘I assumed so,’ he said. ‘What happened to the men over there, Maddie … It was pretty rugged. We—the prince, actually—took every opportunity to visit the front.’

  ‘Is that where you were wounded?’

  ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘How did you know that?’

  ‘Helen mentioned it.’

  ‘Did she? Yes, awfully bad luck. A shell blast. I was waiting for H.R.H.’ He rubbed his arm gently. ‘I think they hoped he was in the car but they got me instead. I thought Helen might have forgotten.’

  ‘No,’ I said, looking back at him. ‘No, she hasn’t, Mr Waters. She hasn’t at all.’

  Helen was sometimes hardhearted towards Mr Waters, and I didn’t know why, but she’d said they’d fallen in love, and I believed she might love him still. I had also seen the way he watched her whenever she was in the room, the way his eyes sometimes couldn’t meet hers.

  His expression cleared then. ‘Bit of a target, the Royal Standard. An obvious mistake on our part. We took to getting around in ordinary cars from then on.’

  ‘Mr Waters, did … did something happen between you and Helen in France?’