FORTY
SEVEN
13th
December 1912 – Neutral Bay
On Friday of that week George sat down at the kitchen table after
he had put the child to bed. Outside in the garden the last of the evening
sunlight was casting dappled shadows on the small grassy area they called a
lawn, shining through the branches of the trees in next doors garden. The sky
was slowly changing in colour from the palest Australian blue to light pink,
then darker red and finally a deep -purple, the sparse clouds high and deeper
in colour than the sky. As though to signal the end of another day the flock of
white Cockatoos which called and bickered all day long in the trees of the neighbourhood
finally rose as one in a large mass of feathers and took off for the high Blue
gum trees growing in the disused quarry at the top of the street and settled
quietly for the night. From somewhere close came the soft musical call of a
Magpie. At last the colour drained from the sky leaving it a deep and dark
black lit only by silver stars coming to the foreground one by one.
With a long deep sigh he finally picked up his pen from the table at
the side of the sheets of notepaper on the table. He unscrewed the top and
started to write the letter he had been so dreading having to compose. Since
Clyda’s birthday earlier that week the three of them in the house on Phillip
Street had talked amiably at first, and then with increasing frustration, about
their lives and the child, and then the problem of caring for the child on a
long term basis. The Boarding Out Department had told George that they were
content for the time being with the arrangement for him and William and Grace
to care for the child, but, Mr Stephens had warned, 'The situation will have to
be examined again in due course', whatever that implied.
Since the letter from Clyda's grandfather, Mr Hadfield, had
arrived, and the department had been made aware of it, there had been silence
from that quarter. Whether this was an indication that the department was still
considering what course of action they should take, or whether it was simply
that the department was slow in coming to a decision was unclear. Whatever the
reason the lack of communication from Mr Stephens had prompted an almost
continuous nightly discussion between them as to the future of the child, their
business partnership and the future in general. Nothing had been settled, the
conversations went on in a circular fashion resolving nothing, until the three
of them had finally decided that the lack of information, the situation in
general and the uncertainty had to be addressed by them. The letter had finally
prompted them to decide that the child must be returned to the department for
them to care for her until she could be returned to her grandparents in
England, whenever that would be, and by whatever method they chose to follow. The
fact that the child was still with them was stopping them developing their
business, and was also placing a strain on the relationship between William and
Grace. In effect the indecision forced on them by the board was creating a hold
on all their lives. By not making a decision the Boarding Out department were
placing the burden of the child’s future on them, and they had reluctantly come
to the decision that the child would have to be returned to the department sooner
than later so that they could get on with their lives. None of them wanted to
return her, but it was clear from the letter that the grandparents wanted the
child back, and they were legally entitled to have the child returned, so any
delay on the part of the department in making a decision was doing nothing more
than putting a brake on the lives of George, William and Grace. They would make
the decision for the department and return the child to them until such times
as they made their decision as to how the child was returned.
George completed the letter to the Curator of Intestate Estates
and placed it in an envelope. Rather than writing to the Boarding Out
department, they had all felt that in writing to the office dealing with
Florence’s estate more pressure, and quicker pressure, would be placed on the
department to come to a decision as to the disposition of the child. He left it
on the kitchen table for William and Grace to read when they returned later
that evening.
6 Phillip Street
Neutral Bay
Sydney
13th December 1912
The Curator
Dear Sir
Re: Florence Lowe (decd)
I shall be glad if you
would forward me cheque for £10.00, this being for 20 weeks at 10/- per week,
keep & clothing etc of the child Clyda Elsie.
The Boarding Out Officer
has permission to take her away next week.
Yours
faithfully
George
Kent
George was still seated at the kitchen table when William and
Grace returned, closing the front door to the house behind them quietly, so as
not to disturb the child they knew was sleeping in the bedroom.
'Done the letter.' George said, handing the unsealed envelope to
William. William sat down at the table and took the single sheet from the envelope
and read it. He looked up at George and said,
'Bit brutal isn’t it George?' George nodded his head as William handed
over the letter to Grace.
'Didn’t feel much like being polite to them.' He said. 'They
promised me ten shillings a week to care for her and then have left us holding
onto the poor kid without any word of what they are going to do. Either they
don’t want to do anything about her or they are just too lazy to get off their
backsides and do anything. I thought this might get them to move themselves a
bit quicker than another letter to the Boarding out office.' William nodded in
agreement,
'You’re right George. They might reply to this a bit quicker than
if we just talked to them. They seem to be a bit unwilling to get things in
motion don’t they?'
Grace took up the letter and read it, then replaced it in the
envelope and dropped it by George’s side on the table.
'Let’s hope things start moving soon. It’s not only not right for
the child, but it’s causing us a lot of heartache as well isn’t it? After all,
they’ve done nothing since Willie wrote to them last month, even though he
offered to put them in touch with a ship's captain to take the child back. They
need a good talking to.' The two men nodded in agreement of what they all felt
to be correct.
William had written to the curator of Intestate Estates some three
weeks before to inform him of the arrival of the letter from Mr Hadfield, with
its request that George make provision to return Clyda to them in Bolton. Other
than an acknowledgment of the letter, nothing seemed to have been done since
then to make any provision for Clyda to be sent back to England. There was a pause
for a few moments as the three of them considered what effect this letter would
have and what the future would hold for them and Clyda. Finally George rose
from the table.
'I’ll post it tomorrow' he said. 'I’m off to my bed now.' The
others bade George goodnight and they too left for their room, leaving the
small house quiet and in darkness.
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