The calloway sisters, p.8
The Calloway Sisters, page 8
Agnes held out her hand and Sarah, half-turning, put the creased images into her sister’s hand.
Agnes struggled to keep her expression neutral, but she understood why their father wanted to keep the images hidden from them. Whether he had been able to spare their mother, she was uncertain, but had she demanded to see them, they both knew she would get her way. Their mother was too independently minded not to offer her unqualified support without knowing what was involved.
‘If only our father had found a different way out of this mess, without having to coerce you into marriage to that man! I know I have had a lucky escape after all those years of foolishly coveting an engagement to him, but I never contemplated that my freedom would come at the expense of yours.’
Suddenly they heard a noise and, fearing their duplicity was going to be exposed, Agnes nodded at the safe. ‘Put them back. If we decide to play our hand in acknowledging their existence, I suggest we do so on our terms.’ Agnes crept to the door and looked out, hoping only to see Charlotte, and was relieved to see the girl doing her chores. Agnes half-turned and saw that Sarah had replaced the images and closed the safe behind the portrait of Cyrus.
They crept into the hallway, where Charlotte joined them, and Agnes placed her hands on Charlotte’s shoulders, insisting she kept their visit a secret. She nodded her agreement, but as usual Sarah was sceptical that the girl really grasped the importance, and in that moment they turned sharply as a shadow appeared at the front door. As the key was inserted in the lock, they fled.
Without the damning images Sarah was forced to accept she had no other viable plan with which to confront Michael. She knew that if Agnes had been aware of what she intended her sister would have advised her against such a tactic, and Sarah swiftly came to realise that it was fraught with danger. Honoria was also growing frustrated at the lack of response to her advertisement in the classified pages, as nobody remotely suitable had thus far applied for the role of housekeeper, so for the time being Yolande remained safe in her position.
An incident which may have presented them with a valid reason to dismiss her occurred when a piece of jewellery belonging to Sarah went missing. Both were convinced Yolande was the culprit, but they had no tangible proof, and when Michael was informed, he suggested Sarah may have misplaced the item and that it would turn up. When she found it had been replaced the next morning, informing Honoria after Michael had left for work, they knew he must have told Yolande as he also suspected her and thus had given her the chance to put it back. Sarah had previously caught Yolande in her bedroom putting Sarah’s clothes against her and twirling around the room. Sarah had snapped, angrily grabbing the dress and demanding to know what the servant thought she was doing. Yolande’s pathetic defence was that Michael had told her he wanted her to have something pretty to wear.
‘So purchase something with your wages or cajole your lover to buy you something!’
Yolande had laughed mockingly. ‘Really? When we both know that my lover is your husband?’
Sarah shook her head. She no longer cared that Michael found his sexual appetites were more satisfied in Yolande’s bed than in theirs. He was welcome to go there if only he would leave her alone.
‘You have been a lousy wife for the master. Why else would he rush to my bed each night?’ The look of taunting contempt from a servant whore was too much for Sarah and she lunged at her angrily. Grabbing Yolande’s hair, she had dragged her out of their bedroom suite, and on that occasion she told Michael when he came home, which had resulted in Honoria disciplining Yolande in front of him. She had relished watching the wretched girl squirming in guilt and hoping for forgiveness, knowing that Michael would offer no words of defence, as he, like his father always had, found the domestic details irksome and so gave his mother a free hand.
Although Sarah was careful not to show visible signs of it, she enjoyed every minute of Yolande’s humiliation, rejoicing in Michael’s angry departure for the club afterwards.
It was after Michael’s departure that Honoria looked again through the handful of applications she had received via the employment agency after her advertisement failed to inspire interest. She found one and handed it to Sarah.
‘Sadly none of the applicants the agency have sent me particularly stand out as especially remarkable, but she is the worth interviewing. We could see her together.’
Sarah looked at the sheet Honoria offered and nodded. For the moment Michael remained ignorant of their plans, but Honoria doubted he would demur too strongly. They agreed that Yolande’s actions had gone too far, and Sarah knew she had enjoyed far more freedom than her mother would ever have indulged from Charlotte. It was time to curb those freedoms, and forcing Yolande to report to someone who had been hired to supervise her was the first crucial step.
‘I doubt my son’s patience will last if he comes home to have Yolande whining about how unfair her life is. He may not be able to resist her charms, but he won’t want to be bothered with petty domestic squabbles, and if that factor alone sours his interest in her, so be it!’
They interviewed Grace Metcalfe together and within half an hour of her departure Honoria rang the employment agency and informed them Grace had been hired as housekeeper. Honoria poured Michael his cognac that evening and told him she had hired additional domestic help.
‘Really? Is it necessary?’
‘I think so. Yolande evidently struggles to accept my authority and I plan to spend more time at my various associations and become engaged in charitable good works, so Mrs Metcalfe, who has the relevant experience, will be in charge from now on, and Yolande will be reporting to her!’
Michael blanched, spluttering on his cognac, as he knew just how much Yolande would hate the new arrangement, having served them on her own for so long, but he was not inclined to intervene. She had overstepped recently and he had been embarrassed by her conduct.
She had to understand the limits of her role in the Landseer household regardless of how much he desired her in bed, and by having acted so rashly she had played directly into his mother’s hands.
‘As you wish, Mother. I take you will inform her of the new structure?’
Michael sipped his cognac, stretching out his legs. He dared not look at Sarah, but with his gaze fixed on Honoria, he nodded.
‘It will be my pleasure, Michael!’
He mumbled something obscene under his breath but had to acknowledge the power dynamic had shifted back to his mother and she had exploited it brilliantly. It reminded him of how his father used to relish the moment in their chess duels when Michael, as an adolescent and novice at chess, would make a move which left himself cruelly exposed to Ernest, who was a superb player. This was Honoria’s checkmate and he winced visibly, reminding himself why he never played chess anymore.
8
July 1914
With the winter rains came the heart-wrenching reality for Sarah that she was expecting. Michael’s wish that his wife should be with child had been realised after numerous cognac-fuelled fumbled attempts that were not even remotely romantic, even though she had prayed that she wouldn’t be expecting right to the moment that it was confirmed by her physician. She found Michael’s gloating arrogance nauseating, as he had viewed her pregnant state as yet another means to an end which suited him perfectly, hoping that she might overwhelmed with morning sickness and then too preoccupied with the reality of expectant motherhood to resist his will. The timing, however, could have been better, as Jensen appeared to be holding out against the threat of default far longer than Michael had ever anticipated and his resilience thus far at meeting monthly loan repayments was infuriating. Michael was baffled because his most reliable sources told him that the Calloway brokerage was struggling, and although he believed Marguerite had some savings, he didn’t anticipate they were sufficiently substantial for them to have survived for this long.
Thus it frustrated him that his dream of claiming the Toorak mansion for himself was not yet close to being realised
The new housekeeper Grace Metcalfe had settled in remarkably well and he was impressed that Honoria’s increased activities in the city were having no impact on domestic arrangements. He discovered that he liked the new set-up. He still resented slightly that his mother’s sleight of hand had caught him off-guard, but it bore no comparison to Yolande’s outspoken resentment of Grace Metcalfe’s presence which he was subjected to most evenings. Her whining was wearing very thin and her belief that, as his lover, he would take her side against Honoria simply hadn’t been proved right and she felt more isolated than ever within the Landseer household. He told her bluntly in a heated exchange that she simply wasn’t experienced enough to command the kind of role that Grace Metcalfe could and that she would have to live with and make the best of new arrangements. Nor was he troubled by her threats to leave, as they had never materialised into anything serious and she knew him well enough to realise that he just wouldn’t succumb to blackmail.
Honoria had heard the exchange and couldn’t resist a slight triumphant smile as Michael left for his nightly trip to his club after Yolande had been ordered to return to her duties in the kitchen, prompting Honoria to say, ‘I wish now that I had appointed someone like Grace Metcalfe years ago.’
Although Michael was able to detach himself from what he considered trivial domestic arguments at home, the political situation in Europe was much harder to ignore. The ticker-tape machines were frantically busy amid speculation about how the tense diplomatic brinkmanship which had grown and intensified since the end of June was rife. Would the nations of Europe be plunged into war, and how might Australia be involved in any conflict that Britain found itself dragged into? Questions like these had swirled around the Melbourne business community on a daily basis ever since Archduke Ferdinand’s assassination, and the directors at Argate & Landseer, among many financial institutions, had convened several emergency meetings throughout the month to discuss the worsening situation and agree their strategy. The hope was that diplomacy would win and the sheer madness of war could be averted, until the moment came when reality dictated otherwise.
One day when Honoria was not attending one of her association meetings she enquired about how Sarah was feeling. Relations between them had improved and they had found a new understanding by working together in appointing Grace Metcalfe as housekeeper without Michael knowing and consolidating their mutual dislike of Yolande. Sarah was not yet ready to look upon her mother-in-law as a trusted ally, but it was a welcome change not to be treated to her withering looks and barbed comments of disdain. It did surprise her, however, that Honoria was not enthused about the prospect of becoming a grandmother and that she had reacted with concern to the news that Sarah was pregnant.
‘I am as well as can be expected, thank you,’ she responded, treating Honoria to a wan smile. She hadn’t shared the news of her pregnancy with her parents, nor had she yet confided in Agnes, as she knew her sister would view the news negatively.
Honoria reached out and patted Sarah’s hand. ‘It can’t be easy. Michael hasn’t made marriage the joy that it should be in the early months. I think you have endured an ordeal.’
‘You mustn’t blame yourself. Michael is an adult, and as such he should take responsibility for his excesses.’
Honoria nodded. ‘Yes, but it’s his appetite for cruelty that is particularly alien to me. I fear his excesses will be his undoing eventually, that one day life might present a bill to Michael that he will find impossible to pay. Penance won’t ever be easy for him. You, however, must find a path to freedom for yourself and I will do all that I can to assist you.’
Sarah looked at her mother-in-law with incredulity, her brows pleated into a deep frown. She didn’t know what to make of what Honoria had said, but she was sure it must have been a careless slip of the tongue, although she didn’t doubt that Honoria was being sincere. ‘Divorce, you mean? Michael wouldn’t countenance it. He won’t let me go, especially once the baby has arrived.’
Honoria shook her head. ‘I have no idea what the path to his destruction will look like, only that it must come and that Michael will be the author of it. His dalliance with Yolande is such a huge risk and I know from Grace that the wretched girl is sounding increasingly reckless. It will only take a wrong word and he will be ruined, socially speaking. Backed into a corner, she will find a route out that will ensure her survival and because Michael is so besotted, he cannot see the threat she poses to his career and our good name.’
Sarah nodded, smiling to herself. The last remark sounded just like Honoria, with the kind of barbed comment that she had been subjected to in the early weeks of her marriage. Michael had informed her in one of his most conciliatory moments of sobriety, which were becoming rarer, that Honoria was the keeper of the Landseer name.
Her devotion to her husband was as strong in the years she had been mourning him as it had been when his father was alive, that nothing would stand in her way of vigorously defending it.
‘So there are no circumstances in which you think he might give her up?’ Sarah hoped she had kept any note of hope out of her voice, as she really didn’t care anymore.
‘Not unless he is pushed too far. Yolande has learnt how to be a survivor, but with Michael, however, it is instinctive. He can put up with her whining by walking away from it, but should she challenge him to lay his cards upon the table and make some declaration of commitment to her, that may prove her weakness…’ Honoria’s voice trailed off and Sarah was unsure of how to respond. It was clear she still wanted her son to be the husband that she had been throughout her marriage to Ernest, and although it went against her character, perhaps Honoria still hoped Michael had the capacity within him; sadly, even after four months of marriage, Sarah no longer clung to such a hope. There was little that Michael could do for her to repair the damage. Honoria looked at her again and reached for her hand; Sarah gave it to her.
‘I am genuinely sorry for the humiliation he has brought to you.’ Honoria didn’t doubt that Sarah was a victim; it was why she had berated him for switching his allegiance to her from Agnes and for diverging from the original plan, but Sarah was not the only young woman to have suffered.
Two generations ago there had been poor Louise, whose own hopes had been cruelly dashed. Honoria could not forget the plight of her poor sweet mother and the humiliation that she had suffered at the hands of the man she had loved. So while she regretted what Sarah had been forced to endure these last four months due to Michael’s inability to control his primal lust, Honoria wasn’t prepared to forgive Cyrus or Jensen Calloway for their sins.
Sarah half-turned from her mother-in-law and indulged herself with a secret smile. It was telling that Honoria, who loathed Yolande with such intensity, still described the girl as a survivor and conferred the same instinct upon Michael, but she didn’t evidently have the same confidence in her survival instincts. They definitely existed, because without detection she had managed one night, a few weeks after first discovering the truth of Michael’s infidelity with Yolande, to take two images of them in bed together. This was her insurance policy, along with one of the images of her father in a compromising position with a prostitute that she had taken from the safe without Agnes’s knowledge. Together they represented her survival plan, and if she needed to play them to secure the freedom that Honoria spoke of, then so be it!
Sarah continued to be buoyed by Honoria’s moral support in the days that followed even though they never spoke so candidly again.
Michael came home heavily imbued with cognac one evening in early August and was behaving in his most obnoxious way. Sarah prepared herself for a quarrel; she knew when a fight was imminent and it was usually Michael who instigated it. Although heavily in his cups and rocking on his heels, Honoria and Sarah could see that his mood was more melancholy than belligerent. He poured himself another cognac and turned to look at them, raising his glass to propose a toast.
‘To my dear mother and beautiful wife, I urge you to prepare yourselves for an almighty bust-up! For I have it on good authority that this evening His Majesty’s Government has sent a telegram to Berlin demanding that Germany respects Belgium’s neutrality or that a state of war will exist with the might of the British Empire!’ He lifted his glass and fell slightly forward until Sarah moved to first steady and then help him into a chair.
Honoria scoffed. ‘Is it the cognac talking?’
He shook his head. ‘No! I admit that I am heavily imbued with my favourite libation; however you may sadly discover in the morning papers that unless Germany takes the demand seriously there will be war in Europe! For now I intend to retire… Wife, do you plan to join me?’
Sarah looked at him, barely able to conceal her disgust, and said, ‘Is it me you really want, Michael? Your pregnant, biddable wife or do you intend on abandoning our bed for that servant whore?’
‘This is getting tedious. You are an expectant mother now. Our child should be the focus of your attention.’
Sarah stood up to face Michael and he saw the disgust in her eyes; despite his focus shifting due to his inebriated state, he saw the glimpse of rebellion in his wife’s eyes, which he took as a challenge.
‘Go to bed then, my virtuous wife! To your cold, empty bed. Is it any surprise that I seek my pleasures elsewhere when all I find in our bed is your icy indifference?’
Sarah wanted to lift a hand to strike him, but when Honoria shook her head in warning she let her arm fall by her side. Michael turned away from her, and she seized her chance to flee. She fought against the tears welling in her eyes, surprised that could he still get to her and because she wanted to be strong.
