Stevenson's Flirtation With the Australian Governor's Wife
August 15th
Mr.
Stevenson appeared today for lunch. He didn’t bring anyone with him and there
wasn’t anyone at the house except Lady Jersey and myself. I was instructed to
serve them on the verandah. Mr. Stevenson had definite instructions on what
made a good Vailima lunch. Tea, of course, and then a tray of whatever fruit
might be available, sliced and skinned if need be. Then cold thinly sliced
meat, whatever was left over from dinner and pickles and hard boiled eggs. And
crackers, of course. This was exactly how he said it to me and then he winked
dramatically, as if we were coconspirators in some low rent theater piece. Then
the villain would slip the maid a large bill and proceed to seduce the
mistress. He offered no money, but did offer a large Robert Louis Stevenson
smile. So I did come up with most of it. Mr. Haggard had no eggs, so I whipped
up a small bowl of ham salad as something different and served it all out to
them. After the tea was served, I retreated to the house, but not out of
earshot.
I
sat down in the parlor and then thought I’d better have an alibi, so I went
upstairs for some needlepoint, which if
I was discovered, I could claim the parlor as the only place for close
work, since it had the best light. I had missed some of what had been said.
“She
has a swelling that comes and goes in her abdomen and some pain with it. The
holuku hides the swelling. I suppose in western dress with a tight waist it
would be unbearable, plus she doesn’t think I know, and she thinks she is
hiding her condition from us. The holuku really has become the height of
fashion here now.”
“She
should go to the doctor,” Lady Jersey said.
“You
should tell her that,” he said.
“She
has hated me from the very beginning.” (I could almost see her turn and smile
at him ) “She has every right too, I suppose. Her hair?”
“She
claims she was engrossed in reading a pamphlet on tropical plants and Belle was
trimming her hair. Belle just got carried away and suddenly cut off all of it
off.”
(There
was a silent pause.)
“I
know, I think Fanny put her up to it, so that if we all hated it, she could
blame someone else. She quickly got over it and it has not gotten any longer in
six months. She must be trimming it at night when no one is looking.”
“We
sleep separately,” he said as an afterthought.
“So
do we,” she said, laughing. “Perhaps I should start running around in granny’s
nightgown too!”
“That
might prove to be very seductive,” he said. “I can see you like that on
horseback. What a painting that would make!”
“With
my hair down like Lady Godiva?”
“Hmmm”
What
did that Hmmm mean? Did I dare to look? It would be just my luck to find them
kissing, and finding her eyes looking back at me when I walked out on them. I
went to the kitchen for more hot water to refill their teapot. As I reached the
door, I stopped to see what they were doing. They were smoking cigarettes. But
they were also holding hands, ever so gently. I knocked my pot against the
doorframe and their hands dropped.
“We’ve
had enough, Tess. Please take it back. We’re done,” she said.
“So
are you coming along tomorrow?” he asked me.
I
looked at Lady Jersey. I hadn’t been informed of their plans.
“Oh,
she’s coming. You’re up for something quite dangerous, aren’t you?”
“I
guess.”
“I
understand you have been down our famous water slide,” he said.
I
must have blushed.
“Yes,
sir.”
“Then
you’re ready for anything!” he said.
