‘I’m not able to bear you a son, Will,’ she whispered one morning as they lay in bed. ‘I’m not able to give you the heir you want. All your work will be for nothing. There’s Ellen with another little one and me losing more than I bear. What’s the use of trying for more?’ She gently pushed aside his arms and rolled away. ‘You should find yourself another woman, is what you should do. There’s boat loads of ’em still coming, you know.’ ‘Stop that talk at once,’ William demanded. ‘But you’d have to be quick,’ she went on, disregarding his fierce frown. ‘The free settlers want ’em all for servants. Think they’re going to be gentry out here, they do. Ruddy men! An’ Ellen told me that some of the new convict women have been assigned to look after up to ten men in the cottages at Parramatta. You know what that’ll mean for ’em, don’t you? When there’s good men like you about…just trying to make a decent life and raise sons.
