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threatened to kill him if he didn’t commit to their relationship.

The encounter prompted Cyril to write a letter documenting

details of the exchange, “in case she does keep her vow.” The letter was found in Cyril’s cabin the day after he died.

On the night of the fateful ball, Audrey was dumbstruck

to see Cyril in attendance. His pointed disregard enraged her

all the more; he was acting as though he didn’t know her. It

was a very public snub. Audrey was especially upset by the fact Ghost of the Government House 247

that he had told her that he was going away to sea, yet here he was, dancing with another woman, right before her eyes. She

became more and more upset.

Audrey returned to her home on St George’s Terrace some

time around midnight. According to her defence lawyers, she

had intended to take her own life on the banks of the Swan

River, and had gone home to retrieve her gun.

Since she had been dressed in a Pierrot costume for the ear-

lier part of the evening (and her female friend had been dressed as Pierrette) she decided to change into something less frivolous.

She chose an elegant, blue silk gown. Armed with her revolver

wrapped in a white handkerchief, she was soon on her way.

According to Audrey’s testimony, she stopped at the Cathe-

dral on her way to the river, hoping to make her peace with

God before carrying out her suicide. It was there that she had an epiphany; she could not take her own life and she would

forgive Cyril for his transgressions. She felt that it was time to put the nasty affair behind her for once and for all.

A moment later, she was heading back to the ball.

As the final dance played out at 1.30am, Audrey walked up

behind Cyril and placed her hand on his shoulder. He turned

to see who it was. When he saw Audrey standing behind him,

his smile instantly vanished. Those in the vicinity described his expression as one of ill-disguised contempt.

“Pardon me,” he said, turning back towards his partner. “I

am dancing.”

As it turned out, it was to be his final dance. Five minutes

later, he was dead.

With a loud crack, a single shot rang out throughout the

ballroom. Cyril fell to the ground with a sickening thud; blood seeping from his nose and mouth.

248Ghost of the Government House

Audrey stood by calmly as the police guard on duty ran to

where Cyril lay on the ground.

“I did it,” she said, holding out her wrist. She asked to be

quietly taken away.

The trial that followed was sensational to say the least, and

Cyril was portrayed as an opportunistic cad, with little regard for the feelings of others. The Defence presented a history of shady dealings, and Audrey testified that he had “seduced her

against her will.”

Cyril was portrayed as manipulative and conniving. And

indeed, he had been sent to Australia from England two years

prior to his death, upon his family’s request to “clean up his act.”

Audrey pleaded not guilty; claiming that the gun had acci-dentally discharged. The crux of the defence was that Cyr-

il’s bad treatment had pushed Audrey to the point of suicide, which is why she was in possession of the gun.

After a three hour deliberation, the jury presented a verdict

of not guilty. To the astonishment of those present, Audrey

Jacob was acquitted of Cyril Gidley’s murder. But possibly

none were more astonished than Cyril himself, and the not

guilty verdict may well be the reason he is refusing to rest. Of further affront would be the fact that Audrey became the wife

of a wealthy American just a few months later, and started a

new life in the US where her history was unknown.

So, not only were there the issues of a murky past and an

untimely death to contend with, but the unsatisfactory verdict would undoubtedly have thwarted Cyril’s eagerness to move

on.

Although well past any hope of resolution, (since Audrey

herself would be long-dead) I am hopeful that by sharing his

story with a wider audience, Cyril will feel vindicated enough Ghost of the Government House 249

to finally find closure. I’m hopeful that by people being aware of his story and sending him love and healing, he will be able to leave the scene of his death after eighty seven years.

I asked Beryl what her personal impressions of Cyril were.

Was he as much of a rogue as he was depicted in his murder

trial?

“Oh, he’s a rascal alright,” said Beryl. “And to me, he’s a

very strong presence. He’s hanging around by choice, I don’t

think he’s stuck or anything …”

Beryl went on to describe her most memorable encounter

with Cyril, which took place just a few months earlier.

“I knew he was around before anything happened, as a few

people from the day’s tour group had mentioned seeing him.

I was just closing up the ballroom when this almighty breeze

wafted in out of nowhere. All the curtains started thrashing

around like crazy!”

Having no doubt that Cyril was responsible, Beryl openly

admonished him, telling him that he was a naughty boy. Fortu-

nately, it takes a lot to make Beryl scared. After so many years spent working at Government House, she considers Cyril to

just be a normal part of the building. She wasn’t at all per-

turbed by Cyril’s attention-seeking behaviour.

Perhaps Cyril wanted more of a reaction than Beryl’s gen-

tle reprimand, so he proceeded to up the ante to get an appro-

priate response.

“You won’t believe what he did next” said Beryl excitedly.

“He went ahead and wrapped me up in the whole darn thing!”

As Beryl described the scene of being twisted up into one of

the billowing swathes of fabric, I couldn’t help but marvel at her bravery. Despite my long association with ghosts, there are certain behaviours which I find unreservedly confronting. And this 250Ghost of the Government House

would definitely be one of them. I told Beryl as much, but she assured me that Cyril was only joking.

“That’s just what Cyril’s like,” she said. “A bit of a scoun-

drel trying to have some fun.”

Having spent the last few