"She was there, in the full vigour of her personality, battered but not diminished" Willa Cather, My Antonia
Rosie took a deep breath when the outline of Melbourne started to come to life on the horizon. Soon, that train would take her there and she braced herself for the harrowing times ahead.
Those two weeks in Sydney had been good though. She had been able to get her mind into some order, reuniting with Mary had been most pleasant and invigorating, and while one can't run away from their problems forever, it's always nice to be able to go somewhere else for a time, at least while everything is that raw.
Rosie felt a pang of loneliness as friends and family reunited with most of the people coming out of the same train she had just alighted. She closed her eyes for a brief instant. One thing at the time. She informed the porter she would drop by the station's post office before getting a taxi and, as promised, had a telegram sent to Mary to let her friend know she had arrived well in Melbourne.
The trial was scheduled to begin within two days. With such a large number of defendants and given the complexity of the case, hearings alone were bound to take quite some time and while Rosie tried to feel as prepared as she could, there were some moments when thinking about it was a bit unsettling nevertheless. But she wouldn't dwell on it now. One thing at the time. It was easier that way. And right now, she must focus on getting home.
xxx
She had never been bothered by it, but the house struck her as cartoonishly big now, an impression deepened by the length of the verandahs on the two sides of the house she could see, the big surrounding garden and how diminutive Rosie felt standing in front of it while she waited for the taxi driver to get her luggage inside.
Who knew if she wouldn't have to give it up soon, if it turned out to have been acquired with unlawfully-gotten funds in spite of her father's own money? It was in her name but it had been a gift from him when she had married Jack, «somewhere suitable for them to live in», her father had said. Rosie hadn't completely been able to overlook the discomfort it had caused her husband or how it had been the background to most of the disintegration of her marriage but she had never wanted to sell it, not even when she had moved to Sidney's gargantuan mansion. She would think about it eventually, Rosie had promised her fiancé, but she had never been sure it would happen that quickly and now she was glad she had never felt like following through with it.
Yes, in hindsight it was indeed too big for a young couple, even with the prospect of children in view and represented an unfair power play on her father's part against an honest and good man whose major fault had been to fall in love with her, but she loved the house and was glad to be back.
«Everything is in, Miss», the taxi driver said.
«Thank you», Rosie said, paying the fare and including a generous tip.
The taxi driver nodded in appreciation and took off.
Rosie's shoes tapped on the mosaics of the porch and she walked inside. The smell of fresh flowers hovered in the hallway, the two bouquets on the table made even more colourful by the way the light coming from the stained glass on each side of the door hit them. Rosie shivered, her spirits cracking for a couple of seconds. She had been perfectly clear – unless mandated to by the law, Rosie wouldn't testify for either her father or Sidney. She had unceremoniously thrown out the other bouquets they had had sent and she would do the same to these. She yanked the cards from the arrangements with a brisk motion and read them. Welcome back, I can't wait to see you, dear – Catherine, read the first. Dear Rosie, Melbourne wasn't the same with you away. Welcome home – Your friend, Anne Broughton, was written on the other. Rosie took a deep breath and smiled. She might feel betrayed by her father and by Sidney but there were many people who cared about her: friends and family and even a loving godson in Thomas, Mary's oldest child.
«Marietta, please make sure everything is ready for a special tea party tomorrow», Rosie asked her maid while she walked towards the telephone to thank her cousin and her friend for their thoughtful gesture and to invite them over the next day. She wished she could see them as soon as possible but that afternoon was already reserved for putting things in order. Those weeks had only been a small respite. Her time off was over.
A/n: A fortnight (and some) later, here's my entry for June's Challenge of MFMM Year of Quotes. In spite of its poor timing, I hope you enjoy this chapter (and the next, since we're at it).
Thank you for reading and for your time. Feedback is appreciated as always.