The Windsor Girl (12 page)

‘The woman will have to go of course’, said Edward, ‘thank you for your help and when I get this infernal business out of the way we must have an hour or two together, before we return home’. 

Edward picked up his hat and went towards the door, ‘I will be in touch’, he called.

‘Good luck Edward, I hope you sort it out to your satisfaction’, said Michael. 

He returned to the job, he had started earlier, and shook his head in despair.  He was heartily sick of the, so-called, authorities that allowed such things, when they knew nothing, and cared even less about the consequences.

That same day, Miss Claremont was sent for and dismissed.  She was astounded, when she was told of the reason and stared at Missus Barnstable, in disbelief.

‘But I did nothing wrong.  I don’t understand.  It is a common practice in my profession’.

‘Well Nurse, it will not be so, where my children are concerned.  Not any more.  Do you realize the harm you could have done?’

Victoria
’s angry cry could be heard two rooms away.  ‘You will pack your things and get out of this house immediately.  You may pick up the rest of your belongings next week, when the Master and Mistress are back at the town residence.  Perhaps, in your next position, you will take better care of your charges.  Now get out of my sight’.

Miss Claremont almost ran from the room, her face streaked with tears. 
Victoria called after her, ‘do not ask for a reference for I fear, in all truth, I could not give one’.

Miss Claremont did not hear the comment.  Within the hour she was climbing into a cab destined for the railway station.

Throughout that night, Louise was at her wit’s end.  Samuel cried, constantly, and Beth slept restlessly.  They seemed, positively, ill.  It was
she
who went to them in the nursery; after all, she was their maternal Grandma and felt obliged to do so.  She had to admit, though, that it was quite foreign to her, this ‘baby holding’ and ‘rocking’ of children.  She had never had to do it for her own offspring and objected to having to do it now.  However, for this one night, there was no other way.

At
five o’clock, in the morning, Mable came to her, on tiptoe, and said, sympathetically, ‘Ma-am?  Would you like me take over while you get some rest?  I’m sure you could do with it’.

‘Oh Mable, would you?  That’s so kind.  I am rather tired’, she said, grateful for the offer.

‘Perhaps, tomorrow, we can work something out with the maids?  It would take the strain, until we go back home, wouldn’t it?’ suggested Mable.

‘Yes, I’m sure that will be the best solution.  I’ll rest now’, said Louise, relieved, at last, from her unpleasant duty. 

As she left the nursery, she thought,
it is not the kind of task the lady of the house should be expected to do
’.  But she could hardly expect poor Victoria to do it.

Arrangements were made, the following day, for a local girl to come in, as she often did when James was here alone.  Her name was Katherine, and she was used to children, coming from a large family.

Victoria instructed her in the children’s routine and made it very clear that no medicines were to be given to them, at any time, without they are first discussed with her.

Katherine got on with her new job, the children settled down, and a great sign of relief swept over the
household.  Not least of all, in the kitchen.

The Mistress commended Ellie for her observations, and for her prompt action, in bringing the matter to their attention.  Cook told Ellie, ‘this could do you a lot of good
dear’.

‘I only did what I thought was right, Missus Blunt.  I don’t want thanks, just to know that the children are all right’.

But Ellie was also relieved to know that she still had a position here.   She didn’t think she could bear to go back to Canal Street and her previous life.  True, she worked harder now, but she had good friends and good food and, sometimes, she had a glimpse into another world.  A world, which her mother could only dream about.

During the country visit, James often went into the kitchen to have a word with the staff.  It would seem that he was in the habit of eating there, when he was at the house alone, which was often the case.

‘I miss breakfasting in this room’, he confided to Cook, ‘but I’m instructed that I should eat with the family while they are here, and I suppose they are right.  I do miss it though’.

He was entirely the opposite, of his brother, Richard.  James was easy going, and friendly towards them all, and laughed at their witty banter, often joining in.

Cook asked him, ‘don’t you get a little lonely, out here, all by yourself Sir?’

‘Well Rose, I’m not really alone am I?  I have little Katherine and the
labourers.  Sometimes I prefer their conversation to that of my peers’, he laughed and added, confidentially, ‘don’t let on I said so will you?’

Missus Blunt giggled, girlishly, ‘no Sir, not a word’.

Rose was very fond of James, and wished he lived in the town house. 
It is such a change to be treated like a friend by someone as important as the master’s son,
she thought, not without a little pride.

‘Do you still see Miss Musgrove, Master James? asked Cook, now feeling quite ‘chatty’, ‘you haven’t mentioned her for a while’

‘Oh Lucy? Yes Missus Blunt, I see her often, when I’m in Leeds.  While I am here at the farm, she writes regularly, and sometimes comes out here to stay’. 

He smiled as he pictured sweet Lucy.

Cook had been very taken with her and commented, casually, ‘I think she’s a nice young lady Sir, if you’ll pardon my impudence.  Can we look forward to a celebration at sometime in the near future?’

James laughed
, good-naturedly.  ‘You ladies, how you like to ‘match make’.  I do not expect that she would be willing to put up with me for more than a day at a time’.

‘Oh go on, Master James!  You only have to look at her to see that she is taken with you’.

Missus Blunt felt that she had gone far enough so said nothing more.  She
did
think, though,
they’re well suited and, after all, they had been seeing each other for some three years now.

James spoke to Ellie and Kate, in much the same way, always kind and considerate.   They had, in fact, become quite good friends.  He seemed so ‘ordinary’ and Ellie found it easy to talk to him.

Just before they were to return to Leeds, Ellie said to him, ‘will we be seeing you in town, Master James?’

‘As a matter of fact, you will, and quite soon’, he said, ‘I am taking leave of the farm, for a couple of months, to catch up with the running of the mill.  I’m not looking forward to it very much.  I don't really like working there
; too much noise and squalor.  But it has its compensations.  I will be able to look in on my friends there, and will be able to pop in to see you all in the kitchen, and sample some of Cook’s delicious cakes.  I may even give you a hand with your work Ellie.  What do you think of that, eh!?’

‘I think you must be mad, Sir’, laughed Ellie.

‘I think I must be too, come to think of it’.

She knew he was joking with her, but it was nice to think he liked her company.  She looked forward to his being around, on a regular basis, when he came to stay in the town house.

All in all, the experience of the visit to York had been a good one and she felt she would like to come back again, one day.

On Saturday morning, after the family had left and the cleaning had been done, the whole of the staff made their return journey to Leeds.

As they alighted from the train at the railway station, Ellie took in the smoke and grime and wished, with all her heart, she could turn around and get back on the train.

Chapter Sixteen

On her return from the country, Victoria, after conducting several interviews and meticulously examining references, engaged a new nurse.  She was a lady of mature years by the name of Anna Bronson.  She was asked if she used sedatives in her work and answered, indignantly.

‘I leave such things to the Doctor Ma-am, after all, he would know much more about such things’.

Highly satisfied, with such a response, Victoria had no hesitation in employing her.

She said to her mother, ‘and while I am
organising my life, I feel that I should have a personal maid.  I can’t stand Mable any more.  She doesn't understand me Mother, and she chooses not to obey me, when I tell her to do something for me’.

‘The trouble is
Victoria; you order her about in such a manner, that you annoy her.  After all, she is not your maid, but mine’, said Louise, more than a little annoyed with her daughter.

‘Exactly, t
hat is what I’ve been telling you, for what seems like an eternity, she is
your
maid and I need one of my own’.

‘You should have a nurse but you won’t hear of it’.

‘No Mother, I won’t.  I don’t want a nurse.  They are far too bossy and I can do without people telling me what to do with my own life.  I must have a maid, and if you won’t provide one, I will employ one myself, although, God only knows how I will manage to pay her, out of the little capital I have left’.

Louise sighed, ‘I may as well give in to you.  But I don’t know where I will put her.  All the bedrooms are taken in the servant’s quarters, and I will not have a maid sleep here in our home’.

Victoria was quiet, as if in thought.  She had thought it through, already, and it was now a matter of putting her plan into action.  She hoped her mother would agree, as it would solve her problems.

‘Mother?’ she said, reaching out for her hand.

Louise was familiar with Victoria’s ploys, she used them often enough on her father where they had more affect.  However, she was prepared to listen to whatever her daughter had to say.

‘What is it
Victoria?’

‘I have an idea.  Could I have Ellie?  And before you say she isn’t suitable may I remind you how sensible she is?  I feel she would be just what I want and she already has a room in the servant’s quarters.  If you say yes, all our troubles will be over.  Please Mother’.

‘Oh Victoria dear, she’s a scullery maid.  What would she know about your predicament?  And, forgive me, but you are not the easiest person to deal with’.

‘Mother, I am sure that there is more to Ellie than meets the eye.  She is not a children’s nurse but she managed to show a lot of sense and responsibility.  Well, did she, or did she not?’

‘Yes dear, but a scullery maid?’

‘Oh
do
stop it Mother.  She wasn’t born a scullery maid.  It is
we
who made her one.  Well, what do you say?’

Louise gave in, ‘I expect I will have no peace until I agree.  But don’t come to me with complaints that she doesn’t know her job’.

‘I won’t Mother.  And thank you’.  She squeezed her mother’s hand.

‘Goodness knows what your father will say’.

‘Daddy will not be in the least interested, and it will make
me
happy, really’.

With that, she rang the housekeeper’s bell, a smile of satisfaction on her face.

‘Miss Maud will not be so pleased’, said Louise, dreading telling the housekeeper of her daughter’s choice of nurse.

‘Oh what does
she
know?’ Victoria retorted, feeling quite pleased with herself for having won the battle, at long last.

Miss Maud was not overjoyed at the prospect of having Ellie in a position of some authority.  I,
of course, will still be the senior supervisor, apart from William
, she thought. 
Just the same, Ellie thought enough about herself as it was, without giving her a more responsible position.
  No, she did not like it at all but could do little about it, as Missus Barnstable seemed set on the idea.

All she said now, was, ‘I will inform the girl that you wish to see her, shall I?’

‘Please do that Miss Maud’, replied Victoria, sensing the discomfort, undoubtedly felt, by the housekeeper, ‘
and ...
Miss Maud?  Her name is Ellie’.

The housekeeper went from the room, her body trembling with anger and her thoughts less than charitable. 
There are upstarts, and upstarts, and some of them are in the upper classes
.

Ellie was surprised by the proposition and, although a little apprehensive, she accepted the post along with a substantial rise in her earnings.

When the news was conveyed to Missus Blunt, she discovered that the housekeeper had already informed the Cook.

‘As I told Miss Maud, I’ll tell you Ellie’, she said, ‘you deserve a chance.  You have worked hard in this house and, may I say, with no complaints and we all think highly of you’.

‘Not everyone does, I’m afraid, Missus Blunt’, said Ellie, smiling as she imagined the housekeeper’s attitude.

‘That’s ‘by the by’.  I must admit that I’ll miss you, but good luck to you.  Mind you, I don’t think that I, personally, would choose to work for young Missus Barnstable.  Oh, she’s a bit of a ‘tarter’ by all accounts’.  She whispered this last piece of information out of the corner of her mouth and looked quite comical.

Ellie gave Missus Blunt a smile of reassurance, ‘I’m sure I will manage’.

‘Oh Ellie, I know you will.  Anyway I hope it goes well for you and don’t forget about us poor servants down her in the kitchen, will you?’

‘
Dear Missus Blunt, do you think I could?  You’ve all been so good to me, especially, you and your good husband’.

‘William will miss having you around.  He took to you from the start, and speaks of you affectionately’.

Ellie’s face coloured.  She had never been sure whether Cook knew of her husband’s kind deeds to herself and her family, for she had never mentioned it. 

‘You have both been very kind’, was all she could say.

Ellie looked for Kate, and spied her, kneeling in the corner of the kitchen, scrubbing for all she was worth.   Tears were dropping from her chin and into the bucket.  It looked obvious to Ellie that she, too, had heard about her appointment.

‘Kate McCarthy, scolded Ellie, are you trying to wash the floor with your salty tears?  Do they not provide carbolic soap any more?’

Kate kept on scrubbing, her shoulders now shaking as she began to sob. 

‘Am I to lose you, now that we have become friends?  It’s happened to me before, you know.  Whenever I find a friend and like her, she goes away’. 

Her wet hands covered her tear stained face.  Ellie knelt beside her friend and, holding her by her shoulders, she looked into Kate’s worried eyes.

‘You could never lose me Kate, not even if you tried.  I know I will, no longer, be working along side you, in the kitchen, but I am still to share the same room.  So you see, we will still be together.  And something else, Kate, we can now have the same day off and you will be able to come home with me’.

Kate brightened up, at this, and dried her face, ‘I’m sorry Ellie.  I’m so afraid of being alone again.  I’ll be alright now, really’.

And Kate
was
all right!  Over the weeks that followed, Cook took more of an interest in the girl.  She felt sorry for her.  Kate had never had much pleasure in life, until she found Ellie and now she missed her working alongside of her.

William found himself depressed about the whole thing.  He missed seeing the likeness of his long lost love, working in the kitchen, but he had no choice but to be happy for her and get on with the routine of his life. 

His loss was his alone, which he could share with no one, especially not Rose.  However, over the next few weeks he ensured his presence at the table whenever she came down for a meal when he would question her about her new duties.  He was concerned that she was shown the correct etiquette, adhered to by the upstairs staff; after all they may not take kindly to a scullery maid being in a more prestigious position than themselves.

Ellie assured him that everything was fine and he had no need to worry about her.  This seemed to satisfy him.

Life at the house resumed its normal orderly routine.  A new scullery maid was set on, to work in Ellie’s place, although she was local and did not ‘live in’.

Kate liked her well enough, but to her, things would never be the same again.  It wasn’t that she was not pleased for Ellie.  She loved her and wanted only the best for her, but the only time she was her usual, happy, self was when she was with her friend, after work, either talking or reading the Bible.

Meanwhile Ellie
familiarised herself with the many needs of her new Mistress. 

Standing in
Victoria’s sitting room, waiting for her mistress to finish the letters she was writing, Ellie admired the surroundings.

Decorating the walls were numerous paintings, which were framed in the usual guilt.  The drapes were of a lighter shade of green than the carpet square and together they gave the room a look of freshness.

In one corner, was a piano of highly polished wood where photographs in beautiful frames were arranged.

How wonderful it must be to live in
surroundings like these
, she thought.

Victoria
was dressed in a deep pink morning dress, which fastened high at the neck, with full sleeves of flounced tulle.  Of course the rest of the lovely dress was hidden under a rug, which covered her legs.  Ellie thought it a pity that Victoria, who had such a spirited nature, should be confined to an invalid chair. 

When
Victoria spoke, she addressed Ellie in a friendly manner.

‘First of all Ellie, we must arrange for some new clothes for you.  Four sets should suffice for the time being’. 

Seeing the surprise in Ellie’s eyes, she elaborated, ‘I will expect you to look at your best when you accompany me on my visits to friends and relatives’.

‘Yes Missus Barnstable’, said Ellie.

‘And Ellie, that’s another thing.  I just
know
we are to be great friends, so I don’t want you to address me as Missus Barnstable.  It makes me sound like my mother-in-law’.

‘No Ma-am’.

‘Neither do I wish ‘Ma-am’ to be an alternative.  It makes me feel old.  How old do you think I am Ellie?’

‘I don’t know ... er... Ma-am’, she hesitated over the last word.

‘I am thirty years old and I want to
feel
thirty, not sixty.  You will call me Victoria’.

‘Oh I couldn’t.  What would people think?’

‘What does it matter what they think?  You will call me Vicky or Victoria.  What do you say?’

‘Forgive me Ma-am, but I get into trouble too readily as things are.  I really don’t want to make problems for myself’.

Victoria studied Ellie for a moment, and then suggested with a smile, ‘how do you feel about 'Miss Vicky?  I think that could be the solution’.

Ellie too thought this was the answer. ‘That will do fine, Miss Vicky’, she said, smiling broadly.

‘Good girl.  Then perhaps, when we know each other a little better, and in private, I will persuade you to drop the ‘Miss’.  Do you agree to this?’

‘Yes Miss Vicky’.

Victoria was going to like her new maid. 
She has ‘strength of character’
, she thought.

Over the next few days, Ellie was instructed about
Victoria’s personal needs, and other duties.  She found that, not only was she quite capable of performing the tasks required of her, but she could be herself and, politely, speak her mind to Victoria.

Victoria
had not been so content for a long time and realized that she had made a good decision when she chose Ellie. Although the girl was much younger than she, and came from a working class background, it made not the slightest difference.  She felt infinity with her.  She had no idea why; she was just grateful for it.

On the fourth day in the service of
Victoria, Ellie asked, ‘when would you like to take a bath, Miss Vicky?  Bed-baths are not very satisfactory, are they?’

‘They are all I am allowed.  It’s not advisable for me to have a real bath’, said
Victoria, with a shrug of her shoulders.

‘Why on earth not?’  Ellie was astounded, ‘it would be no trouble to run a tub for you and I’m strong enough to help you into it’.

‘Ellie, it’s awfully good of you but no one thinks it a good idea’.

‘Well Vicky, I do.  I’m sure you would feel a lot better if you could soak in a hot bath.  Would you like to try?’

‘I don’t know if I dare’, she said, biting her lip in thought.  Then with a gleam in her eyes, ‘damn it Ellie, why not?  And, by the way, you called me Vicky’, she laughed.