Tears of the Moon - Di Morrissey [131]
Tyndall looked at his friend, then suddenly slammed down his glass, grabbed his skipper’s hat and ran from the shed.
Tyndall reached the wharf as the day disappeared into the deep shade of a lavender night. Only a few people remained at the end of the wharf, waving occasionally as the departing steamer glided across the bay, its lights twinkling on the calm aqua waters.
From the porthole Olivia could make out the dark sweep of bay and mangroves that sheltered foreshore camps. Her eyes filled with tears. For one wild moment, as the mooring lines were being cast off, she wished he had rushed to her, but he had not.
In the shadows of the wharf, John Tyndall also wept.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Two years passed and still the situation had not improved. Amy stuck to her guns and refused to budge. Tyndall’s battle to divorce her was bogged down.
Meanwhile, Olivia had been steadfast in her resolve not to have contact with Tyndall, other than on a purely business level. She checked the accounts now kept by a relative of Toby Metta employed by Tyndall, and dealt with Monsieur Barat directly in Perth. Pearls and ledgers were delivered to her by registered mail and once, at the end of the last season, Ahmed had travelled to Fremantle to deliver the pearls to her.
While it was not the perfect arrangement, and she missed the excitement of seeing the pearls come to life under Toby’s deft hands, it worked satisfactorily enough. She was glad to see Ahmed and catch up on all the news of friends and life in Broome. She did not ask about Amy but from the snippets of information offered by Ahmed, she gathered Tyndall’s situation remained unchanged. The very personal questions she wanted to ask, Ahmed couldn’t have answered anyway.
She didn’t know whether to believe the small remarks dropped by Tyndall in with the business correspondence. Things like, ‘My situation remains difficult and unresolved, but I will not give up.’
Amy had initially cut a swathe through the town. The Hootens had given a small afternoon tea for her where Amy had elaborated on the tale of how she and her husband had ‘lost’ each other and what a joy it was that the find of the ‘Star of the Sea’ pearls had reunited them. Most took her gushing affection with a pinch of salt but said nothing. Rumours had been doing the rounds about the volatile relationship between Tyndall and Amy.
However, she managed to flirt and charm her way through the Residence tea.
‘What a little dazzler, eh?’ commented the RM. ‘I wouldn’t be losing her if she were mine.’
‘Strange story, turning up on the eve of the wedding. Felt sorry for poor Olivia,’ said Major White.
‘I imagine it was a planned marriage of convenience, business convenience that is. No doubt Mrs Hennessy will find herself a new husband in Perth soon enough.’
The women had also felt for Olivia. The embarrassment of it all.
‘No way I’d stay here and be the discard on the shelf,’ was the general reaction.
‘Tyndall is certainly a good catch. Handsome devil. But I bet that wife of his gives him the rounds of the kitchen.’
‘Is it true they live in separate houses?’
‘I’m sure there are visiting hours,’ snickered another wife. ‘I hope he’s keeping an eye on her. I wouldn’t trust that woman round my husband.’
‘You mean you wouldn’t trust your husband,’ came the quick retort.
None of them knew of the great love that had burned so fiercely between Tyndall and Olivia, nor realised the pain they had both suffered these past two years.
It had taken Olivia many months to adjust to life in Fremantle and to the loss of Tyndall—for she regarded his betrayal as the death of their relationship. Hamish had settled in quickly, enjoying King’s College and had made good friends.
Now that her days weren’t filled with activities related to the pearling enterprise, which she missed dreadfully, Olivia had looked for something to occupy her time and energy.
Through friends of Monsieur Barat’s she had been invited to work on a hospital charity. There she had met a Doctor Gilbert Shaw who was setting