CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

The Royal Mail Line's SS Sovereign arrived at Brisbane's Newstead wharf exactly on schedule on a balmy afternoon in early July. It was the vessel's maiden voyage, and she looked little the worse for wear after her seven week passage from London on the Indian Ocean route through the Suez Canal.

Percival Augustus Fairweather, white haired and immaculate, was one of the first passengers to disembark down the first class gang-plank.Silas Moser and Charles were on hand to meet him, and drove him directly to Castlecraig where he was greeted warmly by Clare and Catherine.

Fairweather's tall frame stooped as he bent to kiss Clare's hand. `What a pleasure it is to meet you at last, madam. When Catherine was in England she spoke often of her home in Brisbane. When I saw this magnificent house from the deck of the Sovereign as we came upstream earlier in the day, I knew it must be Castlecraig.

Clare Stonehouse beamed. `Our home is your home for the duration of your visit to the colony Mr Fairweather, and please ...'
`Oh, please call me Percival.'
Clare's face continued to beam. `Oh, thank you... Percival. As I was about to say, please come and go just as you wish during your visit with us, and please don't stand on ceremony. I know you have many important matters to attend to. Now, you must be very weary.' She signaled to Jenkins. `Jenkins will show you to your room, and look after your every need. And after you have rested I do hope you will join us for dinner.'
At dinner that evening, Fairweather expressed an interest in seeing Stonehouse's and the frozen meat terminal first hand. The next morning he accompanied Charles in his carriage for the journey to the South Brisbane wharf.
`You and Silas have accomplished a great deal over the past few years since we met last Charles,' Fairweather said as the carriage made its way into town alongside the Brisbane River.
`The credit is entirely due to Silas.' Charles said. `I have merely carried out the administration necessary to implement his farsighted plans.'
`Oh come, Charles, you are too modest. I was most impressed with the manner in which you carried out your responsibilities when you were in London. Your kind of competence, and attention to detail is hard to come by in commerce these days.' Fairweather paused for a moment, then said, `Tell me, how would you feel if the company were to change hands?'
Charles shrugged. `Well, I ...'
'I take it you know I have been empowered to negotiate for the purchase of Stonehouse's by London shipping interests,' Fairweather continued without waiting for an answer. 'And that Clare is prepared to listen to whatever propositions I may make on their behalf.'
`A transfer of the stock of the company to London would make very little difference to me personally,' Charles replied, `just as long as I remain a part of it all.'
`Oh, you could be sure of that, Charles. Your presence in the firm was one of the main reasons I recommended Stonehouse's when I was retained by my client to assist in the acquisition of an Australian steamship line with an existing frozen meat trade. And I have told them that I feel it is most important, should Stonehouse's be taken over, that you remain with the firm at the highest level of management.'
Charles looked surprised. `Why thank you, Percival. I certainly appreciate that.'
`And how does Silas feel about it all?'
`I'm afraid you will have to ask him about that.'
`Your quite right, Charles. I'm having lunch with him today at the Colonial Club. I intend to pursue the matter at some length, and also discuss the general state of affairs in the colony. I just thought I would let you know what is happening.'
They continued on in silence for a few minutes. Then Charles asked the question that had been at the tip of his tongue since the moment Fairweather had stepped off the SS Sovereign the previous day.
`And how is your niece, Vivian?'
Fairweather rubbed his jaw. `We don't see a lot of Vivian these days. In fact since she returned to England after she was mixed up in that Exeter Hall Society business, she has been living in seclusion in a small cottage in the country somewhere in Hampshire.'
`Has she remarried?' Charles asked.He tried to sound politely disinterested, his eyes gazing out from the carriage window.
`Oh heaven's no. And it's not likely she will.'
`Then I take it she has family in Hampshire?' Charles persisted.
`No.' Fairweather sighed. `She lives all alone except for her young son of course.'
Taken completely by surprise, Charles turned to Fairweather in amazement. `Her son...?'
`Yes, he'll be almost five years old now. She never told us much. Except that she met a man on board ship when she was travelling to Australia. As we both know it's a long passage. Travel these days on steamers, I suppose can be quite romantic. She was an attractive widow. Apparently he was a married man, and obviously quite unprincipled. The affair of course, was the reason she returned home almost immediately after arriving here in Australia. With Vivian being an old school chum of Catherine's, I suppose you all must have wondered why she left so suddenly. One thing Vivian did tell us, was that she was too ashamed to visit Castlecraig.'
Charles felt his mouth go suddenly dry. He turned and stared out the window again without saying a word.
`My wife and I have always thought how unfortunate it was that you returned to Queensland directly from the Clyde,' Fairweather continued. `If you and Vivian had travelled to Queensland aboard the same vessel, the whole tragedy may well have been avoided.'
Charles continued to avoid Fairweather's eyes, and was grateful a few moments later, when the carriage pulled up at Stonehouse's. He alighted quickly and led Percival Fairweather directly to Silas Moser's office.
*
It wasn't until Percival Fairweather and Silas Moser had finished luncheon in the dining room of the Colonial Club, and returned to the comfort of the member's lounge for port, that Fairweather broached the subject of the sale of Stonehouse's.
`I can only say Silas, that I am greatly impressed with everything I have seen at South Brisbane today. In fact in these difficult times, I think it would be most unlikely if I were to find another maritime company in Australia performing as well as Stonehouse's.'
`Why thank you, Percival.' Moser said modestly. He leaned back in his easy chair, with his port glass cradled between his bony fingers, and awaited Fairweather's next move.
`Because of my long association with Stonehouse's,' Fairweather continued, `I am of course, already privy to the financial position of the company, and am well aware of its remarkable profitability. And that fact has greatly simplified the decision-making process with respect to the British Far East Steam Navigation Company wishing to buy the firm.'
Moser's eyebrows rose in surprise. `British Far Eastern....' For a moment he savored the connotations, then said drily, and without humility, `As one of the world's great shipping companies, I have to take British Far Eastern's interest in Stonehouse's as attestation to my management over the years, at least since Alexander's death.'
`So you should, Silas. And if Stonehouse's becomes part of such a large international concern, it would just be a matter of time, and sound management of course, before it becomes the largest shipping company in Australia.' Fairweather spoke slowly, his tone persuasive. `Now tell me, Silas, providing the price is acceptable, can you see any reason why a sale of at least a majority of the stock could not be negotiated?'
`No, I don't think so. Of course Catherine is opposed to selling. But Clare announced some time ago she would relinquish her fifty per cent holding, if Catherine didn't produce some evidence of producing an heir to the Stonehouse fortune before a sale was finalized.'
Moser saw the surprise on Fairweather's face.
`There's no love lost between Clare and Catherine Percival. The only thing they have in common is that they live in the same house. Catherine is selfish beyond words. As a result, Clare has lived a life of utter solitude since Alexander's death, living in the past, and confining herself to her garden and her private quarters at Castlecraig. I'm sure over the years it has affected her mind.'
'Tragic. Quite tragic,' Fairweather muttered quietly, almost to himself.
Moser quickly put the subject aside. `However, Percival, to acquire control of Stonehouse's, your client would need additional shares, which I am prepared to provide on condition that British Far Eastern contracts to retain my services as head of Stonehouse's for an unspecified period of time. After all, I have built this company. It has been my life.' Moser took a generous swallow of port. `Now, if you can give me that assurance, and assuming British Far Eastern is prepared to pay the price we have put on the company, I will instruct our solicitors to draw the necessary documents without delay.'
`Excellent, Silas,' Fairweather was jubilant. `I will cable British Far Eastern later today with your proposal. I think we will have an affirmative reply back very shortly. Now, as you know, I will be sailing to Sydney soon to fulfill other obligations of my visit to Australia. But I have promised Clare that I'll be back at Castlecraig in time for the garden party in honor of the Australian Naval Squadron on the first of August. Perhaps we can finalize the matter the day after that.'
Fairweather smiled and rubbed the palms of his hands together. `And now, Silas. What say we order a bottle of Champagne to celebrate?'