Gentlemen Formerly Dressed by Sulari Gentill Page B

more to Bunky’s death than meets the eye I’ll warrant.” She crossed her arms indignantly. “Stanley’s so considerate of my delicate sensibilities, he won’t tell me anything!”
    â€œPerhaps there’s nothing to tell, Ethel,” Kate ventured.
    â€œPoppycock! I haven’t listened to Stanley drone on endlessly about his men, money and markets to be kept in the dark when something interesting finally happens. Of course, it’s very tragic… but it is more interesting than Stanley’s blessed tariffs!”
    Kate looked distinctly uncomfortable but Edna warmed all the more to Ethel Bruce.
    â€œI’m having tea with the ladies of the Dominions this week,” Ethel continued, nodding determinedly. “I’ll discover more then… it’s the only reliable source of information in the Empire. Why, the wife of the High Commissioner to Ceylon is always a mine of knowledge.”
    Edna really wanted to tell Ethel Bruce what she knew.
    â€œDon’t you worry, ladies.” Ethel raised her cup of coffee. “Whatever I don’t bully out of Stanley, I will gather from the wives of His Majesty’s men. Now…” She changed the subject abruptly. “Edna, you don’t mind if I call you Edna do you my dear? You must call me Ethel. What exactly happened to young Mr. Sinclair in Germany?”
    Edna was caught unprepared. She hesitated, glancing uncertainly at Kate. “Rowly came to the attention of the Brownshirts when we were in Munich.” She paused, unsure of how to phrase the brutality of it. “They found him… they hurt him.”
    Kate gasped, shocked, realising suddenly the reason behind Wilfred’s fury. “They broke his arm? Intentionally?”
    Edna nodded, placing her cup down and folding her arms tightly across her chest. “They nearly killed him, Kate.”
    â€œNo wonder Wil was so…” Kate started, her face stricken with horror. “But why? Why would they?”
    â€œMostly because of a painting,” Edna replied, thinking wistfully of the delicate blue nude in which Rowland had managed to capture the fragile essence of a young photographic assistant. “It was beautiful…revolutionary. They broke his arm for it.” She told the two women of the state in which they’d found Rowland, and how they’d all been given shelter by an underground of men considered enemies of Germany, before they eventually escaped to Paris with the help of an Australian journalist.
    By the time Edna finished her story, Kate was near tears and Ethel was unusually speechless.
    At this point, the gentlemen joined them again.
    â€œYou ladies look far too serious,” Clyde said as they walked into silence.
    â€œPerhaps you, too, have been discussing the importance of fixing the pound against the gold standard,” Milton muttered miserably.
    â€œOh, Stanley!” Ethel gathered herself and addressed her husband. “You haven’t been boring our guests again, have you? Honestly, it’s a wonder anyone visits us at all!”
    Bruce’s brow rose, as if the concept that he could bore anyone was unexpected and somewhat silly.
    â€œNot at all, Ethel,” Wilfred said in Bruce’s defence. “I’m sure Rowly and his friends appreciate the value of your husband’s wisdom on these fiscal matters.”
    Milton sighed. “And money, that most pure imagination, gleams only through the dawn of its creation.”
    â€œWhy Mr. Isaacs!” Ethel exclaimed. “That’s very clever.”
    â€œByron often was,” Rowland said as Milton, unrepentant, accepted the accolade.
    â€œPerhaps you should sit down, Rowly,” Kate urged anxiously, her eyes still bright with distress. “Would you care for a drink?”
    â€œYes… Actually I’d best not, but thank you, Kate.” Rowland was unsettled by her sudden need to fuss over him. “We