Doomed Dynasty Pt. 02

CHAPTER 6

Eva Sterling sat on the couch beside her daughter holding her hand. "I definitely think you should say yes to Matt's offer of marriage, and daddy does too. Matt's a most interesting man and has enough behind him to take care of you very comfortably for the rest of your life. What else could you desire?"

"Try love and respect for starters mummy. I have no idea if he loves me. I know that he desires me but in marriage I am his for always?"

"Courtney some women never find love and some who do experience unhappiness and even hardship in other directions. Think about this, I implore you. Even to this day I am not sure that your father really loves me. He tells me that he does but the ardour of our marriage has long gone and I suspect that there have been other women, even recently."

"What daddy? Who on earth would be interested in him?" responded Courtney, trying but failing to imagine her father in a passionate embrace with a woman.

"You might be surprised. Women are attracted to men for different reasons but mostly I would think lavished attention and the excitement implicit in passion are behind many liaisons. Now, I want you to keep what I'm about to say very confidential. You are to mention this to no one. Promise me?

The hint of something scandalous had Courtney aroused from her melancholy.

"Yes, I promise. Tell me, tell me!"

"Well I really suspect that your father and Elizabeth had an affair and it may still be continuing for all I know."

"What Aunt Elizabeth?"

Eva nodded and calmly straightened her hair.

"But, but she's not much older than I am. How disgusting!"

"What do you mean dear? Disgusting because she is much younger than your father or disgusting because she went to bed with him?"

"I... I really don't know. How could she, your sister! Wouldn't they have been breaking some kind of law?"

"I wouldn't know about that. I 'm just relieved that your father still sleeps in my bed."

"Oh mother. How could you? He betrayed you and me!"

"You have a lot to learn about men, and women for that matter my dear."

At that moment Charles strolled into the room, hands in his pockets. "Hullo, you two. You're having a very animated conversation."

Courtney burst into tears and raced from the room.

"What's troubling her?"

"Pre-engagement nerves I suspect."

"Then she has accepted?"

"No not yet. But I think she will. I've given her some things to think about."

The next morning Courtney phoned Matt with her acceptance.

The couple talked at length and finally Patricia demanded he hand over the phone.

"Congratulations my dear. I've been here listening to Matt talking. I was naughty and wouldn't leave the room. What wonderful news and welcome to the Curtis family my darling. I hope to see you soon."

Afterwards, Matt sat drinking with his mother. She'd asked him to open a bottle of 'something special'. He was probed about the wedding date, what he would wear and what size diamond would Matt be buying and had he thought about the setting.

He had replied negatively to each of those questions, wondering why she should be interested in such things.

When the bottle of red wine was finished, Matt rose and said he was going out.

"Out where?"

'Just out mother," Matt said kissing her. "Mother's don't ask big boys where they are going."

Matt went straight to the Armstrong's house. He just went there, knowing that he had many closer friends as well as relatives who would be delighted to hear his news. But he wanted to talk to Vikki.

Clyde greeted Matt and took him into the sitting room where apparently he and Vikki were settling in for the evening, listening to a concert on radio.

He was about to ask Clyde if he could talk to his daughter privately when Vikki said brightly, "Oh you've come to take me out; how lovely."

"Er yes. We'll drive past the building. I'll take you through in the morning."

It was a fine evening, the last traces of the sunset in the southern sky being swallowed by the gathering darkness. They sat on a seat under a light on the riverbank eating fish and chips.

Vikki recited some of the names she had thought up for the restaurant. Matt heard with astonishment one of the name, The Silent Partner.

"That's no name for a restaurant."

"I know but you rose to the bait."

"Why don't you call it what it is, a riverside restaurant."

"That's it," Vikki said, excitedly. The Riverside Café; absolutely perfect."

Watching Matt enjoying her response, Vikki noticed him becoming serious.

"Vikki, I've got something to tell you." Matt then told her gently that he was about to become engaged to Courtney. To his relief, Vikki's reaction was warm friendly and her delight appeared to be very genuine.

"I saw her and your photo published in the newspaper at the Yates' garden party. She's lovely in fact very beautiful Matt. You are a lucky man. Now you'll have two women in your life," Vikki said, reaching for his hand and holding on to it. She sat back. "It's lovely being here with you and I know it cannot be like this again, but we will have our times together."

"But, but..."

"Shhhh Matt. I have this feeling and sense that you have it as well, that we're destined to become more than just good friends. But let's not rush it; let it just happen. Now, tell me about the ring, what your mother will be wearing to the engagement party and will it be here or where Courtney lives? Oh, how exciting for you," Vikki enthused.

Poor Matt. Right at this point he was wondering if he should phone Courtney in the morning and suggest they run away and get married as soon as possible in some quiet place. If he did that his mother, of course, would kill him, and so would Milly, and Eva Sterling. He heard a voice far away. It was Vikki's.

"Matt," she said. "Your eyes are closed and I don't believe you have heard a word I said. Do you want me to..."

He turned and kissed Vikki, long and deeply.

Thirty seconds later they sat, holding hands and gazing across the river at the lights while catching breath.

"This is so peaceful," ventured Matt.

Vikki didn't say a word. She was probably thinking although it was said around town that Matt was becoming a hard bastard just like his father, he certainly had a wonderful way of making a girl shut up.

Courtney and Matt had decided to have their engagement party in March or April, but agreed to leave it to their mothers to sort out the details. They would suggest that the engagement party should be either at Miranda or Wellington, and the wedding should be at the alternative venue to where the engagement was celebrated.

"This is good Matt. If we can agree on important things like this so easily we should have no problems in dealing with little decisions," Courtney said, having come over the strait from Wellington for the weekend.

Matt was a bit curious about that comment. What was the big deal about where the engagement would be held, or for that matter the wedding? His friends would go anywhere with him for a big party or his wedding.

It was Courtney who identified an accommodation problem: Matt's mother. "She sleeps in the main bedroom which I feel should be our bedroom," she began, carefully.

"She and my father slept in that room all of their married life!"

"I know, Matt, I know. But let's examine what could be done. "What if you had a new wing added as a self-contained unit for your mother? Of course, she'd continue to have the full run of the house. Could you and you mother afford to spend that sort of money?"

Questioning whether the Curtis family could afford to add a couple of room on to their house ruffled Matt. He was about to respond angrily when Courtney smiled at him tenderly and said, "I know I'm asking a lot, but will accept whatever you decide."

Aware that something had to be done, he placed his hands on Courtney's shoulders and said, "I'll discuss it with mother. Now is there something else we could be doing? Matt asked, reaching behind to grab Courtney on the butt and squeezed"

Mother reacted predictably when Matt raised the subject after he'd returned home from taking Courtney to catch the ferry at Picton.

"It has been my bedroom for more than 30 years Matt. I don't like this idea at all."

"Look, mother. Why don't we make alternations to the entire house, bringing it up to date? And we'll get your part decorated out in a superior fashion and it's your choice exactly how you want your part."

"Superior fashion?" echoed Patricia.

Her son studied her face, noticing the slight hint of a smile. He knew she'd been won over.

Over the next weeks in telephone conversations and exchange visits, the two mothers agreed that the wedding should be fifteen months away, timed for the completion of building alterations to the Curtis' home, with a little allowance built in.

Patricia went to Wellington and was overwhelmed by the Sterling's home. It was beautifully furnished and decorated with quality furniture. On display were Charles and Eva's collection of gifts and astute purchases of painting, pottery and silverware, rugs and tapestries from around the world.

"These rooms were decorated and furnished largely based on the ideas of Courtney, even though the ministry had their own adviser," Eva said proudly.

Later Patricia learned that it was a Government-subsidised leased home, with Charles now deskbound in a very senior departmental position.

Eva returned with Patricia to Miranda and Eva thought and said it was a rather quaint town. Although the Curtis homestead called Aberdeen was large with some character and in a marvellous setting, she appeared to think it ought to be demolished and replaced with a modern structure worthy of her daughter. If she had thought that she'd realise her poor judgment when returning for the wedding a fourteen months later and seeing the wonderful job that had been done in extending and modernising the historic homestead.

Finally the mothers reached agreement and informed Courtney and Matt.

Courtney was angry with her mother. "You must have buckled, mother, not getting the wedding here in Wellington."

"Actually, dear, Patricia got it by playing the trump card. I had proposed that we were willing to pay for a wedding at any venue in Wellington provided it was limited to thirty to forty guests on either side. Patricia countered by saying that the Curtis family would pay for the whole wedding, provided it was held at a marquee at their home, and we could invite as many guests as we wished. Her generosity will save us hundreds and hundreds of pounds."

"No limit, so I can ask everyone?"

"Yes dear. You will be able to enjoy your greatest day exactly as you wish though not in Wellington."

"That's marvellous of you mummy."

Matt drove to town, not at all concerned by the decision to have the wedding more than a year away.

At home alone Patricia poured herself another sherry and thought with great satisfaction, that many years ago her mother had fought tooth and nail against Patricia's wedding being in Miranda rather than Christchurch but lost. Now it was Patricia who'd battled successfully to keep that tradition going for Matt's wedding.

Thinking about the local reputation of Curtis men as being hard bastards, Patricia said to her cat purring on her knee, "If people call Curtis men those objectionable names, what would they call Curtis women?

"I was quite disappointed that Eva buckled so quickly. I think I could become a real hard lady if pushed."

Patricia found herself quickly warming to her prospective daughter-in-law. Protective as a mother, she'd originally thought that this young woman, who was only eighteen, was too young for Matt. Patricia ignored the fact that she'd only just turned nineteen when she married Collier, much to her parent's strong opposition. It was apparent that years of travelling and private tutoring had shaped Courtney into a confident, articulate and socially complete young woman quite advanced for her age. Before long Patricia concluded that the young woman had the attributes to succeed her as the matriarch of the Curtis family when that time arrived, as surely it would.

Matt's excursions from the home left the two women alone together for many hours. They talked of the wedding, generally bonding well in their thoughts and aspirations, with Patricia trying hard to maintain a moderately passive role. She enjoyed observing the excited bride-to-be. She was pleased to find how eager Courtney was to try to assimilate herself into the community and into the Curtis tradition. She asked for assistance to achieve those goals.

"You will find, my dear, that the Curtis family is generally highly respected in this community, though jealousies and grudges also exist which is understandable. This is a cross that all successful families have to accept. When I first came to Miranda I really thought of it as the Curtis town as Matt's grandfather and his father before him had been so influential in public affairs but the town really began to grow, watering down that influence even before Curtis and I had become Mayor and Mayoress. The days when the Curtis family was wealthier than the whole town have long gone and we had no regrets about that. A new economic order has become established, spreading wealth more evenly which is not a bad thing for the welfare of the country as the trend appears to be occurring throughout the entire country, It appears the times of the landed gentry are almost over."

Patricia said that Curtis men had embraced a pioneering spirit out of necessity. "Have you noticed how energised and ready to get cracking Matt is each morning as he prepares to set forth?"

Courtney nodded.

"There are people in all activities, in both town and country, with this energetic and enterprising approach but I feel that they are now in the minority as many people seem to be content either with what they are getting out of life or they have simply giving up trying and are just drifting along. I regret that pioneering spirit that has helped to make this country what it is today appears to be extinguishing."

Courtney said she could understand that. "There is something of a pioneering spirit in Matt and there is something almost mediaeval about him. But he'd not altogether a White Knight, perhaps more of an Off-White Knight."

Both women laughed, and Patricia squeezed Courtney's hand.

"How can someone so young be so perceptive?"

Courtney's reply was expressed as a gentle shrug. She looked pleased, and wondered why her own mother found it difficult to converse with her like this.

Patricia pointed out that Courtney might find it rather lonesome at times as Matt, apart from spending time away at the farm during haymaking and other busy times, would spend hours reading his magazines and study papers on such things as animal health, pasture management and business practice.

"Matt's interest in self-improvement has come as a bit of a surprise to me," Patricia said. "Being locked in during those long cold months with his testy and demanding aunt in Wyoming has turned out to be his advantage. Matt and I occasionally engage in serious conversation, far too infrequently for my liking, though. He is aware that times are changing, and so must he. I know he wants to remain being a farmer, at least in name, but he's now interested in off-farm investments."

Having warned her future daughter-in-law not to expect too much socialising from Matt, Patricia added: "At the same time you do not appear to be the sort of person that will simply sit about waiting for him to come home. I think you'll be an inspirational influence on Matt."

Courtney beamed, thinking that comment alone had made her visit very worthwhile.

"Oh darling, you must call me Patricia from now on. You are too lively and too sophisticated to be calling me Mrs Curtis."

The way they had appeared to come together so quickly, so easily, had made Courtney wonder if she was more compatible with Patricia than to Matt. But her fiancé arrived home just then, and that disconcerting thought flew from her head.

The next evening, Courtney was reluctantly drawn into an impasse between mother and son over their proposals for alternations to the house.

"What do you think, Courtney?" Patricia asked. "You have talent as an artist and live in your parent's home that I found to be rather impressive. Which of our concepts do you prefer?"

Taking a quick glance at the two lots of very basic sketches, Courtney preferred neither. Although there were differences between the two proposals, both involved minimal alterations. In Courtney's view the house required major remodelling with new extensions.

"Please, give me until tomorrow morning to tell you what I think. I would like to work on some ideas myself, if that is acceptable to you both."

"Of course it is, my dear, isn't it Matt?"

Matt nodded, wondering why Courtney was stalling when normally she was very decisive.

Next morning the three of them breakfast together and then Courtney helped Patricia clear away, telling Matt to remain seated. She was tired, having been working until almost 3:00.

Shafts of early morning sun reached into the room, creating a lovely environment for this event, their very first business meeting as an extended family.

Courtney spread the six sheets of drawings on to the table. "I've been thinking about when I come to live here as Matt's wife. Central to my approach is trying to determine how we can live together as a united family while at the same time having parts of the house as our own dedicated spaces. These are only ideas. You two may have your own ideas or prefer to keep things the way they are. That's fine by me, but I take this opportunity if I may to try to stimulate your thoughts and suggest a style of living that I know you would enjoy. It will come at a cost, though. What I am suggesting will be expensive to undertake."

Matt and his mother looked at each other, nervously.

The Curtis home on the hill overlooking the beach, occupied the site of the original homestead in the days when Faraway Farm sprawled over 134,000 acres. Over the years much of the original land holdings had been sold, isolating the house from the remaining acres now on the other side of the town. Miranda itself occupied land that once was Curtis farmland. The long ago replacement homestead of Aberdeen had become something of a hotchpotch. Although comfortable to live in, numerous additions have produced a rather homogenous mess.

Courtney was too polite to reveal her conclusion, that viewed from above it would look as if three separate dwellings had been rammed together during a severe earthquake.

Matt and his mother looked at the sketches with initial scepticism, but gradually came some approving noises.

Finally Patricia commented. "My own wing, I like that. And Matt said that I can have it furnished any way I wish."

"Oh, that will be lovely for you," smiled Courtney, earning a very warm return smile from her future mother-in-law

"I like the way that arriving vehicles can drive up under the veranda at the front door," Matt said.

"Portico," corrected Courtney.

"Whatever," replied Matt, his eyes now resting on a sizeable new room called 'Matt's office'.

"I like your idea of swapping the kitchen area with the sitting room," commented Patricia. It means that we can sit there looking out into the bay and have sun in the kitchen in mornings. This is really good Courtney."

Courtney flashed her a smile, but she was awaiting Matt's considered response.

He picked up his coffee cup and drained it. "Well, I guess I better introduce you to the fellow who built the new house on the farm. He'll draw up the plans to submit to council. He'll do anything you say when I tell him you're my fiancée, at least I hope so. Some men around here don't like being told what to do by women. But if he digs his toes in like that I'll sort him out."