‘I shall follow him to Australia, Will.’
‘Mother says that’s your idea. But what will you do when you get there? He’ll be as much a prisoner in Australia as here, won’t he?’
‘No. I’ve read and found out. I’ve learned all I wanted to know from Mr. Woolfe,’ said I, naming the sharp young attorney that had been a clerk to my uncle. ‘Certainly, a man is still a convict when he arrives, and he remains a convict; but he’s not locked up in hulks and jails. The Government puts the men into barracks when they arrive, and lends them out to those who want labourers and servants and help. Tom will rank as a gentleman convict; he’s good with his pen and he’s a scholar, Will; they may make him a clerk. He is not a mechanic, and he’s too good to send to the roads.’
‘How do you know all this, old woman?’
‘I know very much more, Will,’ said I, smiling in my sadness. ‘Could I love Tom and not learn all that lies before him as though I was to share it? If they would put me to work in the dockyard by his side, how happy I should be! If they’d but lock me up in that horrible hulk with him—but they’ll not be able to separate us, Will. Oh, I have a fine scheme! When he sails I’ll follow in the next ship. I have money, and I’ll establish myself, and I’ll ask for a servant, and bribe and bribe until I get Tom, and if I fail I am still near him. They may give him a ticket-of-leave quickly; they must give him a ticket-of-leave in six years if he behaves well. If—if—but oh, he’ll behave well!’
‘How your eyes flash! You’re as red as fire! You’ve got a magnificent spirit! I always said so. You’re a splendid woman, and you’ll make it right for both of you, yet.’
‘Is my scheme wicked?’
‘No, no!’
‘Is it wrong for a woman who loves a man to be true to him to the grave, let what will happen before death?’
‘It is right!’ he cried.