Iian Finds a New Love

Iian was sitting on the veranda of his brother Gregory’s house with Cara enjoying drinks in the evening and watching the sailing ships arriving and departing for their foreign journeys. It was an increasingly busy harbour, and the population was increasing rapidly as more migrants arrived and were either assigned work, given grants of land in the far corners of the state or set up their own businesses in Sydney or the developing regional towns. Cara had responded to medical treatment given her by her specialist and was making a slow recovery. She was beginning to enjoy her new home with its breathtaking view of the harbor and having servants in the home to care for the maintenance of their needs.

Gregory had been wanting to ask his younger brother about the fact he’d never married as his home and its servants seemed to be managed by an older woman who was stern with those under her control and mothered Iian. He finally plucked up courage and asked.

A look of sadness passed over his younger brother’s face and he remained silent for a while before responding. Yes, he had been married to one Elizabeth Hurley, The Hurley’s had arrived in Adelaide from England flush with cash and immediately setting up business selling cloth imported from English mills. Sabastian Hurley managed imports and sales while Mary Hurley and her daughter went into business making a wide range of clothing with some workers they’d bought with them from England. It soon became a thriving business, and they managed to undercut the competition in a short time being the sought after place to go for clothing. They even made to measure.

Enid Caimbeul noticed their daughter Elizabeth as an outgoing beautiful young woman and decided this was an ideal match for her son Iian who was now of marriageable age. Mary and Elizabeth were invited to the Caimbeul home for an afternoon tea and a friendship developed between the two families. Scot warmed to Sabastian, and they became firm friends even though competitors in some items the Caimbeul’s imported too. The parents of Iian and Elizabeth encouraged the interest of their children and eventually the two of them began to enjoy each other’s company until under the urging of parents Iian proposed to Elizabeth and she accepted with the blessing of her parents. This all happened after Gregory had been living in Queensland for several years.

They were very happy in their marriage and Elizabeth produced two children Adan and Becky over time. Mary Hurley with Elizabeth decided to take the two grandchildren to London for a brief visit with both great grandparents who were still alive. It was a happy reunion as letters from England to her husband Sabastian later revealed and the date of their return was given. But on the ship back to Australia they encountered a storm that lasted a week on the high seas. All cargo was thrown overboard to lighten the load and ropes placed to strengthen the timbers. But sadly, the ship was lost in the storm and only a few of those placed in the ships lifeboats as the large ship sank survived weeks on the sea with limited food until picked up by a passing ship. Mary, Elizabeth and the two children were among those who didn’t survive the ordeal.

Sabastian Hurley sold all his interests in Adelaide and returned to London seeking relief for his grief under familiar circumstances and after a few years remarried and they lost contact.

Iian could not be comforted. He’d lost the love of his life and the two children he doted on. He threw himself into the family business even volunteering to take over the Alice Springs warehouse to get away from this memory, but Enid was not going to entrust another of her sons to her husband’s idea of preparing them for life and vetoed the idea. She suggested he may want to make a trip to England to engage with their suppliers and perhaps seek out other opportunities to expand the Caimbeul interests. But it was a ship on that journey that had taken his most valued treasures from him, and he did not want to relive that pain by making a journey to London. Soon after that his father died on a trip back from Alice Springs and Enid decided there were too many bad memories for all of them to stay in Adelaide, so they sold up and sailed for Sydney to make a new beginning and this was the result Gregory could witness today as he’d relocated to join his long-lost brother in Sydney.

Cara wept as she heard this story and got up from her deck chair to embrace her brother-in-law whispering her sorrow at his loss. Gregory was unsure what he could do to make his brother feel better, so he just stood and said softly he was sorry too. There was a lull in conversation as they all processed what had been reported. Finally, to break the silence Iian spoke.

“I think my niece Branna is interested in the man I’m sending to manage the wholesale depot in Liverpool his name is Adam Pengelly.”

Gregory and Cara looked up with interest and then inquired about this young man Pengelly. Iian filled in the details recommending him highly and stating he had a bright future with this company. Gregory and Cara smiled happily at this news but resolved not to say anything until Branna stated her intentions. It sounded like he’d make a good son in law if it eventually worked out, he had an interest in her in return. They sat in silence a while longer, then Iian indicated he was ready to return home and thanked them for their sympathetic support. He was happy to have family around him again and in that he had no children of his own he hoped Gregory Jnr and Andrew would consider filling in to manage the company when he was no longer able to do so. His sister Adelaide and her husband who’d received a large land grant far west of Sydney beyond Lithgow had left for their selection and Adelaide would obviously not be interested in the business when Iian was ready to retire.

As the business expanded Iian paid his brother a visit to keep him informed about the substantial gold investment, he’d made in the company, but he also had a request. He wondered if his brother would be willing to come out of retirement even if temporarily to give help with the company business.

Andrew was doing a good job with construction of the sites mapped out for distribution points as the population expanded further afield. Gregory Jnr was doing a good job with procurement from abroad which had taken a lot of pressure off Iian and allowed him to move around their extended subsidiaries to inspect and audit. He had the strategic planning for the company to attend to. Would Gregory Snr be willing to take over the accounting administration which was becoming more complex now. Iian was not keen to bring in a professional to do that as he preferred to keep management control within the family.

 Gregory readily agreed as he was becoming bored in retirement and wanted something to occupy his time. Cara now almost recovered had found her place within the women’s social and charitable organizations around Sydney and was enjoying her time very much, but it was keeping her out of the home for most of the days now. So, Gregory took up the work of financial oversight for all company affairs and enjoyed the challenge very much. Iian offered to pay him for his time, but Gregory refused as he was independently wealthy and the enjoyment of doing something far outweighed the money involved. Besides that, he had a regular interest coming to him for the use of the money he’d invested with his brother. That was enough.

Iian had revealed to his brother working on finances in the office he was about to stock the warehouse in Liverpool and send Adam Pengelly there to be the resident manager now the house there was complete. Soon after that visit a visibly excited Adam came to the office and requested his time. He stated that Iian had just told him it was time for him to take up his new position in Liverpool and he wanted to ask Gregory for permission to marry his daughter Branna. Gregory pressed the bell to summon the secretary in an office outside and he opened the door and looked in. He indicated that Branna should be summoned to the office immediately and Adam registered surprise at the reaction. Branna appeared nervously and glanced at Adam inquiringly then looked at her father.

“Branna Adam has asked me for permission to marry you. Are you agreeable to that?”

“Yes Dad.”

“So how will this work? Are you intending for a registry marriage and leave with Adam when he goes or is it your intention for him to return to Sydney for a marriage later with all the trimmings, we can provide for our last daughter. You remember Ailsa’s bush wedding? Do you want one like that?”

Branna laughed as she remembered the chaos or her elder sister’s wedding.

“Dad Adam will go by himself and come back later when a suitable time for the wedding can be arranged with all families present. I’m sure Uncle Iian will find a substitute for Liverpool while we honeymoon.”

“Good I like that. Talk with your mother tonight and start the wedding plans going. Welcome to the family Adam. I’ve been watching you and know you will look after my daughter well.”

The two exited the office laughing happily as they thought about their future together.

Gregory and Cara were sitting on the deck overlooking the harbor that evening which had been their established custom since transferring to Sydney.  Cara suddenly spoke,

“Gregory I’d like to invite one of the women I work with in a charity supporting orphans left to the care of the state for a dinner one evening and I’d like to have you invite Iian to join us. She’s a widow of independent means high in social standing and inheritor of a fortune her late husband left her. Her children chose to return to England on the death of their father, but she chose to remain in Sydney where she has a large group of friends who supported her in her grief five years ago. It would be for the purpose of getting Iian interested to be patron of that charity but as both she and Iian are lonely, I’d like to attempt to get them interested in each other.”

Gregory laughed out loud and Branna and one of the servants came out to see what had amused Gregory. He waved them away smiling now.

“Cara it’s not wise to involve in other people’s business. This could be highly misunderstood by Iian but no harm. What is the name of this targeted woman, and do I know her? You will need to let me know the proposed date and I’ll see if it fits in with Iian’s program but what exactly will I tell him?”

“Her name is Nora Ascot, and she was the second wife of Colonel Lord Horatio Ascot who retired from service in India and decided to take up a government job in Australia in his retirement from the army. He died of a heart attack about five years ago. He was too fond of his rum it seems. You probably didn’t know him as we have not been in Sydney long. Nora finds it difficult to deal with government in her role as chairperson of the charity I’m a committee member of. The Colonel used to bully her needs through the government bureaucracy so she’s having trouble getting things done now. Iian and the Colonel were on the management team of the cricket club, so they are known to each other, and she is slightly younger than Iian. Just explain she wants to talk about Iian becoming patron of their cause. He is already donating money yearly.”

Gregory nodded. This would not look like an attempt to get them involved with each other then so Iian wouldn’t be scared off by the invitation.

The evening was a pleasant one and as Iian and Nora Ascot were known to each other from socializing at the club Iian was quite relaxed in her company. At first, he resisted the idea of becoming patron pleading a heavy involvement in the expansion of his empire, but Nora was very persuasive and eventually he smilingly agreed to front up with the government whenever the charity needed some favor or support. Iian was quite familiar with those in the bureaucracy and how to motivate them to action. Sometimes all it took was a dinner engagement or a little gratuity to movers and shakers in government.

Over time as they worked together at the charity Iian and Nora began to find comfort in each other’s company. This was noticed of course by the women of Sydney society who were always on the lookout for a little gossip to fill in their tea party’s evenings or time at the club. These women began needling Nora to see if there was any truth in the gossip and the more, she denied having an interest in Iian the more the story spread. Iian was quite oblivious to this undercurrent of interest by these society gossips until his friends at the club began to inquire if there was any truth in the gossip. Of course, Iian denied there was with suitable laughter at this ridiculous suggestion. But deep inside he knew he had formed strong feelings for this woman. They had much in common and he realized he was seeking her company not for the interests of the charity but to try and fill a gap in his life that had never been filled since the death of his wife and children in that shipwreck. But he didn’t know whether Nora had the same feelings for him or whether she viewed their meetings together as necessary charity business, so he decided to confide in Cara when his brother was not around.

To be continued

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