The Twyborn Affair

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‘Which road this afternoon, madam?’

‘The same, Teakle — the one we took yesterday.’

‘Bit rough, isn’t it?’ her chauffeur ventured.

‘We Australians,’ Mrs Golson declared, ‘are used to far rougher at home.’

It was an assertion she might not have made in company politer than her chauffeur’s. She detected in her voice a sententiousness she found distasteful, particularly since the life she led at home was more comfortably cushioned than that of almost any Australian. Joan Golson had never known it rough.

‘Rough — I bet it is — from what I hear.’ Teakle was in the mood for divulgence.

So discreet, so English, such a dedicated member of the serving class, he surprised his employer by his remark. She would have liked to know what he had heard, but would not be so indiscreet as to ask. She suspected that English servants were given to taking liberties in the service of Colonials. It made her feel inferior.

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