‘Goodness!’ Kitty said after a suitable pause, which she hoped denoted ignorance of such a proposal. ‘I am shocked. I never thought . . .’
‘That is because you are who you are, Kitty. A girl . . . woman, in fact, who does not recognise her own beauty, either inside or out. You are beautiful, Kitty, and I knew the first moment I saw you that I wished for you to be my wife.’
‘Did you?’
‘Yes. I would not say that I am of a romantic nature, but . . Andrew blushed. ‘It was truly a case of love at first sight. And then,’ he chuckled to himself, ‘I knew that it had to be right when you showed such enthusiasm for the dinosaur footprint in Broome. Most girls wouldn’t even know what a dinosaur was, let alone be interested in its fossilised footprint. So, what do you say?’
Kitty looked down at Andrew, at his undoubtedly handsome face, then raised her head and surveyed the beautiful estate that this man would presumably inherit. Her thoughts travelled back to Leith and her father, who had professed to adore her, but then, because of what she knew, had banished her to the other side of the world.
‘I . . .’
Her demon mind issued a vivid picture of Drummond, and subsequently began to play a selection of memories across a frame in her head. The way he teased her, treated her less like a china doll than an equal, how he made her laugh despite herself . . . and, most of all, how she’d felt when he’d kissed her only a few hours ago.
The question was, did he bring out the best or the worst in her? Whichever it was, she was certainly a different person when she was with him.
‘Please, I understand that this is a shock, coming so soon after we’ve met,’ Andrew persisted into her silence. ‘But I must return to Broome in February or March, and as Mama pointed out, that leaves little time to prepare for any wedding. That is, not that I want to rush you into a decision, but . . .’
Andrew’s voice trailed off and she thought what a sweet soul he was.
‘May I take a little time to think about it? I had planned to go home to Scotland and my family. And this would mean . . . well, staying here. For the rest of my life. With you.’
‘Dearest Kitty, I understand completely. You must take all the time you need. Aunt Florence has told me what a close family you come from and I know the sacrifice you would be making if you were to marry me. And of course, at least for the next few years, you would be living in Broome.’
‘A place that your mother loathes.’
‘And one that I believe you would grow to love. It has changed much since she last deigned to visit. Broome is thriving, Kitty; the ships that arrive daily from all over the world bring luxuries and precious things that you would not believe. But yes,’ Andrew agreed, ‘it is still an unformed society, where many rules of normal social behaviour don’t exist. Yet I feel that you would embrace it as strongly as my mother derided it, simply because of your egalitarian and generous nature. Now, I must stand up before my kneecap breaks in two.’ Andrew stood, then grasped Kitty’s hands in his. ‘How much time do you need?’
‘A few days?’
‘Of course. From now on,’ he said, kising one of her hands softly, ‘I shall leave you be.’
*
During the ensuing three days, Kitty discussed the situation with herself, a magnificent parakeet in the garden and, of course, God. None of whom were able to give her any further insight on the subject. She longed for her mother’s wisdom, whose advice would be given purely out of love and her daughter’s best interests.
Although would it? Kitty pondered, as she paced up and down her bedroom, realising there was every chance that Adele would urge her daughter to jump at the opportunity to marry such a handsome man from a fine, wealthy family, given the frugal life they lived in Leith.
The bald truth was that even though Kitty had known marriage was the next stage of her life once she turned eighteen, it had always seemed far away in the future. Yet now, here it was. The question she asked herself over and over was whether one must love one’s future husband from the first moment one set eyes on him. Or whether initially, the excitement of an engagement came from a far more pragmatic angle: that of knowing one had been plucked from the tree of single young ladies – especially being as poor as she was – and that one was secure for the rest of one’s life. Maybe love would grow through the sharing of an existence together, which would one day include a family.
Kitty was also sure that if the Mercers had seen the straitened circumstances in which her own family lived and realised she was less than a ‘catch’, they may have viewed the union very differently. Yet this was not Edinburgh but Australia, where she and everyone else who reached its dusty red soil could reinvent themselves and be anyone they chose.
What was in Scotland in the future for her anyway? If she was lucky, marriage to Angus and a life as a clergyman’s wife that would be little different from her first eighteen years, except perhaps harder.
Despite Drummond’s words about having ‘adventure’ with him, Kitty realised that marrying either twin and following them up to the north of this vast land mass would provide that.
Yet . . . the way that her body had dissolved when Drummond kissed her. When Andrew had taken her hand and kissed it, it hadn’t been unpleasant, but . . .
Finally, completely exhausted from equivocating with herself, Kitty decided to go to Mrs McCrombie. Biased though she may be, she was the nearest thing Kitty had to family here.
She chose a moment when Edith had gone out to pay some house calls. They took tea together and Mrs McCrombie listened while Kitty poured out her mind’s machinations.
‘Well, well.’ Mrs McCrombie raised an eyebrow, to Kitty’s surprise showing neither pleasure nor distaste. ‘You already know that I expected this to happen, but, my dear, I do feel for you. Neither of us can be as naive as to believe that your decision won’t have an irrevocable effect on the rest of your life.’
‘Yes.’
‘How much have you missed Edinburgh since you’ve been here?’
‘I’ve missed my family.’
‘But not the place itself?’
‘When the sun burns down, I long for the chill, but I like what I have seen of Australia so far. It’s a land of possibility where anything might happen.’
‘For better or worse,’ Mrs McCrombie interjected. ‘Young lady, from my perspective, I will repeat what I said on New Year’s Eve. I can only say that you have blossomed since you have been here. I do believe Australia suits you and you suit it.’
‘I have definitely felt more free here, yes,’ Kitty ventured.
‘However, if you marry Andrew, you must resign yourself to not seeing your family again for perhaps many years. Although, my dear, no doubt you will start a family of your own. It is a natural progression, whether it be in Edinburgh or Australia. One way or another, once a woman marries, her life changes. And Andrew himself? Do you like him?’