Read Online In the Land of the Long White Cloud by Sarah Lark - Free Book Online Page B

ship to New Zealand can take up to three months to get there. For letters that means three months there, three months back. That’s if the addressee answers right away and the ship sails back directly. So you see, it could be half a year before you hear from him.”
    Six months? Helen could have worked that out herself, but she was nonetheless surprised. How long would it take with these interruptions before she and Mr. O’Keefe came to some agreement? And how did George know?
    “What makes you talk of New Zealand, George? And who is ‘
he
’?” she asked primly. “You’re so impertinent sometimes. As punishment, I’ll give you work enough to keep you busy all day.”
    George laughed mischievously. “Maybe I can read your thoughts,” he said cheekily. “At least that’s what I’m working on. But something remains concealed. Oh, what I wouldn’t give to know who ‘
he
’ is. An officer of Her Majesty’s in Wellington’s division? Or a sheep baron from the South Island? The best would be a merchant in Christchurch or Dunedin. Then my father could keep his eye on you, and I’d always know how you were doing, miss. Though, of course, I shouldn’t be curious, certainly not about romantic things like this. So just go ahead and give me my punishment. I will accept it with all humility and crack the whip so that William keeps writing as well. Then you’ll have time to go out and check the mail.”
    Helen had turned beet red. But she had to remain calm.
    “You have an overexcited imagination,” she said. “I’m just waiting on a letter from Liverpool. An aunt of mine is sick.”
    George smirked. “Please give her my best wishes for a speedy recovery,” he said stiffly.

    Howard O’Keefe’s reply did indeed take nearly three months, and Helen was about to give up hope. Instead of a letter, however, she received a message from Reverend Thorne. He asked Helen to tea on her next free afternoon. He had, as he let it be known, important things to discuss with her.
    Helen did not anticipate good news. In all likelihood, it had something to do with John or Simon. Who knew what they had done this time? Perhaps the deacon’s patience had worn thin. Helen wondered what would become of her brothers if they were expelled from university. Neither one of them had ever performed any kind of manual labor. So it could only be a question of finding them clerk’s positions, where they would start out as office errand boys. They would no doubt view that as beneath them. Once more Helen wished that she were far away. Why didn’t this Howard write back? And why were ships so slow when they were using steam power and no longer had to rely on advantageous winds?
    The reverend and his wife received Helen warmly, as always. It was a glorious spring day, and Mrs. Thorne had set the tea table in the garden. Helen breathed in the scent of flowers and enjoyed the quiet. The Greenwoods’ park was, it’s true, much larger and more stylishly arranged than the reverend’s tiny garden, but she hardly had a moment’s peace there.
    With the Thornes, she did not even have to speak. The three of them serenely enjoyed their tea, Mrs. Thorne’s cucumber sandwiches, and homemade cake. Then, however, the reverend came to the point.
    “Helen, I’d like to be forthright. I hope you won’t think ill of me. Naturally, everything that takes place here is strictly confidential, especially the talks between Lady Brennan and her young…visitors. But, of course, Linda and I know what they’re about. And we would have had to be blind to let your visit to Lady Brennan escape our attention.”
    Helen’s face flushed and paled by turns. So that’s what the reverend wanted to talk about. He must be thinking that she would bring shame to her father’s memory if she left her family and gave up her life here to take up an adventure with an unknown person.
    “I…”
    “Helen, we’re not your conscience’s keepers,” Mrs. Thorne said, laying a