Chapter 21: Chapter 21

The Taylor family liked Mrs Byers' boarding house in Lonsdale Street better than the

hotel. Hers was a two storey establishment with a balcony supported by fluted cast

iron columns. It overlooked the street which bustled all day with vans and drays;

traffic serving the large bluestone warehouses and their trade with the port and city.

The veranda was neat, and freshly painted; like the rest of the establishment. Large

pots with spreading ferns were put behind each of the posts and carefully watered

every day to refresh the eye and help filter out some of the dust from the street. The

floor and windowsills of the veranda had to be carefully swept and dusted off by the

maids twice a day in windy weather.

The veranda was free to any of the guests that cared to use it and often boarders

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lounged up there in clement weather and leaned over the railing to watch the flowing

tide of people and commerce passing below.

Mr and Mrs Taylor had a front room which looked out onto the balcony but they had

no fear for their privacy because the landlady had installed tasteful, thick lace

curtains which also served to keep out heat and dust.

Amy had a ground floor room opening on to a passage wich ran from the front door to

the back Her room was spacious and airy with flowered wall paper and sufficient

furniture

Harold had been given lodgings near the back of the house, at the far end of the

corridor His room was cramped with a bed and a small wardrobe which, even so,

were almost too big for the room.

Harold, to everyone's surprise, found a job. He was an assistant in a grocer's shop; it

did not pay well and he worked long hours, but the family was proud of him

Gabriel enjoyed his new life also. Sales on the estate had been a success from the start

and every penny the partners collected, apart from necessary expenses, was used to

bolster the finances of their enterprises. After their experience of the bank failure Mr

Pryor had become an enthusiastic debtor. His new philosophy was that if any more

banks in Melbourne were to fail he would owe them money rather than the other way

round. He had a theory that if he owed the banks money it was their problem, not his.

On that question Amy led Gabriel to the common room where Mrs Byers said they

could sit together and talk. There was no one else there so she sat in an armchair and

made him pull round another and sit down facing her.

''Now,'' she said, Why were you two so worried when the bank closed its doors, and

where did you get the money that you andJames brought to the office in a leather

bag?''

''Well, we were worried because we had been banking all the money that came in to

the office and when the bank closed we had lost everything and couldn't continued

trading or paying our creditors.''

''That's nonsense, you have millions of pounds behind you, that's what it said in the

newspaper advertisements.

''I'm sorry, Amy, that's all moonshine. It was an invention of James' busy brain.''

''What! You mean the money in the bank was all you had, and those advertisements in

the paper were straight out lies. Why did you let him do it?''

''Well, I was a green chum,just off the boat. I'd never worked in an office before. He

knew more than I did and I thought it may have been normal practise to start off a

business in that way.''

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''But there must be a building society, he keeps talking about it. The Melbourne and

London Amicable Building Society, he mentions it once or twice every time we meet.''

''Well, yes there is a society. He registered it last month with a paid up capital of one

pound.

Amy shook her head at this folly. ''But where did you get the money you brought to

the office the day the bank closed its doors?''

''I'll be frank with you again, Amy. We robbed the bank.''

''You what?''

''We forced our way in through the back door. The manager was there and we

threatened to open the front door and let the mob in unless we got our money back. I

think our visit woke him up a bit. When we left he was writing withdrawal slips so

that he and the bank staff would get their wages.

Amy shook her head again, astonished. ''Frankly dear, holding up a bank doesn't

sound like you at all. I think James led you into the bank and it was he that threatened

the manager. he's a born bandit. So your whole business is a sham, isn't it?''

''No, not really. It's booming along like the Roman Empire. James has sold a draper's

shop and a run down old hotel. We're building and selling houses as fast as we can

go.''

''That's good. You've been lucky so far, but keep James in check, and no more lying

advertisements. I don't want my husband to go to jail.''

''What? Me or James?''

''Not him, you. I fell in love with a man who was bold enough to break down the social

barriers on the ship and come looking for me. Though I must say that when I saw you

on the gangway at London you didn't look third class, not to me. I wondered what you

were doing there.

''I couldn't forget you after we saw each other,'' said Gabriel, ''And the happiest

moment in my life was when Sir Thomas said he was the owner and I could have the

run of the ship.'' He paused. ''A moment ago you said 'husband, did you mean it?'

''Of course I did. I don't say that sort of thing lightly, how many more hints do you

need?

''But I haven't proposed to you yet.''

''Well, you'd better get on with it, hadn't you.''

As he opened his mouth to speak she reached out and put her fingers over his

lips. ''Not now, darling,'' she said, ''Not here. ''Take me out to dinner, to somewhere

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nice, and you can propose to me then.''

''But before we talk about marriage,'' she continued, ''We will have to be sure that

James is in check and can't get us into trouble.''

He's a great salesman, and very good in an emergency, as he was the other night.

''Yes, but he's impulsive, and you have more influence over him than you realize

Gabriel was puzzled. ''What do you mean? What influence?''

''You're his friend, and he wants you to admire his business judgment.I've noticed it

several times, he wants your approval for what he does.''

''I haven't noticed any of this, are you sure?

‘Of course I'm sure. I'm a woman, and women understand these things. You're a

thoughtful man and have the better intellect of the two, that's one of the reasons why

I love you and want to protect you. From now on you're to take charge in the

partnership, especially the money side of it. Those big fat lies in big, fat letters in the

newspapers might bring you down yet, I hope not.’

After this interview Gabriel went back to O'Hanlon's hotel in a daze. Amy had refused

a farewell kiss in case Mrs Byers entered the room.without warning. She would have

barred him instantly from coming back to her house and trying to take advantage of

her female boarders,

However they both had declared their love and his next project was to find a place

nice enough to satisfy his beloved.

Johann Strauss Junior came to Gabriel's rescue. He was wondering about the next

stage of his courtship when he saw a poster announcing that a hall in Collins Street

had been rented for the Christmas season. There would be dancing every night to the

music of Johann Strauss the younger

Supper vouchers were included in the ticket price. Instructors were also available if

any Lady or Gentleman should be unfamiliar with the polka or the waltz, the new

dance sensations now sweeping Europe.

It was not the quiet, candlelit supper that Amy had imagined, but that could come a

little later, so he asked her.

She had never been to a dance before. Her father was not a dancing man, and her

mother preferred the dances of her youth when couples went no further than dancing

hand in hand. She strongly objected to the modern style where couples whirled round

the room clasped in each other’s arms. She claimed that such dancing led to

misbehaviour and even vice.

They argued and, as usual, Amy won. Her trump card was Queen Victoria. It was well

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known that the queen had met Herr Strauss, the composer. He had taught her the new

dances and she had taken them up with enthusiasm.

If the queen herself danced the waltz and, the polka how could they be said to be

sinful. Gabriel would teach her the new steps. She didn't need a chaperone and would

be perfectly safe under his protection.

The Taylors had other reasons to worry. They could see their daughter was in love

with Gabriel and feared she would refuse, when the time came, to go back with them

to England.