SQ 04 - The English Concubine Read Online Free Page A
Author: Dawn Farnham
in Singapore but her father forbade it on grounds of extravagance and health.
‘She must love him, mustn’t she, with all that clanking,’ Sarah said. ‘I shall only marry for love. My cousin, Victoria, married some rich old stinker in Calcutta. For his money.’
‘Gosh, I’ll only marry for love too. Imagine, some old rich stinker with a big fat belly. Horrid.’
The girls giggled and picked up their teacups. Amber Macleod looked at her friend.
‘But how shall it be for you, Sarah, when your father leaves? You shall miss him terribly.’
Sarah Blundell, last child of the eleven children of Governor Edmund Augustus Blundell, smiled at Amber.
‘Oh not in the least bit. We girls have so little to do with him, after all; and he is so unpopular, you know, since he tried to sell off the land before the Beach Road houses and asked for a harbour tax. Everyone complains of him and he has probably had enough. I shall stay with Ann until I marry. Ann’s husband, James, is popular with the other officers and I shall be thrown amongst them. And I am happy to be with Mother.’
Amber sipped her tea. Of course. Sarah’s mother would not be returning to England with her father. She was Burmese and not actually the Governor’s wife at all, but his nyai. She was a slightly built, shy woman who, naturally, never attended official functions and kept very much to herself. She had a small coterie of Burmese friends and family with whom she spent most of her time.
‘It seems hard for your mother,’ Amber said.
‘It’s hard to say. She says so little. But Father has made sure she is well cared for. He has bought her the new house at Kampong Glam, she has her friends and my widowed sister Mary with her children who will live with her. And of course they are both now so old, so perhaps she shall not miss him so much.’
Amber nodded. Of course, the Governor was decrepit, almost sixty. But still, his Burmese mistress had been by his side for more than thirty years and borne him eleven children. Can it truly be said that she would not be distressed at his departure? This was a subject which Amber thought on often, for the idea of her own father deserting her mother and sailing away to the other side of the world was one which she found most distressing. She was glad he was seeking to marry her. It was only right. She gave no thought to Teresa, her father’s legitimate wife. She cared for her half-brother Andrew, of course, who was sweet, but she wished, with no more thought than a moment, that Teresa would stop being so stubborn.
Since she had been old enough to understand such things, she found this habit of English men living almost the whole of their lives with an Asian mistress then simply returning home to marry some so-called respectable matron in their doting years extremely distasteful. Of course they took care of their offspring. Sarah’s sisters, like Sarah herself, had all been educated at the girls’ school at the Institution. Her brothers were schooled in Calcutta. One had joined Jardines in Hong Kong and another was at university in Oxford. But still.
But go he chose to do, resigning his position, and he was to be replaced by the new governor, William Orfeur Cavenagh, and his wife Elizabeth. This was exciting news for Colonel Cavenagh was a war hero, a saviour of the Indian Mutiny when he had held Fort William from the savage and ungodly hordes.
‘I have heard that Colonel Cavenagh has two good-looking sons. They are at school in Calcutta with my third brother. Perhaps I shall marry one of them.’
‘Not likely,’ retorted Amber. ‘His snooty sons will not be doing with half-blood creatures like us. They must have white horse-faces with pedigrees like Emily Blackwood.’
Both girls fell into a fit of giggles.
‘Alexander is returning. My aunt is all of a dither.’
Sarah looked at her friend. ‘The English concubine, your scandalous aunt.’
Amber smiled. ‘Yes, my scandalous aunt.’
‘And now
‘She must love him, mustn’t she, with all that clanking,’ Sarah said. ‘I shall only marry for love. My cousin, Victoria, married some rich old stinker in Calcutta. For his money.’
‘Gosh, I’ll only marry for love too. Imagine, some old rich stinker with a big fat belly. Horrid.’
The girls giggled and picked up their teacups. Amber Macleod looked at her friend.
‘But how shall it be for you, Sarah, when your father leaves? You shall miss him terribly.’
Sarah Blundell, last child of the eleven children of Governor Edmund Augustus Blundell, smiled at Amber.
‘Oh not in the least bit. We girls have so little to do with him, after all; and he is so unpopular, you know, since he tried to sell off the land before the Beach Road houses and asked for a harbour tax. Everyone complains of him and he has probably had enough. I shall stay with Ann until I marry. Ann’s husband, James, is popular with the other officers and I shall be thrown amongst them. And I am happy to be with Mother.’
Amber sipped her tea. Of course. Sarah’s mother would not be returning to England with her father. She was Burmese and not actually the Governor’s wife at all, but his nyai. She was a slightly built, shy woman who, naturally, never attended official functions and kept very much to herself. She had a small coterie of Burmese friends and family with whom she spent most of her time.
‘It seems hard for your mother,’ Amber said.
‘It’s hard to say. She says so little. But Father has made sure she is well cared for. He has bought her the new house at Kampong Glam, she has her friends and my widowed sister Mary with her children who will live with her. And of course they are both now so old, so perhaps she shall not miss him so much.’
Amber nodded. Of course, the Governor was decrepit, almost sixty. But still, his Burmese mistress had been by his side for more than thirty years and borne him eleven children. Can it truly be said that she would not be distressed at his departure? This was a subject which Amber thought on often, for the idea of her own father deserting her mother and sailing away to the other side of the world was one which she found most distressing. She was glad he was seeking to marry her. It was only right. She gave no thought to Teresa, her father’s legitimate wife. She cared for her half-brother Andrew, of course, who was sweet, but she wished, with no more thought than a moment, that Teresa would stop being so stubborn.
Since she had been old enough to understand such things, she found this habit of English men living almost the whole of their lives with an Asian mistress then simply returning home to marry some so-called respectable matron in their doting years extremely distasteful. Of course they took care of their offspring. Sarah’s sisters, like Sarah herself, had all been educated at the girls’ school at the Institution. Her brothers were schooled in Calcutta. One had joined Jardines in Hong Kong and another was at university in Oxford. But still.
But go he chose to do, resigning his position, and he was to be replaced by the new governor, William Orfeur Cavenagh, and his wife Elizabeth. This was exciting news for Colonel Cavenagh was a war hero, a saviour of the Indian Mutiny when he had held Fort William from the savage and ungodly hordes.
‘I have heard that Colonel Cavenagh has two good-looking sons. They are at school in Calcutta with my third brother. Perhaps I shall marry one of them.’
‘Not likely,’ retorted Amber. ‘His snooty sons will not be doing with half-blood creatures like us. They must have white horse-faces with pedigrees like Emily Blackwood.’
Both girls fell into a fit of giggles.
‘Alexander is returning. My aunt is all of a dither.’
Sarah looked at her friend. ‘The English concubine, your scandalous aunt.’
Amber smiled. ‘Yes, my scandalous aunt.’
‘And now
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